The Mountaineering Handbook

If your experience as a backpacker or rock climber is drawing you higher, if the cold, remote alpine environment calls you nearer, this book is for you. The Mountaineering Handbook will teach you the skills that will take you to the top. Even if you're already an experienced mountaineer, you'll find detailed descriptions of the newest and most effective techniques to refine and organize your methods and equipment.

This handbook isn't mired in outdated traditionalism; its new-school techniques are safer, more effective, and more fun for mountaineers at every level. With constant emphasis on light, fast, and efficient mountaineering, Craig Connally shows you how to move quickly up and down rock, snow, and ice with appropriate safety systems; manage mountain hazards, including rockfall, avalanche, lightning, and high-altitude illness; select the best equipment for your personal style and objectives; maintain sound nutrition and training according to the most up-to-date science; and understand the human factors of mountaineering—the social and psychological forces that influence critical decisions.

Connally's passion for mountaineering is evident in his writing—The Mountaineering Handbook is clever, insightful, and entertaining. He intends to move mountaineering into the twenty-first century, but he's also determined to turn the traditional how-to book on its ear by injecting personality, humor, and thoughtfulness into every page.