The Complete Guide to Climbing and Mountaineering

This is a comprehensive, full-colour manual providing a complete reference for climbers of every level and discipline. It covers all the skills, safety issues and equipment necessary for the key climbing disciplines: mountains, bouldering and climbing walls, summer climbing, winter climbing, big wall and expedition climbing. This exciting book is extensively illustrated throughout, with practical diagrams as well as inspirational and instructive photographs covering everything from the basic saftey, equipment and techniques to advanced-level mountaineering on some of the world's toughest ascents. The basic skills includes fundamental information on the necessary technical equipment, from harness, rock boots and ropes to slings, karabiners and belay devices. There is a detailed section on different types of knots with clear diagrams to exemplify each. The technical skills section gives comprehensive information on abseiling with diagrams and photographs, plus various emergency procedures that all climbers and mountaineers should know. The natural ability to climb is in all of us, it is getting it out on to the surface and refining it into a useful skill that is the trick. Pete Hill explains how to move on rock with the various handholds, footholds and specific climbing techniques, he shows the attractions of bouldering, and the importance of chalk as part of a boulderer's arsenal, and finally Pete discusses the various types of climbing walls. The summer section of the book details everything you need to know about traditional climbing, considered by many as the purest form of the sport, as well as sport climbing, and Via Ferratas which are well suited for families new to climbing. The Winter section covers avalanches, ice climbing and snow shelters, as well as step kicking, step cutting and crampon techniques. For the more advanced climbers and mountaineers, the Alpine Climbing, Big wall climbing and expedition sections of the book will provide you with ideas, equipment information, techniques, advice on how to overcome any problems and scenarios to get your adrenaline racing. The Appendices provides essential and useful information on the various climbing grades worldwide, as well as factors and forces. It is one of very few books on the market that is so comprehensive, internationally relevant and covers so many different types of climbing. It is written by Pete Hill (MIC, FRGS), an experienced and highly-regarded author and climbing instructor. Pete is author of the bestselling 'Mountain Skills Training Handbook' and 'The International Handbook of Technical Mountaineering' and he has led mountaineering expeditions to the Indian and Nepalese Himalaya, and was leader of an international expedition to Kashmir which made the first ascents of three previously unclimbed peaks.