Customer Reviews

Lightweight Alpine Climbing with Peter Croft (Climbing Specialists)

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

 

 

If you are very recent to climbing, you might like this book. Otherwise skip it.
No doubt Peter Croft is a climbing genius, but his book contains little insight for anyone other than novices. But I agree with the 13 year-old: the intro is great reading. This guy has done some great climbing.
Why 2 stars ? In this book, there is actually a drawing of a nalgene bottle and water filter with the caption "Water Filter and Bottle". He also informs us that a bivy sack is smaller and lighter than a tent. And that a headlamp is better than a flashlight because you can still use your hands. And that a map and compass are usefull items when in unfamiliar terrain. Wow. I can't wait to take this insight into the mountains.
There are a few tidbits of good info here - but surf the web and get better info for free.

This book is very much dissappointing. The matieral covered is very shallow, and certainly doesn't have anything that isn't covered in Freedom of the Hills. The drawings and photographs are all very basic. He tells a few good stories, but none are deep or insightful enough to convey a lesson. Save you money towards FOTHs, John Long's Climbing Anchors, or Extreme Alpinism.

Croft is a legendary climber, and has contributed greatly to the sport and to its literature. However, this little book is not his best work. There is almost nothing here that isn't covered in "Freedom of the Hills", and if you want the graduate text, buy Mark Twight's "Extreme Alpinism". However, if you are a complete "newby" to the sport of alpinism, this will provide some useful information and entertain you for a few evenings. Experienced climbers will likely be disappointed in this rather unambitious book.

Great book on what works for a great climber. Many climbers strive to deal with fear by convincing themselves they can bring gear and know systems that will get them through any situation.

This book is not about that, it is about how little you need to do amazing things in the mountains. The simple, straightforward timeless systems it describes and the philosophy of self reliance and trusting ones feelings and intuition will take you farther and keep you safer then the encyclopedia of bad, untested or outdated advice in other books.

Peter Croft of Green Mountain Falls..a pioneer climber ..a phenominal artist
...a person who can immitate a cat immitating a squirel,
a person who could paint high towers in Florida..
and paint armadillos, aboriginees and grand canyons with equal ease..
unique doesn't even begin to touch this fella, I would
recomend reading him.

I never get tired of revisiting this book since I discovered it last summer. Being relatively new to alpine climbing, I suffer from gear paranoia: "I may get too cold if I don't bring this, etc." Experience is the best antidote for this, but this book will get you there faster. Croft speaks with surprising candor about his climbing experiences.

I had the oppontunity to meet this amazing climber at a slide show in Truckee, CA.I was absolutely astonished at how much he has accomplished in both rockclimbing and mountaineering.I recommend anyone who has a passion for climbing or mountaineering to read everything he puts out..wealth of knowledge...plus he is a super nice guy and funny to boot.

This book shars his own expercences. It gives some great real life sories of some of his jounerys like when he and a friend clibed half dowm and I like el capatain in one day (a pretty feunny story) all i can say is that it is a great book and i'm only 13!!!