Best of
Climbing

2009

Beyond the Mountain


Steve House - 2009
    It means learning the hard lessons the mountains teach.Reinhold Messner calls Steve House the best high=altitude climber in the world today, an honor he declines. "Being called the 'best,'" says Steve, "makes me very uncomfortable. My intention is to be as good as I can be. Mountaineering is too complex to be squeezed into a competition. It is simply not something that lends itself to comparison. Climbing is about process, not achievement. The moment your mind wanders away from the task of the climbing-at-hand will be the moment you fail."Steve House built his reputation on ascents throughout the Alps, Canada, Alaska, the Karakoram and the Himalaya that have expanded possibilities of style, speed, and difficulty. In 2005 Steve and alpinist Vince Anderson pioneered a direct new route on the Rupal Face of 26,600-foot Nanga Parbat, which had never before been climbed in alpine style. It was the third ascent of the face and the achievement earned Steve and Vince the first Piolet d"or (Golden Ice Axe) awarded to North Americans.Steve is an accomplished and spellbinding storyteller in the tradition of Maurice Herzog and Lionel Terray. Beyond the Mountain is a gripping read destined to be a mountain classic. And it addresses many issues common to nonclimbing life -- mentorship, trust, failure success, goal setting, heroes, partnership -- as well as the mountaineer's heightened experience of risk and the deaths of friends. Beyond the Mountain is a window into the process of a man working to be the best he can be.

Revelations


Jerry Moffatt - 2009
    Fiercely ambitious, even as a boy Moffatt was focussed on one thing: being the best in the world. This title tells the story of his meteoric rise to stardom, and how he overcame injury to stay at the top.

Espresso Lessons: [From the Rock Warrior's Way]


Arno Ilgner - 2009
    Espresso Lessons takes the material into practical climbing situations - it is the 'how to' application of The Rock Warrior's Way intended to build upon and complement it. The most challenging moment in rock climbing is when your mind doubts whether or not you can continue climbing, knowing when it is appropriate to push through this doubt and when to back off is critical for taking "appropriate risks"

Via Ferratas of the Italian Dolomites: Vol 1: North, Central and East


John Smith - 2009
    Part of a 2-volume set, it covers the northern, central and eastern regions, including Cortina, Fassa, Sesto, Canazei and Corvara. Routes are graded by technical difficulty and seriousness and there are comprehensive route descriptions accompanied by access notes, maps and topos. Stunning photography completes this inspirational guide to some of the most breathtaking via ferrata routes in the world.The Italian Dolomites boast some of the most magnificent mountain scenery on the planet and some of the most iconic. Soaring rocky spires and jagged ridgelines are interspersed with gentle valleys and idyllic mountain villages. The Dolomites are also home to the world's greatest concentration of via ferratas - mountain routes or climbs that are protected by a series of cables, metal rungs, pegs and ladders.

Tuolumne Free Climbs


Greg Barnes - 2009
    This book focus on topropes, crags, and multi-pitch climbs in the 5.6 - 10a range.

Flakes, Jugs, and Splitters: A Rock Climber's Guide to Geology


Sarah Garlick - 2009
    With an informal Q-and-A format and fun, informative language, this book brings the often-esoteric science of geology into the hands of rock climbers.

The Stonemasters: California Rock Climbers in the Seventies


John Long - 2009
    Dubbing themselves the Stonemasters, these now-legendary adventurers established techniques that allowed for some of the most spectacular climbs to be done with a minimum of apparatus. Beyond their unsurpassed skills as climbers, the Stonemasters embodied a lifestyle-they were loud, proud, smoked dope, chalked their lightning-flash insignia across rockfaces, took the light stuff seriously and the serious stuff lightly-and the glamour of this lifestyle made a massive impact on 1970s youth culture across the world. Among the first Stonemasters were Rick Accomazzo, Richard Harrison, Mike Graham, Robs Muir, Gib Lewis, Bill Antel, Jim Hoagland, Tobin Sorenson, John Bachar and John Long, but the character or myth of the Stonemaster caught on like wildfire, spreading from coast to coast and across the ocean, and spawning Stonemasters everywhere. Here, Dean Fidelman's thrilling archival photos reveal for the first time an era defined by risk, camaraderie and nonconformity. Tales from original Stonemaster John Long and others recall the highs and lows of the early days-a magical time in the annals of adventure sports.

Colorado Scrambles: Climbs Beyond the Beaten Path, 2nd Edition


Dave Cooper - 2009
    Author Dave Cooper (Colorado Snow Climbs) climbed each of these high-quality routes, selecting them based on challenge, rock quality, location and interesting route finding. In scrambling, climbers use both hands and feet to get up a mountain, using a rope, if at all, only to protect short sections. Other than a rope and a little hardware, all a climber needs is a good pair of boots, a daypack, and foul-weather gear. In technical terms, scrambling is moving over 3rd- and 4th-class rock, often with a considerable amount of exposure.