Freedom of the Hills

[Atl]

I was looking for a good book on general climbing and ropes. Joseph Beth in Lexington had nothing but gym climbing stuff. At Hastings in Richmond they had only one book. It was this thick book called "Mountaineering Freedom of the Hills". It looked mostly like a lot of bullshit with all of these line drawings and zero big color photos, but I am desperate for something to read. Anyone read this and is it any good?

[KD]

" How to Rock Climb" forgot he author. its in diff vols and is really pretty good. falcon publishes it - you can find it on amazon.com

[MOB]

freedom of the hills is awesome. tons of technical info, no bullshit. Would definitely suggest it. lacks big colorful photos.

[ynot]

Freedom of the Hills is awesome. Lots and lots of solid beta. I have a copy here somewhere.

[Atl]

I bought it. I was just bullshitting about it being lame. It seems great so far. I was just wanting others opinion on it.

[B.J.]

FOTH is fantastic. The drawings are cheesy but they get the point across. Full color photos would be nice, but they would also drive up the cost. Anyway, FOTH is a climbing textbook -- touches on a lot of subjects but leaves it to other texts to go into greater detail.

The "How to Climb" books are written (mostly) by John Long and are probably the most recommended of all climbing books. Long's "Climbing Anchors (2nd ed.)" is full of valuable info and an absolute must-read.

[kdelap]

Freedom of the Hills is referred to as the Bible by many. It is updated every few years on input from some of the most experienced mountaineers around the world. I’d say it’s a good read.

[Pru]

hell yeah, FOTH is essential. I also second the advice about John Long's climbing anchors book.

[gulliver]

Freedom of the Hills is a great book for general climbing and ropes. Along the same style is The Handbook of Climbing/Fyffe & Peter, British mountaineering council. Those books will give you good details but also build a broad base of knowledge.

John Long how to books.

The Amazon store link at http://rrgcc.org/ has some good choices. I think it's under the Join/Donate button.

Freedom of the hills isn't going to have much gym climbing stuff. Not much specific about drop knees or Gaston's or clipping techniques, but you said general and ropes. It's good reading and it will tease the adventurous out of you. I'd get it.

[ynot]

dangit. Can't find it. I was going to peruse it, just becoz. If Mrs ynot sold it at one of her yard sales I'll be ticked off.