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Home > Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills: 50th Anniversary
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Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills: 50th Anniversary
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By Ronald C. Eng (Editor) and Ronald C. Eng
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 (23 Reviews)
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List Price: $29.95
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Publisher:
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Mountaineers Books
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Edition:
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8
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Date:
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December 31, 1969 |
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Binding:
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Paperback
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Pages:
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596
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| Product Description: |
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50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THE RENOWNED BIBLE OF CLIMBING AND MOUNTAINEERING.
With more than 600,000 copies sold, Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills is the acclaimed bible for climbers all over the world, and the new edition marks the 50th anniversary of this seminal title.
Since the publication of the first edition in 1960, Freedom, as the book is known, has endured as a classic mountaineering text. From choosing equipment to tying a climbing knot, and from basic rappelling techniques to planning an expedition, it is all here in this essential mountaineering reference. A team of more than forty experts, all active climbers and climbing educators, reviewed, revised, and updated this compendium to reflect the latest evolutions in mountaineering equipment and techniques. Major updates include a significant new chapter on conditioning, plus detailed and extensive revisions to rescue and first-response, aid climbing, and waterfall and ice climbing.
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Customers' Reviews:
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Without hyperbole, the greatest book on mountaineering in the history of human civilization!, January 25, 2011
By Peter Norgaard (Seattle, WA United States)
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Someone once told me "Mountaineering is just like backpacking with less margin for error". Of course the reality is that there are additional skills, concepts, and so on that you absolutely need to know before hauling yourself onto a rock face or glacier. This book contains all of that - the accumulated wealth of knowledge based on the experience of more than 40 of the world's best mountaineers. What makes this book so unrivaled?
- Topics are effectively separated into chapters that allow you to find what you need fast
- Information is presented with photos and diagrams to clarify each and every detail
- The writing style is pleasant to read - neither frivolous nor obfuscating
- Everything you ever wanted to know (about mountaineering) is in the book
Buy several copies, sleep with one as a pillow in the hopes the information will naturally osmose into your brain, love mountaineering, be safe, and in your many travels please respect our natural resources!
19 of 24 people found this review helpful
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The Absolute Pinnacle of Mountaineering Information, October 29, 2010
By Pierre Y.
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With over 1/2 a million copies sold, "Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills" is truly is "the bible" of safe and efficient climbing. With the book measuring in at over one inch thick, it would be impossible to accurately give it justice in the space provided here. Therefore, I'll hit the highlights. The 6th edition, which I have, is divided up into 6 parts:
-outdoor fundamentals...covers things such as clothing/equipment/land nav/food
-climbing fundamentals...knot tying/rappelling info
-rock climbing...footholds/shoes/leading on rock
-snow, ice, and Alpine climbing...the in's and outs of ice and snow climbs (includes various rescues)
-emergency prevention and response...leading in a crisis situation/first aid
-the mountain enviroment..mountain geology/snow cycles/cloud types (neat pics!!)
The book ends with a nice list of additional reading (like you'd really need to with all the info in this book!). As you can see, there's really one word to describe this book- COMPLETE. So, if you're looking for a mountaineering resource to put on your shelf for when some questions come to mind- GET IT! Also recommend Treat Your Own Rotator Cuff if you have a shoulder problem that interferes with your climbing.
14 of 17 people found this review helpful
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A review by GearFlogger.net, November 14, 2010
By GearFlogger.net
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Remember Steve Martin in The Jerk? "The new phone books are here!" He was excited, but he's got nothing on mountaineers everywhere who are rejoicing at the 50th anniversary 8th Edition of Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills. It's at least 3.7 percent better, 596 pages for the 8th Edition versus a mere 575 pages for the 7th Edition from waaaay back in 2003. That's pre-Facebook for you punks who won't get off my lawn.
FOTH has sold over 600,000 copies since the first edition in 1960, and it is without question the bible for those who would rather be in the mountains thinking about God than in church thinking about the mountains. Over thirty experts worked for Seattle based nonprofit publisher Mountaineers Books to update all 27 chapters, including completely redoing the conditioning chapter and producing major updates to rescue and first response, aid climbing, and waterfall and ice climbing. One example of the updates is a treatment of equalettes in the anchors section of the fundamentals chapter.
FOTH is a solid grounding in the basic rules of mountaineering, with only the occasional omission, e.g. clipping through on a running belay. FOTH recommends the middle climber unclip from the rope in front and then clip in the rope behind, but this is less safe than grabbing both strands of the rope, on either side of the middle climber's harness tie-in, and clipping them simultaneously into the anchor carabiner. Likewise sport climbing is given short shrift, with a few paragraphs detailing the dangers of not tying in the belayer but no mention given to the advantages of a dynamic belay, e.g. a softer catch.
But these are minor quibbles with the master text, and Mountaineers Books provides many complementary volumes of advanced learning in the mountain arts through its Outdoor Expert series. OK, so here's what you do: click on the link below to go to Amazon. Add FOTH to your cart. Then add The Mountaineering Handbook by Craig Connally to your cart. Connally's book is the edgy, fast and light version of FOTH, so for about 33 bucks you get free shipping and two books that complement each other very well. The truly discerning climber will add Glacier Mountaineering by Andy Tyson, with its excellent illustrations by Mike Clelland, for a mere 12 bucks. That's a Ph.D. in getting high for under a Ulysses.
13 of 20 people found this review helpful
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Great book, illustrations now available for Kindle, March 9, 2012
By R. Giuliani (Boulder, CO)
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This is a great book, obviously, and has been the mountaineering bible for years. The Kindle edition, however, is a bad purchase. It lacks all of the charts that accompany the text! Want to view the Equipment checklist, figure 2.3? Think again! You're SOL. Feel like I was ripped off.
EDIT 4/1/12
Unclear if the publisher updated the book, or if I have an updated Kindle for iPad app, but all of the charts and illustrations now are appearing so purchase away, and I've changed my rating. Perfect timing too, since I'm going climbing in Denli National Park in June.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful
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For starters, November 17, 2010
By Stephen Pellerine (In a bookshelf somewhere)
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I must say that if you are interested in the hills, the mountains, and climbing that this book is an essential read. It was an inspiration for me; I started with the 5th edition of this book and practiced knots, anchoring, and rescue systems.
I was mostly a sports climber, but dabbled with Alpine routes and Ice, and must say a lot of what I learned (theory) was from this book. Obviously don't just rely on literature! Get a guide and someone with experience to work your first ropes and gradually jump on board - but there are a lot of cool things from this book that you can indeed safely trial, use judgment.
A new climbers must. A climber that had not entered this, and enjoys a good book, can use this as a reference. For a generalist with no interest in climbing this will help you understand the art of climbing better and does provide useful information on navigation, hiking, and being outdoors. I see this as a great book for a wide audience.
4 of 8 people found this review helpful
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Great climbing resource, March 15, 2011
By Scott Moder
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Being a relatively novice climber with a decent amount of experience, I was told that this book is a staple for anyone who has a genuine interest in becoming more involved with climbing. So far I am definitely happy with the content and have learned a lot as well as reinforced fundemental knowledge that I've picked up on along the way. Excellent book overall.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
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A must!, January 18, 2011
By Nomad
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This book will DEFINITELY not disappoint! It's thorough in detail, images, tips, guides and more. It doesn't only cover mountaineering but many other aspects including rescue. The ideal for any climbing (or aspiring climber) enthusiast. A MUST!
Well worth every penny.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful
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Very Comprehensive and Current guide., January 10, 2011
By howied (Portland, OR)
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This really is a comprehensive and up to date book for mountaineering. I bought the book and then bought the kindle version too (that I can access on my iPhone) as it's a wonderful reference. It's the text for a fairly rigorous mountaineering class I'm taking and I'm very impressed.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful
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The "bible" of Mountaineering, April 18, 2012
By Eric Linxweiler
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There's not much to say about this amazing work that hasn't already been said. However, it is important to recognize what goes into this work - particularly the 8th edition. This is the 50th year of The Mountaineers producing this work, but really started with the handwritten notes of Wolf Bauer (and later typed up by Mary and Lloyd Anderson - founders of REI) seventy five years ago. In that time it has helped launch the climbing careers of thousands upon thousands of mountaineers. Every time a new edition is crafted, a select group of volunteer climb leaders and instructors come together to gather the collective wisdom of everyone who used the previous edition and how to make it better. For new climbers, for experts, and for those who are looking to improve certain skills.
I keep a copy on my bookshelf, and very dirty and well used copy under the seat of my truck. Guess which one I use more often, and in more fun places?
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Comprehensive, January 30, 2012
By PBP (MT)
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I'm not going to restate what all the other reviews say. This book is a comprehensive manual to mountaineering. If you've never mountaineered, camped, or rock climbed, and are interested in any of the three, this book has valuable information for you. It doesn't talk about sport climbing, but it does give some good information on climbing techniques, self-arrest, clothing, ropes, geology, map reading, planning, exercising and the like.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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No Mountain to High... with this book!, January 28, 2012
By Professional Warrior (NC, USA)
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This is by far the gold standard in mountain climbing reference manuals. It is the go-to book, the bible for the serious climber. This classic has regularly updated since its first publication in 1960 and is currently in its 8th edition (at the writing of this review). This manual covers everything one would need to know to negotiate this formable terrain, from choosing clothing and equipment; to understanding mountain navigation and physical fitness, and safely traveling across glaciers to understanding weather. This book covers it all and is a must own for the hill walker to full blow expedition climber.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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You need this book., April 4, 2011
By blue
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If you climb or hike, you need to know the basics, the newest edition does not dissapoint with updated information.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful
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Awesome book!, May 4, 2012
By Oleksii
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Bought it because of the class I am taking. Very good book. Pretty much the whole mountaineering in one book. Very useful.
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A must have for climbers and mountaineers, April 22, 2012
By Stanti
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Buy this book. If you are a climber or a mountaineer there is a vast amount of knowledge you will learn from this fantastically written book.
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Outstanding!, March 20, 2012
By Ronald J. Betts
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I found this book's title on a climbing forum. It is astounding. I am a gym climber that has always aspired to venture onto real rock and "real" situations. Your life is hanging on a line when you climb. When leading you must know that your anchors, equipment, belaying techniques, preplanning, and a number of other things are as close to perfect as possible. I have only been reading and incorporating the information in this book for about eight days. I have at least added 20% to my overall climbing knowledge. This book gives you confidence to go bigger. Today I particularly found the information on anchors phenomenal. It has answered every question that was burning in my mind since gym climbing yesterday.
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What Can I Say????, March 10, 2012
By John Sensenstein (Lake Geneva WI)
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What Can I say that has not already been said other than I agree with the majority that this book is breathtaking in its scope and certainly appears to be the bible of the climbing sport. I've had my head buried in it for a number of weeks, and it still amazes me in its detail and scope. Definitely a must own book for the serious climber--or wannabe.
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This is THE book., February 6, 2012
By GearGuy (Pacific Island)
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This is THE book on mountaineering. It covers the fundamentals, and some advanced information as well. This book's techniques are a great 'level set' for members of a trip.
If you are new to mountaineering; possibly transitioning from class 3 hikes to more technical routes, this is a great first book.
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Mountaineering 101, January 12, 2012
By Chris
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This textbook has everything a beginner mountaineer needs to know. Survival skills, dress/layering, knots, climbing techniques, maps/navigation, resue - everything as advertised. Great book!
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Mountaineering Bible, December 7, 2011
By B.Santiago (Toronto, ON Canada)
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Ignore this book at your peril. If you are attempting to climb a big mountain, and don't know what this book is. Good Luck!
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All mountaineers/outdoor enthusiasts MUST HAVE!, December 6, 2011
By ordinary being (CA, USA)
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This is the book that the Sierra Club recommends us to read in their Wilderness Training Course. The topics covers almost everything one needs to know in order to be a safe, conscientious, and responsible mountaineer. From gear list and how to select appropriate gear for your needs, compass & map skills, basic rock climbing/rope/knots skills, to what food to pack for your outdoor adventures.
Disclaimer: The Sierra Club doesn't endorse this book.
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A Backpackers/Mountaineers MUST Read, May 9, 2011
By ahopwood (Arizona)
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This is the Bible of outdoorsmen information. I highly recommend digesting the material before any long trip that involves climbing, mountaineering, extra long backpacking, and high altitude mountain operations. I have been in the outdoors for many years, I have taught multiple outdoors courses, and have used this book to prepare and update my courses.
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Great reference guide, March 7, 2011
By The Reverend Admiral (Long Beach, CA USA)
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I bought the 7th edition years ago and recently replaced it with this new 8th edition. It's really a good well all around guide that will give you lots of useful information to get you going. Yes some of the stuff in it might not be used by say your typical climber, but this is a mountaineering book and as such the information and techniques are sometimes geared towards that. It's still a good reference book to have.
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The source of (mountaineering) wisdom, June 24, 2011
By kwood
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As a novice, mostly self-taught climber, this book is a wealth of knowledge. Mostly easy to understand and pertinent information. I plan to read it continually forever.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful
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