learning to climb

[bajema]

i'm gona be back in washington real soon (no mountains here in east texas, i'll be glad to be back) and i want to start climbing. i've done a bunch of hiking and some scrambling, but i'd like to start learning the skills for climbing stuff like baker, shuksan, etc. i guess i want to start out by learning all the ice axe stuff, knots, ropes, all that jazz. what are some good books for on this stuff? also, could there possibly be anyone willing to teach a beginner some of this stuff some weekend?

[catbirdseat]

Start with the "Climbing Bible", Freedom of the Hills. Published by Mountaineers Books.

[specialed]

Skip that shit and buy a book by Mark Twight called "Extreme Alpinism"

[lummox]

bajema said:

i've done a bunch of hiking and some scrambling, but i'd like to start learning the skills for climbing stuff like baker, shuksan, etc.

its just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other. repeat. ad nauseum.

[fleblebleb]

catbirdseat said:

Start with the "Climbing Bible", Freedom of the Hills. Published by Mountaineers Books.

That book's outdated. The Mounties would be better off reading tradgirl and so would you.

[eric8]

While i would not go as far as to call it the "Climbing Bible". Theres some good stuff in there for what he is lookin to do. Self arrest, crevasse rescue etc. I would also go to the local library and see if they have the Illustrated Guide to Crevasse Rescue, though I guess being from Texas they probably won't.

[Toast]

fleblebleb said:

catbirdseat said:

Start with the "Climbing Bible", Freedom of the Hills. Published by Mountaineers Books.

That book's outdated. The Mounties would be better off reading tradgirl and so would you.

 

C'mon Fleb,

 

Sure tradgirl and rec.climbing have good info, but if you're starting from ground up, you need grounding in fundamentals. Freedom of the Hills does a pretty good job of that.

 

Edited April 29, 2003 by Toast

[A7U]

There ya go again, TT, standing up for the Mounties on cc.com. U R a glutton for punishment. Going to turn out tomorrow?

[Hiromi]

Freedom of the Hills is a great book to get a beginner started. I still refer back to it periodically to brush up on skills like z-pulley, ice-axe carabiner belay, weird knots, etc. I don't know of any other books that are as comprehensive.

 

There are several good classes you can take to get you started if you can't find someone to teach you.

[specialed]

I can't really talk shit. I read that book cover-to-cover when I was 13 and a weakling-wannabe trad climber / alpinist.

 

Of course, not much has really changed, except that now I'm old enough to drink beer

[lummox]

fuck reading. watch movies to get psyched. like just about any indy skate film, reruns of jackass (or the jackass movie). gets you primed to break sumpin. listen to thrash metal. drink. a lot. smoke em if you got em.

 

[specialed]

Dogtown and Z-Boys. You MUST see this movie.

http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=A239388

[fleblebleb]

Book -> $$

 

Tradgirl etc -> gratis

 

Read tradgirl etc, buy gas, go climbing

 

Actually, Eric's is a good suggestion - Mike and Andy's cartoon books are a riot, and have all the stuff.

[slothrop]

If you buy Freedom of the Hills you can lug it on your training hikes and read a chapter at the top. Bring it along when you go to practice crevasse rescue and use it to pad the lip. I bet if you showed up at the crag and started leafing through it, everyone nearby would either A) clear out for fear of having to rescue a newbie or B) helpfully answer any safety questions you might have. Either way, you win!

 

I prefer books because you can read them away from a computer.

[MPaul_Hansen]

There are number of good to fair references in the Seattle and King County library system. See www. spl.org and www.kcls.org.

Go to your local library and ask for 'inter-library loan'

[Gary_Yngve]

I heard there's a new edition of FotH in the works.

[fleblebleb]

I heard tradgirl has been updated umpteen times already this year