Trailside Guide: Rock Climbing, New Edition [Paperback]

Don Mellor (Author), Ron Hildebrand (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Trailside Guides | Publication Date: February 2003

Smart, instructive, and beautifully designed, every book in the Trailside Guide series contains the essential information readers need to master outdoor activities and have fun in the process.

Norton proudly reissues these best-selling guides with fully revised "Sources & Resources" sections (including where to find the Web sites, gear, services, books, clubs, and organizations that make for foolproof outings); updates to reflect the latest in gear technology, wilderness medicine, and first aid; and advances in techniques. Climbing has become a hot sport thanks to indoor climbing walls in big cities and small towns all across America. But conventional climbing guides have failed to keep pace with the sport's surge in popularity. Rock Climbing is designed to help beginners go beyond their first experiences at a climbing gym and gain the skills they need to get out, rope up, and climb! It explains safe climbing techniques in a logical step-by-step sequence with special emphasis on transferring techniques acquired indoors to the wider world of actual rock faces. Full-color sequential illustrations, stunning color photographs, and the author's field-tested teaching approach clarify all the fundamentals, including gear, knots, top roping, leading, anchors, belaying, and rappelling. Whether readers are getting started at the local gym or aspiring to head to the big mountain faces, this guide will give them a rock-solid foundation to build on. You can take it with you: Trailside Guides are designed to be used on the trail. Their handy size makes them easy to take along on outdoor adventures. Picture this: Trailside Guides show you how it's done. Each book has more than 100 color photographs and dozens of informative, full-color technical illustrations you'll refer to again and again. Buying Guide: Each Guide has all the information readers need to make informed decisions about what gear is available, and what they should buy. Step-by-step: Tutorials take readers through every aspect of a given outdoor activity. Each Guide covers planning and preparing for a trip, getting in shape, technique, safety, and first-aid tips, and how to have more fun along the way! Easy to use: Trailside Guides provide information quickly. Every book contains detailed illustrations, information-packed sidebars, and a complete index and bibliography. Technique tips: Any physical activity is more fun when it's done right. Trailside Guides are written by experts and contain lucid explanations that help the reader quickly achieve proficiency. It's a big world out there. Get into it with the Trailside Guides. Color photographs and drawings throughout

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Don Mellor, professional climbing guide and instructor for twenty years, is the author of Climbing in the Adirondacks (Adirondack Mountain Club).

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (February 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039331653X
• ISBN-13: 978-0393316537
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #783,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive and well-illustrated source of information, October 14, 1999

By 

Eric Estes ([e-mail]) (Fort Collins, Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trailside Guide: Rock Climbing, New Edition (Paperback)

This is absolutely the best beginner's guide to hiking that I have seen. It briefly covers every aspect of the sport, from gear to technique (and even some philosophy.) It is concisely written and well illustrated with color diagrams and stunning photography. The information is presented in the perfect level of detail, which keeps the reader from feeling bogged down with useless information. If I had to recommend one single source of information for the beginning climber, this would be it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tons of information. Useful for beginner to intermediate., January 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Trailside Guide: Rock Climbing, New Edition (Paperback)

I picked up this book thinking that it would be useless considering the high proportion of color photos to words. After scanning it for a couple of minutes, I changed my mind and took it to the check-out counter (I was in a store). This book starts at the beginning and covers nearly everything I newcomer needs to know. I've read "climbing" books many times thicker that didn't have nearly as much usleful info. The color graphics show the reader *how* to do things instead of merely explain them. This book is less than 3/4 inch thick and bound in plastic/nylon so that it will fit in any backpack and resist abuse. The author makes this an interesting read and scattered throughout the book are many sidenotes with extra tips, bits of climbing history, and interesting facts. No book can take the place of professional training and practice, but this is one of the best books on the modern art of rock climbing. Keep in mind the age of the material when buying books on rock climbing as the "sport" is ever-changing and so is the gear that you need to understand.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Written right, December 11, 2000

By 

Anthony O'Krongly (Arlington, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trailside Guide: Rock Climbing, New Edition (Paperback)

The old "textbook" model of learning is obsolete. This book does it right: Short, well illustrated articles that cover topics concisely; Sidebars that reinforce; Well marked sections that are self-contained.

I started climbing last week and I bought half a dozen books. I have two that I consider priceless. This one and: Rock Climbing (Outdoor Pursuits Series).

Call me a Gen. X, MTV, schitzoid; but these books both work the way I think!