Customer Reviews

El Capitan: Historic Feats and Radical Routes

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

 

 

This book deserves 4 stars rather than 5 not for what's in it, but for what isn't. This is really a musing, a meditation on El Cap, not the definitive history which it purports to be. Duane examines the Big Stone through the experiences of some of its ascentionists: Harding, Robbins, Corbett, Middendorf, Burke, and so on. But others are strangely absent. Where is Piana and Skinner's controversial Salathe Wall first free ascent? What about the Wings of Steel incident? Where, for heaven's sake, is Lynn Hill? Duane is perhaps at his best when he interviews climbers, drawing intense, personal statements from them. Perhaps his tone is a little depressing, a little inclined to see climbing as pointless, but this is still a worthwhile, intelligently written book. For me, though, Duane's reductionist approach is, ultimately, not enough.

This is truly a splendid book, capturing personalities of Valley climbers better than anything I've read. Beautifully written, thoughtful, insightful. Great pics also. But Duane is sometimes a sloppy researcher. Misspelled names galore (Scott Burk throughout, e.g.) Wrong dates. Wrong first-ascent names. Screwed-up captions. Bad geography (Palms Springs lies under the Tehachipi Mountains?). These are minor flaws but irritating to see in such a brilliant writer.

I was excited to see a new history book on El Capitan, but the final product was short of my expectations. Duane draws a few good observations and insight at times, but the guts of the book strike me as a rehash of articles from all kinds of other publications. I have an unusually large collection of climbing literature, which may skew my observations because I've seen so much of the raw historical material he draws from for the book in so many other places. I don't mind that so much, but I was hoping to hear some of the not-so-well known stories of adventures on El Cap and a little more new insight into the historical figures of the big stone. It just wasn't there for me. People who are not so read up on climbing history will probably find the book more enjoyable. The book is an incredibly quick read (not that much text, but lots of pictures) for a subject that could easily justify a much larger book.

I put this on my Christmas wishlist this year after reading Duane's year in the life of a surfer 'Caught Inside', which I loved and I was rapt to get a copy as a present.

I'd finished it by Boxing day and it was a bit like that slightly unsatisfying feeling you get after a meal at a Chinese restaurant! I just wanted a bit more.

It's a lovely looking book with some evocative black and white shots of the Yosemite pioneers and its obviously something Duane is passionate about but it rushes by all too fast and there's not much sense of anything holding it together.

I wanted more about some of the individual journeys up the wall; it either should have been more technical, or less. It's part picture/coffee table book, part narrative. Duane skips through thenm in a kind of unconnected way that didn't leave me with anything to hang on to!

El Capitan is the Holy Grail of Big Wall Climbing and Duane does a very good job providing background history of the Walls and the Legends who made their mark on them. Yes, I've read the other reviews concerned with minor inaccuracies and lack of mention of significant climbers. But, hey, I'm a novice and have never been to Yosemite although I hope to go in the next year. Duane is best in interviewing the legends and telling their background stories and trying to translate the reasons they climb. It's a fascinating story. My favorite being the men stuck on the wall when a storm comes and their bivouc tents are virtually destroyed. Also, it's nice to read about the free spirits whose goal in life have nothing to do with money and all to do with the Wall. Overall, I found this book informative, very concise, and filled with great pictures. It may not however, satisfy the experienced climbers who follow climbing history or have significant experience in Yosemite. But for people fascinated with climbing and the personalities involved, it was a great quick, informative read.