Crack Climbing! Book

Sport climbing is rock climbing on routes where points of protection have been drilled into the rock with bolts. This differentiates it from "traditional" climbing, in which the rock is clean and unobtrusive protection must be placed on the way up. As such, sport climbing allows for less error on the climber's part, and solid protection when the climber falls.

As a intermediate gym climber moving to outdoor climbing, this book has been a fantastic introduction to outdoor sport climbing. It covers some of the history of sport climbing, the type of mental and physical endurance needed, equipment and how to set and clean it up, and how techniques for improving climbing ability. Much of this material is what you learn from experienced climbers around you, but it's helpful to have all that information contained in one place.

It also helps that the book is exceptionally well written. Bisharat is both an experienced writer and an experienced climber, which allows him to very effectively transmit enthusiasm for climbing throughout the book. He portrays sport climbing as a balancing act between exertion and rest, where finding the rhythm of the climb is more important than powering through every move. He'll describe how one route might have you pushing through a difficult section to reach a tenuous resting place, where you can hang just long enough to shake the lactic acid from your arms, while any longer would sap the rest of your endurance. It's such an accurate description of a physical experience that you will often want to put the book down and go climbing immediately!

While people already lead climbing in the gym or climbing top roping outdoors will know about 40-60% of the book's material, the enthusiasm of climbing improvement the book generates is worth the price alone. Highly recommended.