Reddit Reddit reviews Rock Climbing, 2nd Edition: Mastering Basic Skills (Mountaineers Outdoor Experts)

We found 7 Reddit comments about Rock Climbing, 2nd Edition: Mastering Basic Skills (Mountaineers Outdoor Experts). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

Sports & Outdoors
Books
Mountaineering
Mountain Climbing
Rock Climbing, 2nd Edition: Mastering Basic Skills (Mountaineers Outdoor Experts)
Rock Climbing 2nd Edition
Check price on Amazon

7 Reddit comments about Rock Climbing, 2nd Edition: Mastering Basic Skills (Mountaineers Outdoor Experts):

u/rocksouffle · 4 pointsr/climbing

If you are truly curious and you want to expand your knowledge such that you can more safely operate within a wider variety of top access scenarios, consider investing in some of these books:

  • Rock Climbing: Mastering Basic Skills
  • Rock Climbing: The AMGA Single Pitch Manual
  • Rock Climbing Anchors: A Comprehensive Guide Book

    Sure, you may certainly get by in life perfectly fine with substantially less knowledge, but if you are posting here with a question as thoroughly written out as the one you have here, you are likely interested in having a larger "toolkit" to feel more confident when approaching these types of situations. These books (among others) will, without a doubt, greatly enhance your anchor building and risk management "toolkit".

    Consider, for instance, that if you are carrying a static "setup rope" for top rope anchors, there are numerous ways to leverage it to establish both a high master point (away from the edge) and an instructor tether to allow yourself to control your movement around, near, and over the edge without exposing yourself to the risk of falling while you establish a low master point over the edge for a top rope anchor. Sometimes this may be overkill and sometimes it may be precisely what you need to feel confident in this type of situation. Having this knowledge on tap allows you to make more informed decisions.

    Two examples of these types of systems are

  • the backside system
  • and perhaps more awesomely the three in one.

    If you want to learn more about those systems, the SPI manual has a reasonable primer on each of them. Personally, I like the Donahue/Luebben Mastering Basic Skills book a little bit more if I had to pick one of the two, but you cannot go wrong with either one.

    Best of luck.
u/ghetto_dave · 3 pointsr/phoenix

Get a buddy and go indoor rock climbing first, second and third. I love PRG. There you will learn several important things like the basic tie in knot, how to trust the rope and how to belay with a grigri. You will learn to use your whole body without trying to do pull ups. Its really pretty easy to get people to go indoor climbing vs outdoor, and then you can find the people who like climbing and you trust with your life.


If you are the kind of person who likes to read about things before going out and trying them, try this and if you want to do trad (not pre anchored sport routes) this.


When I first started climbing, I almost took a class here. If you don't have a bunch of indoor climbing experience, some experienced friend, or just a mind for detail and a crap load of overconfidence - take the class. I learned as I went with a few good friends, but there were a few lessons that we almost learned the hard way. Have fun up there!

u/disinterestedMarmot · 3 pointsr/WildernessBackpacking

TRAAAAAAAIN!

Basically, if you want to climb mountains, you need to be fit. A weak person with the best gear and training money can buy is rolling the dice. A strong person with minimal gear and training is rolling loaded dice. A well trained person can move faster to avoid weather, is more resilient to heat and cold, can exert themselves for longer on minimal food, and can help their partner when their partner can't help themselves. Remember: fatigue makes cowards of us all.

Of course, you generally want to be strong and smart and well equipped. But the first thing to do is train. It's pretty simple right now - what you really need to do is build up your cardiovascular and slow-twitch muscle base - which means you need to go hiking a lot. Go backpacking or peakbagging on the weekends - or day hikes if you have constraints. During your day-to-day, walk and stand as much as possible. Go for a long run at least once a week, but keep a relatively low heart rate (if you have to open your mouth to breathe, you are going too fast). Do some core work, too - weightlifting or yoga are both quite good for this. For a far more complete description of how to train for hiking and mountaineering, I suggest picking up a copy of Training for the New Alpinism.

As for technical skills and knowledge - well, you can bag easy peaks with a minimal amount, but here's a list of skills that will get you started, in approximate order from least to most advanced:

Backpacking
You said you'd done day hikes before - have you been backpacking? If not, this is a crucial first step. There is a ton of information online, and it isn't terribly difficult or dangerous, so you should be able to learn on your own. Here is a pretty good gear list to get you started. Also, make sure you learn and abide by LNT.

Wilderness First Aid
This is obviously good to know if you plan on tackling difficult or remote peaks. While there are many resources online (and you could get a decent overview simply by going through the requirements for the Boy Scouts' First Aid Merit Badge, this is one of the few things where I recommend paying for professional instruction. Getting a wilderness first aid certification can be very informative if you don't already have the knowledge.

Light/Ultralight Backpacking
Lighter packs move faster. Moving faster is safer. Learn to pare down the weight of your backpack to the bare minimum. This can be accomplished mostly by improvising gear out of common lightweight items, or simply going without - though it is possible to spend quite a bit of money to shave those last few ounces. /r/ultralight is a good source, as is backpackinglight.

Sport Climbing
If you want to tackle mountains with technical climbing, you need to know how to climb. While you might find yourself under the wing of a crusty old mountaineer who will be having none of those sissy-ass bolts, the fact is that the easiest and most common path to learning technical climbing these days starts in the climbing gym and at the sport crag. Unfortunately, this is where things can start getting expensive. In order to start learning how to climb, you'll need a pair of rock shoes at the very least to boulder. In order to start roped climbing, you'll need a harness and a belay device. In order to be a fully fledged sport climber, you'll need a rope (70m is the new standard, get that) and around 12 quickdraws; I also recommend a helmet.

As far as actually learning, there are a number of routes you can take. The most common is to get a rock gym membership. This is probably the best way, since it will expose you to the greatest number of potential climbing partners and increase your movements skills as fast as possible. Just hanging around the gym is usually enough to make a few friends to get outside with, and then they can teach you how to set anchors and lead sport. Unfortunately, gym memberships are expensive and there aren't too many rock gyms in Wyoming. Another option is to find some sort of social club for climbing in your area - I'm sure there are quite a few in your area if you poke around a bit. You'll be able to make friends and learn skills, but you'll be limited since the only practice you'll get will be on sporadic weekends. A third option is to try to teach yourself - the others are easier, but this is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I suggest picking up a copy of Climbing: Mastering Basic Skills if you choose to go this route. Just remember to double-check everything, because if you mess up, you could die. A final option, and the one I suggest least, is to hire someone to teach you. This is very expensive, and although most guides provide excellent instruction, I feel that most people are taught better by learning from peers and making their own judgements on what to and not to do, based on reason and evidence.

Skiing, Snowshoeing, and Avalanche Certification
Mountains have snow. You need to navigate that snow. Learning to ski and snowshoe is fairly straightforward, but learning how not to die in an avalanche is rather difficult. Again, pay for a course.

Trad Climbing
Sport climbing familiarizes you with the fundamentals of movement on rock, belaying, and climbing above your protection. Traditional, or "trad" climbing, teaches you to place your own protection. You'll need a set of nuts (DMM makes some good ones), about 10 alpine draws, and a set of cams (cha-ching!). Once again, you can try to find some friends to teach you, teach yourself (pick up either Long's or Luebben's book), or hire someone to teach you.

Finally, don't fall into the "couple trap". I assume you're going to want your boyfriend to join you when you go out - that's great! But don't let your boyfriend be your one and only partner. For one thing, you'll severely limit the amount of knowledge you'll be able to absorb. For another, you'll be limited in when you'll be able to get out to when you are both able to - while backpacking and bagging easy peaks on your own is fine, pushing yourself solo is not suggested. And finally, it just won't be as fun - joining a community of people who you literally trust with your life is truly fantastic, and the relationships you build climbing mountains are really as important as the climbs themselves.

u/toyoto123 · 2 pointsr/climbing

according to Rock Climbing: Mastering Basic Skills 2nd edition, static rope can be used in top roping.
>Static ropes can be used for top-roping, but the belayer needs to avoid letting slack build up.....

Is that true? Can I use static rope in top rope climbing (at least 15m high wall with at least 2ft overhang)?

If I were to use static rope to climb, how much slack is considered dangerous?

u/Sendtaur · 1 pointr/climbing

TL;DR! Not reading before you jump into something may be one issue. Do you even read the disclaimers on your gear and the accompanying pamphlets? How about you try reading some books while you wait to reply and troll well-meaning people?

​

>" Like you can't take a beginner climbing until they've mastered 1000 random rigging techniques?"

​

Knowledge is what keeps people alive and vertical.

​

Reading is fundamental.


​

I think you should read all you can. Start reading here before you end up here.


​

Good day to you.

​