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Favorite climbing book?


Blake

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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."

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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 thumbs_up.gif

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

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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.

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

 

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,

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