Best Literature

What are some of the best climbing books out there. Things in your library you cant be without. The staples. Lets leave the guidebooks out. Techniques, history, geology, all the good stuff.

Lets start off with say...

Freedom of the Hills

Buried in the Sky:The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

amazon.com/Buried-Sky-Extra…

Mountaineering:Freedom of The Hills. 50th Edition
An awesome source of info on history and techniques. A must have for those eager to explore the worlds mountains.

- Climb!: The History of Rock Climbing in Colorado
- Fifty Favorite Climbs (not to be confused with 50 Classic climbs)
- Fred Beckey's 100 Favorite Climbs

The new Patagonia climbing guide by Rollo Garibotti is a beauty, worth having just to drool over the photos and topos.

Goddard and Neumanns 1992 "Performance Rock Climbing" (I believe thats the name)(technique/strategy)

Just about anything by/with David Roberts (stories/history)

Eric Horts "training for climbing" (technique/strategy)

Annapurna - Maurice Herzog (history/stories/adrenaline pumping reading)

The Rock Warriors Way - Arno Ilgner (technique/strategy) <---- this + CRAIG LEUBBENs "text books" (all of them) = the overall most effective compilation of reading.

Kiss Or Kill: Confessions of a Serial Climber by Mark Twight
Pete's Wicked Book by Pete Takeda

Fail Falling: My Life: Royal Robbins

History

Seems like this has come up once or twice before.

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The Accent of Rum Doodle. Doesn't get any better than that.

"A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Long.

The best climbing short story there is.

Mason Stansfield wrote:Mountaineering:Freedom of The Hills. 50th Edition

This is a great book. So excellent, that I've collected a copy of each edition. Or at least I thought I had. Now I have to go out and find the 9th through 50th editions! Unless you meant the 50th Anniversary Edition (8th)... ;-)

Peter Jackson wrote: This is a great book. So excellent, that I've collected a copy of each edition. Or at least I thought I had. Now I have to go out and find the 9th through 50th editions! Unless you meant the 50th Anniversary Edition (8th)... ;-)

I did mean the 50th Anniversary, 8th Edition. Thanks.

George Orwell's 1984

It's not totally climbing related, but a good book:
Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard

Aaron L. wrote:It's not totally climbing related, but a good book: Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard

Funniest part about this book is how Yvon states that Patagonia prides itself on consistent sizing.

Patagonia has the LEAST consistent sizing of ANY outdoor company.

Steve House's book I ripped through pretty quick it was so good.
Climb!
Beyond the Vertical
Yankee Rock and Ice (such a great history).
Physcovertical - Reading now

Just finished Matt Samet's new book death grip and it was EXTREMELY interesting for sure, even though not completely about climbing.

Honestly the list goes on and on. I've been lucky enough to collect quite a bit of this literature.

The Stonemasters: California Rock Climbers in the Seventies by John Long, Jeff Jackson and Dean Fidelman

The Valley Climbers: by John Long

(both from Stonemasters Press)

Both are filled with stories and vintage photographs, coffee table format, great to thumb through.

Although this one is not a purely rock climbing book it definitely deserves to be mentioned: Mark Twight "Extreme Alpinism"

Not a technique or skills book but super classic : Alexander Huber "The Mountain Within"

Climbing in North America, by Chris Jones.
The Lonely Challenge/Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage, by Hermann Buhl.

LawHous wrote: Although this one is not a purely rock climbing book it definitely deserves to be mentioned: Mark Twight "Extreme Alpinism"

+1. It has some unique tips and tricks in it that you wont find in Freedom of the Hills or any other book Ive read/studies. Plus some motivating pictures.

The Games Climber's Play

Starlight and Storm by Gaston Rebuffet - classic
amazon.com/Starlight-Storm-…

The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer - another classic
amazon.com/The-White-Spider…