Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills

This is a great book filled with wonderful advice as to the "how to" and "what to" do with Mountaineering. It is filled with great pictures. I would definitely recommend this book to any person who has an interest or who already does a lot of climbing and hiking.

First of all: I'm not a mountaineer, and don't intend to become one. I'm an avid hiker and backpacker, and enjoy going into the mountains, and that includes hiking/climbing peaks that do not require technical gear. This book is geared for the technical climber, emphasizing rock-climbing and snow and ice travel.

So this review is a bit unusual. Why read this book if you're not a mountaineer?

Well, Part I consists of eight chapters that are relevant for anyone who enjoys the outdoors. These cover issues such as equipment, conditioning, navigation, leave no trace and stewardship. The book provides a good discussion of these issues, though it is comparable to many other books on backpacking and backcountry navigation.

Part V would also be relevant for non-mountaineers. Its four chapters discuss leadership, safety, first aid, and alpine rescue - - only the last of these topics is limited to the technical climber. Again, the discussion is good, but other books also provide good coverage of these issues.

Part VI examines the mountain environment, with chapters on mountain geology, snow, and weather. These are the most clear treatments of these issues that I've ever seen. Here, by relying on contributors who know what they're talking about, the book relies on greater expertise than your average book on the mountains. Chapter 26 on snow was my favorite - - it's not just Eskimos who have lots of words for snow, so do mountaineers!

That leaves the middle three parts - - Climbing Fundamentals, Rock Climbing, and Snow, Ice, and Alpine Climbing (12 chapters in all). I read these because I was curious how technical climbing works. The book did a great job satisfying my curiosity, and I now know how belaying and rappelling work, what aid climbing is, and some of the issues concerning snow and ice travel. The climbing chapters each go into more detail than I wanted, but the presentation was very clear and started with fundamentals. I could just skip to the end of the chapters when I'd learned what I wanted to learn.

I also know that I would never rely on this book alone if I wanted to begin rock climbing. All too often, the authors tell us, "you must be particularly careful to consider A, B, and C, when placing protection under condition X." OK, then, but what do I do when I'm careful? Clearly, experience and a good mentor are key, and you can't get either of these from any book.

Also, the authors try hard to draw good pictures of how to make knots, but I think that the task is essentially impossible. You have to learn knots from someone.

In short: it's obvious to me why this is a classic for mountaineers. I wouldn't quite call it a "classic" for the rest of us, but it was a very good introduction to the sport for an interested outsider.

This is absolutely THE definitive work on mountaineering. Long recognized as "the Bible" for those seeking a comprehensive treatise on virutally every aspect of mountaineering, the seventh edition more than upholds this tradition. A "must have" for all who seek vertical challenges and want to learn the requisite skills .... or keep existing skills sharp.

This book is a tome. It is an extremely useful and approachable reference book for most things one needs to know about mountaineering, climbing, and generally traversing and finding freedom within the "hills."

This reference guide belongs in every outdoorsman's library. Check out these useful tips for camping, climbing, rappelling, and more.