The Complete Rock Climber

by Malcolm Creasey

From how to get started to advanced rope skills, this book provides a comprehensive guide to the popular sport of rock climbing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Climbing

256 pages, Hardcover

First published November 25, 1999

Reviews

[Sportyrod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Instructional guide for rock climbing and abseiling. This caters to all levels from beginners to advanced adventurers.

There are photos with each type of hold or technique as well as how to work the various equipment. A person with moderate interest could gain alot from the pictures and descriptions alone.

This book is comprehensive and I would doubt any aspect of climbing has been missed.

The book includes some popular climb locations around the world.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in rock climbing and abseiling.

[Brit McCarthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start by saying: I am not a rock climber. Well, I've been on a big climbing wall once and abseiled once, many years ago. But I am definitely not a regular rock climber. I enjoyed it at the time (paid for it afterwards though! Ouch!) but we have lots of hobbies and not all become regular ones.

So why did I read this? Well we moved into our new house a couple of months ago and I'm in a "read-everything-before-it-gets-shelved" sorta place. And this was given to my boyfriend as a gift a few years ago and of course he never read it. So I did.

As a beginner, the opening chapters were the most interesting where it talks about what you need, how to start, basic techniques etc. Then it actually moves into points that you should know about reading maps, how to navigate, how to interpret weather charts, for when you are out there in the mountains or even just off the beaten track. Cool, all good. It lost me when we got to some of the more difficult techniques and particularly the knots. I cannot visualise the knots at all. But that's on me, because like I said, not a rock climber.

The book is full of handy diagrams and photos, but I wonder if, even though my book says 2011, this is a reprint or rebranding of an earlier book. There is some very eighties/nineties style photos in this book juxtaposed alongside newer photos. Had a giggle, won't lie.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an odd book. I've read better general rock climbing books. Some interesting tidbits - namely the figure 4 move - but this is more of a coffee table book than a mountaineering manual.