Customer Reviews

Camp 4: Recollections of a Yosemite Rockclimber

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was a Yosemite climber in the 1970's and met a number of the major characters (Frost, Chouinard, Robbins, Harding). Steve Roper has done an incredible job of capturing the ephemeral facts and essential spirit of the climbers and times. He is frank about their weaknesses: "We were thoughtless and immature"(pg 154) and "...we were puerile youths. We had been taught the correct values at home, yet we rebelled against everything," (pg 155-6), referring to the troubles they caused in the Vally. He is honest about his own failures, both in his own character and on climbs he could not do. He is enthusiastic about the successes of the pioneers and freely gives credit to those who deserve it. Steve not only gives you facts, he gives you feelings and insights. You can't get better history than this.

The only criticism I have is that the book ends. I could have kept reading for many more days. If you want to FEEL what it was like, buy this book. I will bet you can't read it only once.

If you want to understand rock climbing, this book is a must read. Roper's "Camp 4" describes where it all began. This book should be part of every climber's education. It may not be written in the most beautiful prose and some may not always agree with Roper's perspective, but this book is packed with pictures, facts, and stories - many of them exciting, often funny, and some of them tragic and sad. Reading this book has only deepened my fascination with Yosemite and climbing in general. I wish there was a follow-up that tells the story about what happenend since the "Golden Age".

Wow! Steve did an excellent job of portraying the 'climbing scene,' as well as accurately describing the many colorful characters of the era.

I spent some time in Camp 4 during the summer of 1965 and met many of these wonderful characters. But...as an earlier reviewer pointed out, this was an extremely closed society, and non-California climbers were treated with disdain. Younger "wannabees" were pretty well ostracized, and women? Well, women climbers really didn't know how to climb! Living on next to no money, sleeping under a rock, hiding from the rangers, confronting bears, scarfing food in the cafeteria and coffee shop, stealing tips from the restaurant tables were all "normal" for many of these gifted lunatics. Many of them were my friends, and a good number of them haven't survived to present day and I miss them. Pratt, Fredericks, Sacherer, Roper, and numerous others; they were certainly unique individuals.

This was a heart rending book for me--reminding me of days gone by and the experiences I had in Yosemite.

This is probably the best account of the Golden Age of Yosemite climbing that has come off the presses. Very honest portrayal of the figures and players by someone who has there to see it all. Very moving, and also very humurous at times. Roper has truly captured the spirit of a long gone era for the younger generation to enjoy and look up to. Thanks.

While I doubt anybody could do complete justice to the history of rock climbing in Yosemite, Roper's focus provides a wonderful personal perspective on the most important twenty years of the development of this activity in Yosemite.

Since he knew, and climbed with, many of the pioneers of modern free and aid climbing, this book is often more valuable as a source of anecdote than as a more detached "history". Taken as such, though, it is well-written and entertaining.

As an avid climber I also find my interest in the past has always been sparked.If you want an insiders view of the "golden age"of Yosemite climbing then this is a great read!!!As Steve Roper was there.Ive been a climber since 72 and early on Yosemite "rules" were what everyone went by.Roper brings you right into the minds and personalitys of the true stars and heros of this great sport.

Steve Roper is meticulous. This is an excellent history, and I feel positive and secure that Mr. Roper's records are as accurate and precise as they can possibly be of that rowdy and rambunctious world. I enjoyed reading about the historical climbers and the more social rock climbers of the '30s. Those were the days when families came, climbed a little, picnicked a lot, and a good time was had by all.

The Golden Age of the '60s, of which Steve was a part, was a time of great improvements in equipment and methods, and also a first crack at some of the awesome spires that were heretofore thought "impossible." It was wild, giddy and reckless, adjectives I would never apply to Steve Roper. Mr. Roper is austere in his beliefs of the "purity" of the climb and who is worthy. Though he recounts a few wild escapades, I had the feeling he did not approve. His callousness toward the first Camp 4 fatality made me back up and reread. Yep, I read it right, though I'm sure he was trying to keep up the "Right Stuff" façade in the face of what must have been a great shock to an 18-year old boy. That is the problem; there are so few that Roper considers to have the Right Stuff. If they were women, they were mere appendages. If male and had the misfortune to be born after 1955, they were not pure enough.

John Long's "Rock Jocks, Wall Rats and Hang Dogs" is devoted to Camp 4 in the '70s. John is Steve's polar opposite except in their mutual love for and expertise in rock climbing. John is wildly funny and sometimes just wild, but I had more a feeling of place when reading his book.

As another reviewer said, "Camp 4" is a must-have for West Coast rock enthusiasts. It is considered the Bible of the Golden Age.
-sweetmolly-Amazon.com Reviewer

I spent a few days in Yosemite, looking at the amazing rock formations, and wondered, who was the first person to say, "I can climb that." This book was available at a store in Yosemite and answered my question. A good history of the region's climbing, and an informative, compelling glimpse into the lifestyle of the climbers in the late 50's - 60's. A really good read. Thanks!!!

Steve Roper does a great job telling the story of the early and golden days of climbing in Yosemite. Unlike many authors of climbing books, Roper is an excellent, intelligent writer, his stories are informative and entertaining. This is a must read for any climber or anyone interested in learning what climbing is all about.

You have to know the past to know the future. Camp 4 will give you the history lessons that are articulated very well and entertaining at the same time. Speaking as an "outsider" all I an say is I wish I was part of the 60's and 70's climbing scene in the Yosemite Valley.

Dr. Jim Block