Recommended Books (Building a Library of Climbing Books)

Hello Everyone,

I would like some recommendations on books to read. My main goal is to learn as much about technical climbing skills (possibly with focus on trad. Alpinism and Aid are irrelevant to me at the moment). I have come across the following books so far, please write your opinions and books you recommend.

The Rock Climber's Training Manual (Bought it but still have not read it)

John Long's Climbing Anchors (On the way)

Andy Kirkpatrick's Down (Wishlist)

Craig Luebben's Rock Climbing Anchors, 2nd Edition (Wishlist)

Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills (Wishlist)

Andy Kirkpatrick's High - Advanced Multi Pitch Climbing (Considering)

Climbing Self Rescue by Loomis and Tyson is indespensable. One anchor book will do you fine, no need for 2. Kirkpatrick has good info but he's a nut that I'd rather not support financially. Rock Warrior's Way is a personal favorite. 

Don't discount (reputable) online resources - vdiffclimbing.com has lots of good info on trad and multipitch, as well as pdf guids, and climbingtechtips has good short videos.

“The Mountain Guide Manual: The Comprehensive Reference--From Belaying to Rope Systems and Self-Rescue” by Marc Chauvin and Rob Coppolillo.

The White Spider by Heinrich Harrier

Every AAC Journal you can get your hands on.

Every Accidents in North American Mountaineering you can get your hands on.  Reading a few dozen of these cover to cover will actually give you a great deal of wisdom.

I see you are interested in instructional literature but the true stories of various experiences are very valuable.  Knowing what others went through can help you survive better in your own personal epic experiences.

How to Climb 5.12. More of a general training guide than a set plan for 5.12, there was a ton of stuff I wish I had known earlier in my climbing career. Take practice falls, try different kinds of rock, develop headgame. Lots of good wisdom.

Thank you all for the great recommendations. I will definitely look them all up and try to read as much as possible (in my honeymoon phase of climbing).

I wanted to ask about something that James Cho made me think about. I find that my knowledge of different types of rock and how it affects climbing and placements of protection (be it permanent or temporary) severely lacking.

Does any one know whete I can learn about the basics of geology and how it relates to climbing?

One thing i recommend is going to your library and checking to see if they, or other libraries in their system have the books you're looking for. I have a smaller library near me, with not the best selection of climbing books but it is part of a countywide inter-library book sharing program so i can get about any climbing book for free and I dont have to shell out cash for them, unless I take them out for too long

Spinsser H wrote:

Does any one know whete I can learn about the basics of geology and how it relates to climbing?

https://www.thecrag.com/en/article/rocktypes

Experience with different types of rock will tell you more than books.

Your own degree of objective mechanical engineering skills and observations of the materials will tell you much.  

Push your limits. Take risks.  Take falls.  Set your pro.  Set it hard so the 2nd swears at you.

Easy, 

High: advanced multipitch climbing 

:) 

David Coley wrote:

Easy, 

High: advanced multipitch climbing 

:) 

I love the unbiased opinion   

Is it available in print (because I could only find the kindle version)? And is there a way I could buy it directly from you?

Spider Savage wrote:

Experience with different types of rock will tell you more than books.

Your own degree of objective mechanical engineering skills and observations of the materials will tell you much.  

Push your limits. Take risks.  Take falls.  Set your pro.  Set it hard so the 2nd swears at you.

Thanks Spider!

I think my best option is to set up a climbing vacation to a place where I could climb often. But in the mean time all I can do is read as much as I can and binge watch climbing videos to climb vicariously through them.

Spinsser H wrote:

I love the unbiased opinion   

Is it available in print (because I could only find the kindle version)? And is there a way I could buy it directly from you?

Just kindle. 

However the images are on multipitchclimbing.com so head over there 

Knowledge of aid climbing and at least  bag of aid tricks are essential “technical climbing skills”. Especially for self rescue and generally saving your ass. Don’t rule it out.

Al Pine wrote:

Knowledge of aid climbing and at least  bag of aid tricks are essential “technical climbing skills”. Especially for self rescue and generally saving your ass. Don’t rule it out.

Do you have any recommendations for aid books that would be good as an introduction?

Spinsser H wrote:

Do you have any recommendations for aid books that would be good as an introduction?

• You’ve already got Freedom Of The Hills on the list which is a good all around text. There’s an aid chapter in there along with some basic self rescue. What’s more important than memorizing stuff in a book is understanding how to put it all together and improvise when you really need to. A mentor can help with that. Other people in this thread mention taking falls. Make sure they are safe falls (gear is solid and no risk of hitting any features on the way down, good falling position). There was a thread a while ago where the OP asked if they sucked at climbing because they kept breaking ankles. Turns out they were taking falls on moderate routes. Don’t be like that person. Moderate routes should be considered no-fall terrain.

Al Pine wrote:

• There was a thread a while ago where the OP asked if they sucked at climbing because they kept breaking ankles. Turns out they were taking falls on moderate routes. Don’t be like that person. Moderate routes should be considered no-fall terrain.

Can you explain what you mean by moderate routes?

Spinsser H wrote:

Can you explain what you mean by moderate routes?

Routes that are fairly easy meaning low angle and ledgey. Generally a bad idea to fall on anything less than vertical as you can clip edges and flip, land on ledges and blow ankles, cheese grater, etc. As far as grade it's just going to depend where you climb. For example Gunks below 5.8 or so tend to have lots of ledges and junk to ruin your day. And of course there are exceptions to that.

I understand how it can be, hole'd up in the winter in Northern climates in the winter.  When I started climbing in the 1970's we would read Royal Robbin's Basic Rockcraft and Advanced Rockcraft over and over.  They we would go out to our practice spot which was a quarry of decomposed granite.  The frozen earth was much more climbable than when it was softer in warm weather.  

Rock Warrior's Way is hands down the most useful book in my "climber's library". There's so much emphasis put on strength, but a climber's mental strength can be way more impactful to one's climbing! This book covers more than how to get over fear of falling, but actually helps you be a more fulfilled and happy climber. I also think it helps set you up to be a long-term climber. For example, I've known super strong climbers who stop climbing because their mental approach to climbing was just unsustainable.  Watch the film "First Ascent" featuring Didier Berthod - it's a good example of a climber's mindset being their ultimate crux.

Spinsser H wrote:

I wanted to ask about something that James Cho made me think about. I find that my knowledge of different types of rock and how it affects climbing and placements of protection (be it permanent or temporary) severely lacking.

Does any one know whete I can learn about the basics of geology and how it relates to climbing?

Hard to pick up on this without flying out to and climbing at different places. Rock type has a large effect on movement and pro; a crack in granite is not the same as a crack in sandstone. Stuff off the top of my head:

- Granite: Easy to read and WYSIWYG. Cracks are splitter and predictable. Usually light colored and so considerably easier to make out features in a range of lighting. Protection is straightforward. Gets slippery.

- Sandstone: Softer, good friction. Cams might be placed more conservatively ("over cammed" and behind features) since the grit might make them slip. Better options for feet than granite because friction. Less predictable than granite. Cracks might end abruptly, or a flat face might hold some weird dinner plate on it that you don't anticipate.

- Limestone: Blobby features like huecos, movement tends to be bouldery and gymnastic.

Then basalt, quartzite, diorite, conglomerate, other volcanic rocks (like black rocks that can be hard to read in the shade), and other types all have their quirks.