Best climbing book
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Accidents in North American Mountaineering 2010 |
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American Rock by Don Mellor is a fabulous read which documents the rock types from East to West, North to South and some of the styles, characters, tales and stories inherent with each.
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Stickeen! |
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Touching the Void
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Rock Jocks Wall Rats and Hang Dogs: Rock Climbing on the Edge of Reality |
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If it's a book on the climbing lifestyle you want I'd recommend the following: |
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jack roberts wrote:This Game of Ghosts by Simpson.This was my favorite Simpson book. I also like Kiss or Kill by Twight. His sufferfests are classic modern climbing literature. |
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+1 on Steve House's "Beyond the Mountain" - his dealings with partner and loved ones' dynamics were especially insightful. |
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I"ve got about 80% of all listed above in my climbing library. Rum Doodle is great, but Banner in the Sky is maybe the best intro book for a young kid to read and get hooked on the mountains. It's even had chapters taken out and inserted into middle school literature books for kids to read as classroom assignment. That was a fun day teaching! |
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Camp 4 by Steve Roper is a really good one. |
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Re. Zarathustra |
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Not a climbing book, but a book about about training and the athletic lifestyle: Once a Runner, by John Parker. |
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Garrett Soper wrote:Solo Faces by James Salter. A stunningly good novel.I agree! Where did Salter get so much insight? IMO: Bradda, He lived it! Jeff Long nailed it in Angels Of Light as well! There's a bunch of stuff here on M.P. by real folks that are living the dream, Like me and you cousin ! |
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Eiger Dreams by Krakauer is great. |
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dolgio wrote: -1 "Into Thin Air" - read Boukreev's "The Climb" or Breashears' "High Exposure" for better rounded and not opinionated P.O.V.How is Krakauer's POV more opinionated than Boukreev's or Breashears? Well, maybe Breashears, because he wasn't on the May 10 summit attempt, but really, Boukreev has more reason to be opinionated because he was being paid as a guide and made some questionable decisions that stank of hubris (no oxygen, no pack, like, maybe he could have carried a tank and given it to Pittman instead of Gammelgaard having to give her's up after Charlotte Fox gave Pittman the shot of Dex) Krakauer was just a client, his professional reputation wasn't on the line. Plus, Krakauer is a far better writer,the wordsmithing in The Climb is pretty shitty at times. |
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Except that Krakauer inserts conjecture during a period he was asleep and AB was up on the mountain saving people. Krakauer, indeed a better writer than many, has no interest in authenticity. That doesn't make his books bad, per se, but they should not be treated as fact but as yarns. Like many good storytellers, the closer you know the real story the more regularly you notice his consistent use of hyperbole. As my buddy Largo once said, "never let the truth get in the way of a good story." |
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Along the lines of Into Thin Air is Forever on the Mountain, about a similar weather related accident on McKinley (although this time with people that were competent climbers) and the fingerpointing that followed due to a pissing match between Brad Washburn and one of the trip leaders. |
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Climbing Free by Lynn Hill was a really good one |
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Just wanted to add that Rum Doodle, I now see, is written by Bill Bryson who is an absolutely fantastic writer (so how the hell did I not know of this?) I'm sure, for pure entertainment, it's going to be high on the list. I don't think a Bryson book has taken me more than a handful of sittings at most. |
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I'm a fan of a climbing fiction book called "The Wall" by Jeff Long. One to avoid is the egotistical ramblings of David Roberts in his book "On The Ridge Between Life and Death." A favorite of mine is "To Be Brave," the first in the Royal Robbins autobiography series. Anyone know if the next one is out yet? |