Customer Reviews

Alpine Caving Techniques

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is THE best book on European caving techniques I have seen. It is the English edition of a French classic. It covers everything you should know about vertical caving, from equipment to caving techniques, rigging, and rescue. A chapter on organizing caving expeditions is also great. It is loaded with tips, techniques and caving ethics. The illustrations are very clear and it has many great caving photographs. It also makes a great reading, you will not be able to put it down! Get it, together with On Rope by Smith and Padget and you will need no other resource on caving techniques. Buy this book, you will not be disappointed!

The technical sections on ropework and self-rescue are excellent and lengthy even if the diagrams often leave much to the imagination. This is easily forgiven, since it allows the book to be more compact than On Rope. The recommendations on vertical technique are also very helpful, though the authors assume that their techniques will be used exactly, leaving those of us with other systems to do a lot of alterations. One imagines ranks of European cavers dressed and geared identically except for the color of their webbing.

My main complaints with the book are the undeniably dated and region-specific recommendations regarding gear, and some highly questionable choices in the translation of commonly-used words and phrases. Also some Eurocentrism and an occasional air of French superiority.

Be prepared for (sometimes intentionally) hilarious interjections by the authors, which spice up the dry material.

I think each caver must have this book on his table. Here present all what you need to know for caves exploration and few basic things for rescue.

This quite short text is very instructive and clear with good illustrations. The book, has become somewhat of a classic in vertical caving. It advocates the "French technique", that has become the "ordinary" technique in caving the recent years, at least in Europe. It is an ideal starting point for cavers who have mostly been caving in horisontal caves to take the step up to vertical exploring. At least I found it very useful when I took that step many years ago.

Even if you are an American caver, the focus on learning fundamental techniques, as well as reinforcement of safety for all procedures, makes this a must-read for every caver on every continent.