Favorite climbing book?

[ScottP]

A tonic strongly advised by Dr. Meuwse for climbing literature malaise...

Downward Bound-A Mad Guide to Rock Climbing

by Warren Harding

 

Excerpt from the white vs black hat climber rating system contained within (italics are mine):

"Fred Becky (sic) Zone ?

Mr. Becky (sic) is the object of a complete investigation being conducted by the LSED & FS (?) to determine the validity of his prodigious (claimed) climbing record- of which serious doubts have been raised. When one considers the amount of time Mr. Becky (sic) spends driving to and from Seattle, talking on the telephone, and shitting, it seems more than likely that he has done virtually no climbing at all, despite the fact that he is reputed to be the oldest climber in the United States (publication date, 1975). Zone rating will be withheld pending completion of the inquiry."

[Dru]

LSED&FS = lower Sierra Eating Drinking and Farcing Society.

[ScottP]

LSED&FS = lower Sierra Eating Drinking and Farcing Society.

Semper farcissimus!

[Chad_A]

The Beckoning Silence (Joe Simpson). The chapter about ice climbing alone is worth it; I haven't laughed out loud like that in a long time.

[chirp]

Beyond the Vertical - Kor

Boardman-Tasker Omnibus

[LYleK]

Downward Bound is great, Harding put on a slideshow of the same name in Van a few years ago, it was hilarious.

 

Canadian Alpine Journal (scanned cover of # 1)

Edited December 1, 2004 by LYleK

[Jim]

The Games Climbers Play - Wilson, anthology of essays

[Chriznitch]

I usually get impatient with climbing books, but Joe Tasker's Savage Arena was pretty good

Eiger Dreams was good too, but I usually don't admit it cause of Into Thin Air

[MisterMo]

among others these keep geting re-read:

Deborah by David Roberts. Self reliance a long way from the car kinda back in the day.

The Unknown Mountain by Don Munday. BC Coast Mountain approaches way back in the day.

[Dru]

The Eiger Sanction - Trevanian

[bouldergirl27]

Touching the Void- Simpson has a wonderful writing style: clean and powerful, no flowery bullshit. And though it's not so much about climbing, The Snow Leopard by Matthiesen is a must read for anyone who loves the mountains!

[barkernews]

My Storm Years on Everest - Ed Webster

 

Kinda long, but interesting.

[Distel32]

joe's valley guidebook

 

[skyclimb]

Looks like an interesting book you have there.

A good article is the story of Kor and gang bangin' out the F.A. on the titan in the November 1962 issue of Geographic. Many of the stories in the AAJ's from over the years are really inspiring as well. South Buttress on Denali-like 1967, with some pretty technical stuff up high

The Best Book: Stories: Climb! a history of colorado climbing.

Informative: The bible A.K.A. Freedom of the Hillz

Scary: touching the void

Inspiring: Annapurna

[bigbong]

Mawson's Will by Lennard Bickel ... not climbing, but a must read... makes Simpsons epic look like a stroll in the park. ISBN 1-58642-000-3 .

[selkirk]

Maybe i'm a sucker for biographies but

 

Ascent : a bio of Willi Unsoeld. That guy was a serious stud, not to mention a humanitarian

 

Feeding the Rat : a bio of Mo Anthoine, nice unpretentious approach to climbing, from another hardman.

 

and of course

 

The Climb up to Hell (Jack Olson?) one hell of a rescue, but what an awful tragedy.

 

and The White Spider (Harrer). I guess i've got an Eiger thing to.

[jmace]

I cant beleive after 3 pages no one has mentioned the best book ever.

 

how about the all time best book ever: the mountains of my life, Walter Bonatti!!!!! The Best by Far!!

[Skeezix]

The Snow Leopard by Matthiesen is a must read for anyone who loves the mountains!

I second this.

[drater]

joe's valley guidebook

 

 

I see a typo on the cover of that guidebook, it appears it should read;

 

"A Bowl-dering guide to Joe's Valley"

 

Love that book.

[Nick]

Climbing Ice, Yvonne Choinard.

Mountains of the Coast, John Baldwin.

[cj001f]

The Snow Leopard by Matthiesen is a must read for anyone who loves the mountains!

I second this.

Matthiesen

 

"Wild Snow", "Mt Hood: A Complete History"

[Distel32]

I see a typo on the cover of that guidebook, it appears it should read;

 

"A Bowl-dering guide to Joe's Valley"

 

Love that book.

 

 

nice catch!

[Crack]

desert rock -bjornstad (the first one)

[Blake]

Inspiring: Annapurna

 

Inspiring, but mostly B.S. Check out David Roberts' True Summit.

[Don_Serl]

fat, drunken, and dead at 50-something of a heart attack. live hard die fast

 

at least he didn't die climbing which (in more or less his own words) would discredit everything else you did as a mountaineer.

 

favorite book: One Man's Mountains by Tom Patey.

Hard climbing, hard living, and unfailing humour.

 

favorite single story: The Bat and the Wicked, by Robin Smith.

"Now Dougal is a bit thick and very bold, he never stopped to think, he put bits of left arm and leg in the crack and the rest of him over the right wall and beat the rock ferociously and moved in staccato shuffles out of the sling and up the Corner...

Then there came a sort of squawk as Dougal discovered that his ledge was not...

...it grew like a wailing siren to a bloodcurdling scream as a black and bat-like shape came hurtling over the roof with legs splayed like webbed wings and hands hooked like a vampire."

my god, the tears streamed down my face I laughed so hard when i first read this! i can't suppress a chuckle even now whenever i even THINK of the scene.

[most readily available in The Games Climbers Play, edited by Ken Wilson]

 

best non-fiction: Abode of Snow, by Kenneth Mason.

inspiring, authoritative, beautifully clearly written, easily read historical summary of the Himalaya.

 

enjoy,