A Trailside Guide: Rock Climbing: Trailside Guides

Rock Climbing: A Trailside Guide is designed to encourage beginners to 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 sequence with a special emphasis on transferring techniques acquired indoors to the wider - less predictable - world of actual rock faces. Full-color sequential illustrations, stunning color photographs, and the author's field-tested teaching approach clarify the fundamentals, including gear, knots, top-roping, leading, anchors, belaying, and rappelling. Like all specialized sports, climbing has its own language; once learned, it makes everything easier, but at first it can be a challenge. A chapter explaining rock climbing's roots, its lingo, and its rating systems demystifies these aspects of the sport. A comprehensive glossary allows quick reference. Chapters on moving from the gym to real rock and on various rock types smooth the way.

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, "Rock Climbing" explains safe climbing techniques in a logical step-by-step sequence with special emphasis on transferring techniques as acquired indoors to the wider world of actual rock faces. Color photos & illustrations.