Favorite Climbing Books

I'm itching for some new books to read as the season starts up again. What are some of your favorites?

I'll start

1. Postcards from the ledge 
2. Climbing Free
3. Minus 148 Degrees 

Hangdog Days, The Push, Valley Walls, Postcards from the Trailer Park. John Long’s “Rock Jocks…” is also pretty good. I loved Kiss or Kill the first time I read it but as I’ve gotten more involved in the sport, and learned more about Mark Twight, I’m less of a fan.

Sleeper, novella pick: Dakota Walz’s “Everything I Loved More”

I liked No Picnic On Kilimanjaro, mainly because the main focus was not on the actual climbing but trying to figure out how to climb it while in a prisoner of war camp in Africa in WWII. 

I second "Minus 148 Degrees"

Then epics on the other 6 continents

Adding:

"High Odyssey" by Gene Rose. Orland "Bart" Bartholomew’s 1928-1929 solo winter expedition through the High Sierra.

Glen Denny: Valley Walls

I second "No Picnic ...".

I really enjoyed Native Air by Johnathan Holwland. A fictional novel about partnership, family and self exploration all set in the Eastern Sierra. 

https://greenwriterspress.com/book/native-air/

Spy on the Roof of the World by Sydney Wignall

I can’t believe they haven’t made a movie about this crazy true story. 

Boardman Tasker Omnibus if by far one of the best collections of the haydays of alpine climbing.

Russ Clune’s The Lifer. Mark Synott The Impossible Climb. And Sasha’s Take the Lead. She had 5 hip surgeries and returned to climb 5.14. Downright inspiring 

I just read "Feeding the Rat" by Al Alvarez which I thought was one of the most under-stated and excellent climbing books I've read in a while. So many climbing books end up as trite blow-by-blow "we did this, we did that." This one was not like that.

Here are some of the books that I have enjoyed enough to keep room for on my small bookshelf. There are other good ones, but they've gone on to new homes.

• Beyond the Mountain - Steve House
• Freedom Climbers - Bernadette McDonald
• Art of Freedom (Voytek Kurkyka bio) - Bernadette McDonald
• The Tower - Kelly Cordes
• Royal Robbins: The American Climber - David Smart
• Royal Robbins: My Life - Royal Robbins
• The Calling - Barry Blanchard (audiobook reading by Barry is stellar! Really great impressions)
• The Rock Warriors Way - Arno Ilgner
• Minus 148 Degrees - Art Davidson

And I'm currently really enjoying Collages of Rock & Desire by Joanne Urioste and it may earn a spot on my shelf.

Eiger Sanction

Seven Years in Tibet

The Climb Up to Hell

Stone crusade- john sherman

Night Naked by Erhard Loretan

Great humble writing by a brilliant bad ass mountaineer.

The Bond by Simon McCartney is the best climbing book I've ever read, and I'm a huge nerd for climbing books with a decent-sized library. Strong recommend for the literary merit alone, but especially if you're into alpine/alaskan adventures.

Anything by Paul Pritchard is great.

I loved David Smart's biographies of Emilio Comici and Paul Preuss, if history is your jam.

Lots of great ones. Feeding the rat and Valley walls for sure. read both several times. Conquistadores of the useless.  Teton tales by Petzolt, Teewinot by Jack turner I have read at least 4 times... White Spider. Pretty sure I read the Herrer  Kilimanjaro book. Bonningtons boys of Everest. Enduring Patagonia. Push.  

The Villain

Born to Climb, by Zofia Reych. A cultural history of rock and competition climbing woven into a climbing journey of a young woman who is the director of the Women's Bouldering Festival in Fontainebleau. A delightful read.

Solo Faces by James Salter. Fiction but beautifully captures the spirit of alpinism in the 70s.