Best "How to Big Wall Climb" Book

Im new to aid/big wall climbing and looking to get a book and learn some skills. It looks like the two best book options are "How to Big Wall Climb" (Chris McNamara) and "Big Walls (How to Climb Series)" by John Long. Any opinions on which is better? Or another option that is better?
Thanks!

Check out Andy Kirkpatrick's new book - Higher Education: A Big Wall Manual.

It is available from Amazon.
It is not cheap - $55
It seems very comprehensive - 478 pages.
It has gotten very good reviews.

It is pretty darn comprehensive for sure. Think 'freedom of the hills-esque for all things aid and big wall'

it definitely shed some light on principles and concepts that I could then research more about. Either use his suggestions or some variation of them. Very useful as a quick reference once you understand the layout of topics.

I also have the Chris Mac's supertopo book which got me started on ladder and jumar set ups. I also recommend watching the associated vids.

Plus 1 vote for Andy K's book. Expensive, yes. Worth the hard won knowledge, also yes.  

FWIW I think if you are completely new to big wall or aiding in general (I'm new-ish myself) best to use Chris' youtube videos and practice really basic movement and cluster management before diving into Andy's book. Which I just got, and absolutely love! Get some practice in before investing in Andy's book, it's super detailed but I found it easier to follow now that I have a little experience. And the youtube videos are free so that's cool.
Also if you already have freedom of the hills; that has useful info for the basics.
In the long run though, I highly recommend Higher Education :)

1. get Chris' book. This is more than a book of techniques: it has the videos and make the general point of practicing and timing your improvement. One thing I think is wrong with the book is that it assumes that you are fit and that light is right, whereas for many enjoying big walling and the vertical camping is what it is about. Not just the summit. If you have invested in a ledge and a ton of shit, and flown across the USA or the Atlantic you want to go vertical camping, so 4 nights on the wall is fine. All that effort for one night on the wall, madness. This really shows in the book in the hauling section, which assumes 1:1. And in the general rush to the top of the aider. More important for the fat and old amongst us is the go smooth, then speed up, approach. It is hard to learn anything in a rush and it is often silly hot in The Valley.
2. once you have done a couple of walls, buy Andy's book, it is worth reading more than once.

Much has changed, and I'm not sure there is much  knowledge in the older books that these two don't also cover.

PTPP is working on a comprehensive big wall book, my guess is that it won't focus solely on the fast and light ;-)

Luc-514 wrote: PTPP is working on a comprehensive big wall book, my guess is that it won't focus solely on the fast and light ;-)

Do you have any more info on that? Or where I can find more info on that? 

Andrew F wrote:

Do you have any more info on that? Or where I can find more info on that? 

He's posted about it on Facebook, but I haven't heard anything about dates are price or.... Anything.

This is it:

HOOKING UP - The Ultimate Aid and Big Wall Climbing Manual

written by myself and my Eye-talian co-author Fabio Elli, it is currently at the publishers. We are finishing things up now, and far and away it is the most comprehensive book ever written in the history of big wall climbing. Action photos of all the systems in use on the wall, and big wall adventure stories by the best in the world.  

Here are three examples of posts from this forum that I have written, that have been condensed and filled with photos, so you can get an idea of the quality and detail of the workmanship in the book.

The Better Way to Clean an Aid Pitch

Dr. Piton's Heading Tips

Jugging the Froggy Way

600 pages on high quality paper, the bitchin'est photos you've ever seen. Years in the making, coming out around May .... I hope!  

my guess is that it won't focus solely on the fast and light ;-)

Luc Monodoigt - you might be surprised to learn that we have a chapter on Big Wall Speed Climbing!  However I would have to say that our Vertical Camping and Living on the Wall Chapter is certainly the best.  You get the hang of things after 767 nights on El Cap, eh?  

The soloing chapter is quite awesome as well!  

Voice of Borat:   "I am very excite!"

I am not entirely sure how the marketing will take place, but I am sure Amazon will be involved.  I hope to get the books into all the climbing shops in Canada and the States, too!  I think you guys and gals will all be amazed and delighted with the result.  Can't wait to show it off to the world! 

Best way to stay in touch might be on Facebook, so please send a friend request to me:  Peter Zabrok   and also to Fabio Elli.  You can also email me directly at  passthepitonspete at that hot mail dot com address, eh?  

"Pass the Pitons" Pete Zabrok wrote: Years in the making, coming out around May .... I hope!  

Is that... Normal May? Or Andy Kirkpatrick release timeline May?

Either way, I'll buy it! I love me some big wall tomb.

Any updates on this Pete?

Hi guys! I'm Fabio from Italy, co-author of peter in this book.
the book's editing and printing went a little bit longer then expected, but now it's done!

it will be available in europe in a couple of weeks, in USA and Canada (and esewhere in the world) in a couple of months, maybe less.

i cannot be more precise now, I'm not involved in distribution and it's the first time for my editor to sell in USA. just a little of patience guys..! stay tuned!

what can i tell you..? it's 670 pages long (!!), it took 3 years of hard work in all our spare time and nights (pete has a lot of free time really..!), it has 3000 photos and 17 stories from the best aid climbers in the world (oh well, 16 + me...).

the subjects covered range from leading to seconding, hauling, fixing, vertical camping, soloing (an awesome chapter!!), speed climbing, alpine aiding, how to learn aiding, a selection of where to aid climb in the world, gear (obviously - more than 100 pages!) and history of aid climbing in the world.
everything has been detailed in a manner you won't believe...

not that bad, right?

i hope you can enjoy it asap, let me know, and follow me on FB for instant news!

SPREAD THE WORD!!

issuu.com/edizioni_versante…

here you find a little preview of the 2016 italian version of the book, before I even got to know peter.
now things are even much better!

the foreword of the book is by JB himself, a really good piece of climbing literature!

Following cause I wanna know when I can buy this book!

Just found out you can buy it for $93 USD (shipping included) from this site:

https://www.versantesud.it/en/shop/hooking-up-3/

Haven't seen anything that teaches people to topstep properly,.... send me a sample.

Cole Pazar wrote: Just found out you can buy it for $93 USD (shipping included) from this site:

https://www.versantesud.it/en/shop/hooking-up-3/

Hooking Up will be available at verticallstore.com very soon for approx 54$ USD + 11$ of shipping or free shipping with a total purchase of 95$.

https://www.verticallstore.com/Hooking_Up_-_The_Ultimate_Big_Wall_and_Aid_Climbing_Manual/p4546831_20108242.aspx

Price is in CAD. Change the currency top left. Got confirmed that Verti Call will be the first seller to get the masterpiece in North America. Cant' wait to see that treasure. Special thanks to a friend: Peter Zabrok.

Price is 5$ CAD (3.50 USD) more. The shipping cost from Italy is way more than expected. Sorry!

More Hooking Up book available at verticallstore.com/Hooking_…

Hooking up is available for order on my website
Skotswallgear.com