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The world's top rock climbers move like lithe spiders up dead-vertical, almost glass-smooth cliffs — but most climbers are "weekend warriors" with more modest skills.

It's for the latter group that Lon Abbott wrote a guidebook called "Weekend Rock Arizona: Trad and Sport Routes from 5.0 to 5.10a" (The Mountaineers Books, $19.95).

The numbers in the title refer to climbs with ratings ranging from easy to moderately difficult. The word "Trad" is short for traditional climbs, in which climbers place their own protective hardware. Sport routes rely on bolts fixed permanently to the rock.

"The book is a resource for those climbers who enjoy getting out for a great climb on the weekend or on a holiday but don't have the time to immerse themselves completely in the sport," said Abbott, a veteran climber and geology professor at Prescott College.

"These climbers usually like to sample a variety of climbing areas, and they most often enjoy climbs in the 5.0 to 5.10a. difficulty range rather than harder routes," he said.

Abbott's book gives detailed descriptions of routes at 10 climbing areas around Arizona. The entries include photos of the cliffs and crags with lines of ascent marked on the photos.

Among the featured areas are sites in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson and the Dragoon Mountains southeast of Benson. Both areas are popular with Tucson climbers.

Abbott made numerous trips to climbing spots around the state to sample routes and nail down details for the book.

"The biggest challenge in putting a guidebook like this together is probably the demand to observe your surroundings even more carefully than you ever have before," Abbott said. "You have a big responsibility as a guidebook writer to provide readers with the most accurate information you can possibly provide. It is a joy to do this but requires focus."

"Weekend Rock Arizona" is available at bookstores and at sites such as www.amazon.com on the Internet.