Customer Reviews

Canyoneering: Beginning to Advanced Techniques

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

 

 

I was curious to see what Mr. Van Tilburg would have to say about canyoneering. The answer was worse than I expected. He had nothing to say. He repeats a few tired cliches. He has a few flashy chapter titles. But the meat is missing. No tofu even.

Canyoneering is becoming more popular, and there is a great need for accurate information to aid people in keeping themselves safe and from getting lost. Many people are venturing out there with little or no specific knowledge about how the sport is done safely and with minimal impact. If you are looking for help with this, you'll have to wait for Rich Carlson's Canyoneering Technique Book, because you certainly won't get it from this embarrassing waste of wood pulp.

Considering the fact that canyoneering is a (relatively) new sport, the potential of this book to corner the market could have been high. Instead, what Van Tilburg produced is more of a generalist's guide to being in the Soutwest, with not as much specific information on Canyoneering as I would have hoped. The first 3/4 of the book is divided into sections on first aid, navagation, clothing, gear, weather, ect. But all of these are fairly short chapters and cover each aspect lightly. The actual technical sections on canyoneering are exelent, and cover a lot of material that I've never seen in my 7+ years of rock climbing and 15+ of backpacking. But these chapters come late in the book and are much too short. What Van Tilburg should have done (and my advice to prospective canyoneers)is to get a copy of "Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills", "The NOLS Wilderness First Aid Book", Read them and know them. Then focus on the aspects that are specific to canyoneering. Instead what was produced was a book that is full of information that, if you don't already know it, you have no buisness venturing into canyons in the first place.

Sadly, this book isn't very good. I wish it were better, because I don't know of a book that discusses "canyoneering" that is good. I think Rock Climbing by Craig Luebben and Mountaineering - The Freedom of the Hills, both by the same publisher, provide more information relevant to canyoneering than this book, even though they cover many other subjects in depth. There was only one page of information that was new to me, the topics on this page: one-rope rappelling and retrieving webbing. I wanted more but didn't get it from this book.

Very nice. A good resource for the beginner to be properly prepared. Or a good review and resource for the advanced Canyoneer. Nicely done with good format and layout. An easy reference source for details of information.

Considering the fact that canyoneering is a (relatively) new sport, the potential of this book to corner the market could have been high. Instead, what Van Tilburg produced is more of a generalist's guide to being in the Soutwest, with not as much specific information on Canyoneering as I would have hoped. The first 3/4 of the book is divided into sections on first aid, navagation, clothing, gear, weather, ect. But all of these are fairly short chapters and cover each aspect lightly. The actual technical sections on canyoneering are exelent, and cover a lot of material that I've never seen in my 7+ years of rock climbing and 15+ of backpacking. But these chapters come late in the book and are much too short. What Van Tilburg should have done (and my advice to prospective canyoneers)is to get a copy of "Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills", "The NOLS Wilderness First Aid Book", and a good book on navigation. Read them and know them. Then focus on the aspects that are specific to canyoneering. Instead what was produced was a book that is full of information that, if you don't already know it, you have no buisness venturing into canyons in the first place.