New textbook about climbing science

Anybody seen an advance copy?
Not sure I want to spend $145 sight unseen.

routledge.com/The-Science-o…

sounds interesting. but for that price it could be hard to just put down the money

jacob m s wrote:sounds interesting. but for that price it could be hard to just put down the money

Maybe I'll see if the library would buy it.

It definitely sounds interesting but $145 is hard to swallow. Under $100 and I might be able to justify it to myself.

That's a big tent to cram everything into.I'd be interested to hear how they did peer review on this one "14. Climbing Grades – Systems and Subjectivity (Nick Draper)" among others.

Looks like it's $30 off right now. Anyone try this thing yet? I'm considering...

i feel like a few purposely selected Alpinist issues covers 80% of the book.

Maybe check the AAC library?

Kindle edition is a whole lot cheaper: amazon.com/Climbing-Mountai…;qid=1475694052&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Science+of+Climbing+and+Mountaineering

I can't deal with kindle, so I ordered the book.
Should be here in the next week or so. I'll post up a review after I get a chance to take a look.

At $145 it'll fit right in with your $600 climbing sweater and $400 windbreaker. Both of which, of course, will make you climb harder.

John Byrnes wrote:Both of which, of course, will make you climb harder.

Because that what anyone should ever care about...

John Byrnes wrote:At $145 it'll fit right in with your $600 climbing sweater and $400 windbreaker. Both of which, of course, will make you climb harder.

You don't buy a lot of textbooks, do you?

Or you could go climbing I guess ?

john strand wrote:Or you could go climbing I guess ?

Yeah, if I go climbing, I couldn't possibly also read a book.

Nor could I be interested in understanding anything about the science behind the sport.

True,,,,but

Mark E Dixon wrote:I can't deal with kindle, so I ordered the book ... I'll post up a review after I get a chance to take a look.

Thanks.
Likely some interesting nuggets in there somewhere -- be nice to have some clues about where it's promising to look (or if it's worth bothering).

I found that typically I never got around to reading much in the books I pay for on Kindle. Hardcopy gives me a fighting chance I might actually read it (even if it's like one chapter every two or three months or so).

My take is that there are so many different kinds of climbing, each with it's own different set of performance drivers and learning styles, I'm a bit suspicious of trying (or claiming) to cover all of them in one book.

And for "core" rock climbing of mixing technical and strenuous moves up difficult (outdoor) rock, there just are hardly careful well-controlled studies which are specific for climbing: whether training or skill-acquisition.

Now that "core" (indoor plastic) climbing is becoming an Olympic sport, I assume more money will come into the sport, so this will likely change. But for now a book on the "science" of climbing seems premature.

My guess is that this book will have a lot of, "These studies for some other (money) sports show that approach A is better than approach B, so of course that should hold for climbing."

Which should be at least stimulating if you're a coach of climbers; or better yet, a leader of a coaching team or a writer of articles about climbing.

Ken

kenr wrote: Thanks. Likely some interesting nuggets in there somewhere -- be nice to have some clues about where it's promising to look (or if it's worth bothering). I found that typically I never got around to reading much in the books I pay for on Kindle. Hardcopy gives me a fighting chance I might actually read it (even if it's like one chapter every two or three months or so). My take is that there are so many different kinds of climbing, each with it's own different set of performance drivers and learning styles, I'm a bit suspicious of trying (or claiming) to cover all of them in one book. And for "core" rock climbing of mixing technical and strenuous moves up difficult (outdoor) rock, there just are hardly careful well-controlled studies which are specific for climbing: whether training or skill-acquisition. Now that "core" (indoor plastic) climbing is becoming an Olympic sport, I assume more money will come into the sport, so this will likely change. But for now a book on the "science" of climbing seems premature. My guess is that this book will have a lot of, "These studies for some other (money) sports show that approach A is better than approach B, so of course that should hold for climbing." Which should be at least stimulating if you're a coach of climbers; or better yet, a leader of a coaching team or a writer of articles about climbing. Ken

I was hoping to interest somebody else in buying the book, but that didn't work!
The library wouldn't buy it, as it was too specialized.
It was only about $115 on Amazon, so I went for it.

Unfortunately, most textbooks are a few years behind the current research. I wouldn't expect this one to be different.
However, the advantage is that a good textbook can summarize the current status of a field, which is difficult to get from randomly reading articles.

I think there is a lot more relevant research available than you think. I just printed off at least a dozen new (to me anyway) articles from the IRCRA site.
Check it out if you haven't already.
ircra.rocks/

And Reserch Gate is your friend.
researchgate.net/home

Just a hint, for Section 2 Medicine: Mr. Schoeffl was included and the book "one move too many" is well known in its german edition, I would say this is for climbers.

S3.K1 wrote:Mr. Schoeffl was included and the book "one move too many" is well known in its german edition ...

And I don't think that book is all that good -- example of outdated beliefs that seemed plausible in their time.
. . (I assume the author has moved on to better more up-to-date contributions).

Way better on a similar subject is the recent book Make or Break, by Dave MacLeod.
Perhaps the most valuable book for long-term success in "core" rock climbing.

Ken

Mark E Dixon wrote:I think there is a lot more relevant research available than you think. Check it out if you haven't already. ircra.rocks/

Thanks Mark -- You're right, looks like lots of interesting work reported there.
. . (As the site itself says, because of the shift of climbing toward competition).

Another reason for me to delay purchasing that textbook (at least until after I read some of those).

Ken