Customer Reviews
Rock Climbing - By: Spider Monkey, 13 Sep 2008 
If ever there was a book that could be classed as the industry standard climbing book, then this is it. The official handbook of the mountaineering instructor & single pitch award schemes this book has pretty much everything you'd need to get started on climbing, & more besides. It covers such areas as environment & history, warming up & injury prevention, movement skills, training, climbing basics (looking at terms & equipment), various types of climbing (bouldering, single pitch, indoor, lead, sport, multi pitch), descending, scrambling, sea level traversing & gorge scrambling & sections covering the law around climbing. As you can see, & this was only a basic list, this book is pretty comprehensive! The text is clear to read & the illustration & photos are both attractive & clarify any confusing points perfectly. As other reviewers have suggested, this book really is the ideal first port of call when learning about climbing & to cover your first forays on the rock orin the climbing gym. Coupled with qualified instruction this book will see you developin leaps & bounds & it is perfect to return to so you can brush up on rusty knowledge or even just for a bit of inspiration. A great book & highly recommended. If you want more a specific book about training for climbing check out 'Training For Climbing' by Eric J Horst, another clear & inspirational read.
Evocative - By: J. Gifford, 09 Sep 2008 An excellent 'How To' guide & also very useful for those wanting to improve. The greatest recommendation is that it makes you want to go out & climb - just like my favourite cult classic free climbing book from the 30s - The Night Climbers of Cambridge by Whipplesnaith. It's worth comparing the two - the spirit & urge to abandon regular society's rules & soar above the crowd is the same - & contagious. But back to this one - Get it & Get Out.
Excellent for both beginners and experienced - By: Dr. Matthew Wood, 18 Mar 2008 I don't write reviews often but felt compelled to do so with this. It's an excellent book, well written & with beautifully designed diagrams which demonstrate the concepts extremely well. I'm an experienced climber with 20 years under my belt & this has still taught me some new things & reinforced others ("Am I supposed to do it this way just because I always have? Oh yes!"). It doesn't patronise, nor does it take the elitist approach. Just sensible & very readable. I've been reading it cover to cover & enjoyed doing so.
Whether you are new to the sport, training as an instructor, or just looking to bolster your knowledge, this is probably the best climbing book available.
Essential! - By: J. Minne, 03 Aug 2006 This book is a must have for anyone wanting to start outin climbing or improve their skills. The book also runs alongside the BMC's Single Pitch Award & is an invaluable source of information & instruction.
AWESOME - By: Mr. P. Kerai, 28 Mar 2006 words can't describe this book well enough - its amazing. I am very fond of it & if i was religious, this book would be my bible:) Book details anchors, useful knots, various scenarios likely to be faced on real rock amongst a host of other things -well worth the read before doing any sort of fee paying course - i'm going to work through this book before i splash out on a trad course at plas y brenin.
