Hello fellow MPers,

For my senior project for English class, I am doing my report on the history and evolution of rock climbing. If anyone would be willing to do an interview, via IM, email, PM, or in person that would be great. Also, if anyone could point me in the direction of any literature for history of climbing, that would be awesome.

Thanks,

Mike

Not sure where you are from, but if Colorado is home, the climbing literature you're looking for is a book called "Climb: The History of Rock Climbing in Colorado". The original edition was written by Dudley Chelton and Bob Godfrey, but Chelton and Jeff Achey recently (2002) released a new edition.

Check out "Climbing in North America" by Chris Jones for a general climbing history (mountaineering, aid climbing, rock climbing).

If you're interested in the evolution of free-climbing in the US, read "Wizards of Rock" by Pat Ament.

Sounds like a fun project, good luck.

The American Alpine Club in Golden has an extensive climbing/mountaineering library at their facility. The museum on site might also provide a good bit of knowledge.

Ken Henderson's Handbook of American Mountaineering will give you a picture of what normal U.S. climbing advice was into the mid-20th century. Other sources from 1950s include, for example, Charles Evans' "On Climbing" from 1955, with a British angle, if you want to see another version on basic technique; and likewise Gaston Rebuffat's "Starlight and Storm" (US 1956, 1957) has a section giving basic instruction from one of the great Chamonix French guides. Henderson did more than anyone else to introduce European technique and attitudes to the U.S. Henderson's volume was superseded in 1960 by "Mountaineering: the Freedom of the Hills," now in its 7th edition (8th purported to be under way--running through the editions would be a history lesson in itself!).

W. R. Irwin's "Challenge: An anthology of the literature of mountaineering" (from Columbia UP, '50s) is a rich source.

And I'll second the recommendation for the AAC library in Golden, if you can visit, or know an AAC member who can help you with mail-order checkout--you should be able to get some advice about options there, perhaps by mail or email.

If you want to branch outside of the usual Alps-Colorado-California perspective that is usally offered in books on climbing history, I would reccomend taking a look at "Yankee Rock & Ice: A History of Climbing in the Northeastern United States" by Guy Waterman. Very good regional account of climbing history.

Its also worth noting that since climbing histroy is such an obscenely broad topic, it might be in your best interest to focus on a particular episode of climbing history. You could write a solid thesis on the Stonemaster era alone, and you probably wouldn't have too much trouble scoring a phone interview with one of the original trendsetters.

A bouldering history project would also be quite interesting. Pat Ament's book "John Gill: Master of Rock" would be a good place to start.

just in case anyone cares, I have created an outline that I will use for my 10 page research paper. If anyone wants to see it or has any input, just email me and I'll send it to you

Mike,

You may also want to check out "Mountains of the Mind" by Robert MacFarlane. It's and excellent book that explores how people went from seeing mountains as the homes of demons and evil spirits to seeking out adventure for adventure's sake. Particularly focuses on Europe. I've had high school kids read it in the past and they've enjoyed it and personally, I think it's a great account.

Also, for Colorado climbing history is "Rooftop of the Rockies." Focuses on the early climbing adventures on the state's high peaks.