Stoic Climbing: Finding Wisdom on the Rock

by Juan Marbarro

Climbing goes beyond simply being a physical activity. When climbing we are exposed to situations where we have to confront difficulty, discomfort, fear, frustration, decision making, among other things. Through these trials and tribulations, we are given the opportunity to surmount many life’s struggles which will deepen in our ability to develop our mental strength and the ability to maintain serenity.

In order to have serenity in our lives we need to efficiently manage the challenges and difficulties we face and the emotions they generate. Many situations will provoke negative emotions, we must develop the strength to manage them, to objectively observe them, to take action when necessary and to avoid making decisions based on erroneous impressions. All the while continuously learning and enjoying the whole process, leaving all unnecessary tension behind.

The Stoics have been writing about these issues for over two millennia. In this book you will find the practical application of philosophical concepts that are brought to us in a clear and simple way through climbing. Wisdom not only to climb better, but to live better as well.

Genres: Climbing

124 pages, Paperback

Published June 4, 2021

Reviews

[Gerardo Rodriguez Chiang Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book. It's a great introduction to Stoicism and it teaches you how to apply this philosophy of thought in climbing.

[Fallon Rowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm an expert on both Stoicism and rock climbing (for my career), so I was initially excited to find this book. Overall, the concepts are solid, and he conveys the basics of the philosophy and how to use it to your advantage in climbing. I recognize that the book is short so the scope was limited, but there was more room for development — most of it reads like it was written for a blog post, and was not as refined or developed as one would expect in a nonfiction book. The quotes he chose to include from the famous Stoics were solid and relevant.

For most of the book, where the word should be "Stoic" it instead has "stoic". The capitalization is really important, because the lowercase stoic in English actually has a completely different meaning (basically meaning unemotional) whereas the capitalized Stoic is in reference to the branch of philosophy. This important distinction could definitely trip up laypeople, especially if this book is their only exposure to Stoic philosophy. Very disappointing.

Also, the English translation and proofreading is the worst I've ever seen in a printed book. There are constant fragmented sentences, lots of incorrect grammar, extra words, misspelled words, etc. It's clear an English-speaking climber never proofread it. For example, in places where it should say climbing "move", it instead has the word "step", which was pretty confusing at first until I realized what he was trying to say.

It's a shame that these problems distract from the basic quality of the ideas. Hopefully in a future edition he could have a better translator and editor, so the focus can be on the actual content.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

My brother Bryan gave a copy of this book to my youngest son, Nathan, recently for high school graduation because he is a climber. I picked it up and enjoyed it myself. Whether relating stoicism to climbing, or climbing to stoicism, I enjoyed the simple application and metaphors. like many philosophies stoic principles can make sense, but still require intention and effort to apply.

[Harry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Generic and poorly edited..

[Paris Salmon MD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this in public is one of my new favorite devious activities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Absolute masterpiece

[Carolina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5⭐️

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent meditation on the stoic elements of climbing. Maribarro is a great writer, and I loved his observations and his ability to give meaning to climbing through his interpretation of Stoic texts.