What books or videos would you recommend to new climbers?

I Just started climbing this year in the gym and am pretty hooked at this point. I eventually am wanting to climb outside since I'm only about an hour from RRG in Kentucky. Obviously everything has been shut down for a while so I've been all over this forum, youtube, and any other resource I can find about learning to climb outside.

I seen recommendations on other threads to buy John Long's "Climbing Anchors" as a good resource for new climbers.

My question is, what other books or videos would you recommend to new climbers?

I already plan to go on a guided trip the first time, possible first couple times. I also am not relying solely on books and videos. I'm just seeing what else is out there. Thanks in advance.

Hey Jeff, welcome to the best and worst community out there! It's wonderful to hear about newfound quarantine-stoke for climbing.

As for the RRG, you definitely won't need to worry about building trad anchors until you're much later on in the game. Although the trad climbing in the Red is fantastic, it's better known as a haven for sportclimbing. Until you've gotten your feet wet on some sport routes, don't worry about much more than basic climbing technique and safety.

I would recommend the book "Rock Climbing: Mastering Basic Skills - Second Edition". Although there are many other books that offer similar advice and resources, this one presents basic and intermediate techniques and skills in a very accessible way. A short read through three or four sections gives you a good basic framework to work with. As you progress, the book will still prove itself useful in other, more advanced styles of climbing. (~always best to order from a local bookstore in these difficult times~)

In terms of videos that focus on climbing basics, I would recommend REI's "Climbing Expert Advice" series on Youtube. It may seem overwhelming at first, but if you take time to understand these videos and read through the book, your first experience climbing outdoors with a guide will be a breeze.

Best Wishes!
Josh

Books are cheap :)

"Rock Climbing" Craig Luebben
"Rock Climbing Anchors, A Comprehensive Guide" Craig Luebben
"Rock Climbing, The AMGA Single Pitch Manual" Bob Gaines, Jason D. Martin

Thanks! I'll check it out. I've watched most of the REI series on youtube. When I climbed the first time I jumped in the deep in and bought a lot of the stuff I would need. (Rope, harness, chalk bag, quickdraws, grigri, etc) so now I just sit and tie knots since I cant go anywhere lol.

As far as trading goes, I have no intentions of really trad climbing. I bought the book when someone recommended it for learning top rope anchors and since it was $3 i bought it. 

My recommendation is to change this thread title to what books or videos would you recommend to new climbers? 

Jeff, make sure you practice cleaning anchors on the ground and communicate with the belayer if you're going to rappel or lower.  One Example (of many): vdiffclimbing.com/clean-bol…

Top rope on your own gear however

The classic is Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills. It's basically a climbing textbook, so it has an overwhelming amount of information, but it is a great resource.

Thanks for updating the thread title.

I second Freedom of the Hills. It's the only single book I'm aware of that covers so many things. For example: climbing technique, clothing, first aid, aid and big wall, ice and alpine, weather, along with lead climbing and placing protection. You don't have to read all of it to get started, just what you need. I bought it when I first started climbing. I read the sections on climbing fundamentals and rock climbing right away. It's so well written and illustrated that I enjoyed reading it a lot and ended up reading it cover to cover, even though as mentioned it's an overwhelming amount of information. Then I wanted to apply everything I learned and did aid/bill wall, ice climbing, and alpine too.

Some excellent stuff to read after the essential chapters in FOTH:

Speed Climbing by Hans Florine. Speed climbing is not all about rushing up routes as fast as possible. Most of this book is about climbing more efficiently so you can climb more in the same amount of time. Would you rather climb 8 pitches or climbs in a day or 16? Or it gives you time to stop and smell the roses at the top instead of rushing down to avoid darkness etc. It means less time at hanging belays waiting for your partner, and climbing each pitch quicker, so you are less worn out at the end of the day for the same amount of pitches climbed. So many good tips and tricks in this book that you can use as desired. You can apply the ideas in this book to your life in general and get lots of things done in like half the time.

Self-Rescue by David Fasulo. It's kind of concerning how many people climb with no idea of what to do in an emergency.

I think it's a good idea to have read Freedom of the Hills or other great books mentioned above before you go out with a guide/class. Things will make more sense and you can ask well informed questions instead of having to absorb a lot of new info. The instructor may use different techniques than described in the books and you can judge which makes the most sense to you, have an idea if they are dong things correctly to keep you safe, and ask questions about the pros and cons of each method. Almost all guides are safe and certified, but I like knowing what they are doing enough to see if they make a mistake (we're all human, and double checking things prevents most accidents).

There's good videos on youtube now. I'd look for ones from certified guides.

Beyond that Adam Ondra has some awesome videos on youtube just to get your stoke up. The 17 minute version of Silence is awesome. The unedited flash of Just Do It is awesome. Also Chris Sharma's La Dura Dura and Realization are great.

I just remembered another classic. 50 Classic Climbs of North America. Not instructional but motivational! The story of the first ascents of 50 awesome climbs. Makes you want to do many of them. They call them the 50 crowded climbs now because so many people do them, but there's a reason for that, because they're great.

John Long videos are classic

Fundamentals of Rock Climbing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58m_BpbL6_Q

The Art of Leading

Jeff Perdue wrote: I Just started climbing this year in the gym and am pretty hooked at this point. I eventually am wanting to climb outside since I'm only about an hour from RRG in Kentucky. Obviously everything has been shut down for a while so I've been all over this forum, youtube, and any other resource I can find about learning to climb outside.

I seen recommendations on other threads to buy John Long's "Climbing Anchors" as a good resource for new climbers.

My question is, what other books or videos would you recommend to new climbers?

I already plan to go on a guided trip the first time, possible first couple times. I also am not relying solely on books and videos. I'm just seeing what else is out there. Thanks in advance.

I highly recommend to follow the below channel. Some great, detailed and easy-to-understand content related to climbing skills (anchors, belaying, rescue etc.)

https://www.youtube.com/c/JBMountainSkills

Free Solo

I feel every climber should know basic self rescue/rope craft. Check out Falcon Guides Self Rescue. The book covers more than just self rescue. 

If you know everything (texts + videos) that is on this page that is a great start https://www.outsideonline.com/2062326/beginners-guide-rock-climbing 

I found Craig Leubben's anchor book more helpful than a lot of other resources. You might not be doing trad stuff right away, but the book has a dedicated section on sport climbing and learning anchor building principles and such early will help you in lots of the oddball scenarios that sometime pop up in the first couple years climbing. 

Kiss or Kill by Mark Twight, a fantastic collection of short essays that is both perennially inspiring and entertaining. 

Rock climbing Technique - John Kettle

Kiss or Kill and Extreme Alpinism: Climbing Light, Fast, and High. Also The Hard Years by Joe Brown. 

Accidents in North American Climbing, any of the last few years, from the American Alpine Club.

Rock Warrior’s Way by Arno Ilgner. This isn’t a “how to” book for anchors, climbing technique or where to climb...however, when you have those frustrating days of no progress, self doubt, comparing yourself to others, and overthinking, you’re gonna want this around. It’s helped me immensely with all of this and more, and I wish I found it much earlier. 

"Eiger: Wall of Death" By Authur J. Roth was a good one to inspire climbing shitty frozen rock til you dead.

"Annapurna" by Maurice Herzog was also cool. Losing noses and feet to the cold/altitude always made mountaineering seem boss.

My early inspirations lol ;).