Favorite climbing book?

[Don_Serl]

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

 

I nearly agree, but go back to the originals. find and read On the Heights (1961, English translation 1964) and The Great Days (1971, English translation 1974). more stories, simply told and extremely powerful, written by the great man in his prime.

and less of the anguished ego than in Mountains of my Life. the "K2: The End of an Odyssey" section of the later book almost destroyed my climbing-career-long mental model of Bonatti as THE exemplar of mountaineering.

let it GO, Walter, let it go!

 

cheers,

[Buckaroo]

The White Spider

 

The Endless Knot by Kurt Diemberger

 

Fifty Favorite Climbs

[fern]

first climbing book I ever read was Banner In the Sky (James Ramsey Ullman) in grade 4. It may not be my favourite but this picture from the movie is funny

[Jason_Martin]

I'm suprised no one has mentioned:

 

In the Shadow of Denali by John Waterman.

 

Fantastic read!

[vwfanatic96]

Fall of the Phantom Lord, about Dan Osman is pretty good and Into the Wild (i know it doesn't have anything to do with climbing), by Jon Krakoeur is an awsome book

[Dru]

Thank you for stopping lurking and making a first post vwfanatic. Always nice to hear new voices.

 

That out of the way, I thought Fall of the Phantom Lord was one of the worst books I have ever tried to read. What a shit pile. If I wanted to read a book about Andrew Todhunter's masturbatory self centered narcissisism I would have had a different opinion. But honestly that book is 95% about Todhunter and 5% about Osman.

[cj001f]

masturbatory self centered narcissisism

If we're on that subject "Mountains of the Mind" Robert Mcfarland. A graduate thesis expanding into a book by adding a condscending narrative of how he's so much better than most climber's because he doesn't do hard climbs anymore.

[scott_harpell]

Mmmmm litterary onanism. Krakauer certainly falls into this category. Product of having a climber write a book. Self-centered bitches, the lot of ya.

[jmace]

I forgot to mention, Hermann Buhl Nanga Parbat.

 

The dude is so tough!! and his skiing partner, man those guys are my heroes.

 

J

[Bean]

Eiger Wall of Death

[Skeezix]

What's the one the Alaska aerial photo guy wrote about his trip that was published recently or something. Anybody know what the hell I'm talking about? Because I don't. I bought it for my brother last xmas on the theory that he'd bring it to the beach and I'd read it, but it didn't work out that way...

[Skeezix]

Bradford Washburn. It's slooooowwwwly coming to me.

[olyclimber]

The Storms of Silence, Joe Simpson. Great, like the rest of Joe's books. I especially like his description of women's gym fashions.

[Alex]

Pushing the Limits, Chic Scott

[cj001f]

If you are going to Nepal read HW Tilman : The Nepal Himalayas. It's in the Mountaineers compondium. Good stuff.

[rvilter]

On the Ridge Between Life and Death : A Climbing Life Reexamined, by David Roberts.

 

Not only does Roberts make one open his eyes to the risks inherent in climbing, he tells unbelievable stories of his expeditions in Alaska and Canada.

[billcoe]

On the Ridge Between Life and Death : A Climbing Life Reexamined, by David Roberts.

 

...... Roberts make one open his eyes to the risks inherent in climbing....

 

The abstract of that idea alone is enough to put me to sleep. Who cares, that kind of stuff is for people whos idea of climbing is climbing out of bed in the morning.

 

Like most of the books mentioned. Nobody mentions White Spider?

 

Book I loved 30 years ago was " James Ramsey Ulman, "Banner in the Sky".

[TrogdortheBurninator]

I liked white spider a lot. "The Climb up To Hell" (I think thats the title) was also pretty exciting. The Mordwand always makes for good reading IMO.

[Figger_Eight]

[DirtyHarry]

You guys stock that one at FF?

[erden]

[DirtyHarry]

masturbatory self centered narcissisism

 

 

When I saw that I thought you must have been referring to Kramer's Leavenworth guide.

[G-spotter]

[Figger_Eight]

You guys stock that one at FF?

 

Actually, it's from my personal collection

[rvilter]

I tend to agree that the title, alone, doesn't suggest that it's a compelling read.

 

Be that as it may be, this guy put up first ascents in Alaska, which, at the time, were the hardest routes being put up. Roberts recounts his expeditions in incredible detail, and its absorbing reading.