Reviews for The Mountaineering Handbook: Modern Tools and Techniques That Will Take You to the Top

The average rating for The Mountaineering Handbook: Modern Tools and Techniques That Will Take You to the Top based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-01-20 00:00:00 Michelle Palacios Excellent book which is different from Freedom of the Hills. Recommended.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-04-17 00:00:00 Brian Giles This volume, unlike FOTH, is unburdened and littered with a lot of personal opinion...but that's what makes it valuable. It's a realistic and modern view of mountaineering. Connaly's writing style is annoying and his attitude is often bothersome, but it's still a good book for some theory that's put in more life-like situations. Another important thing to note about this book is that it's written for a very specific kind of mountaineering -- namely walking up a mountain. Don't expect a lot of information that will apply to technical alpinists, but it does cover what happens the majority of the time spent on a mountain -- walking, snow travel, and glacier travel. There are some good, practical applications of old theories in the book. But take them with a grain of salt. Some of his opinions are just that, and in one case he even uses seemingly false information to back it up. (If you must know, he's a big proponent of bowlines over figure eights -- so much that he advises their uses almost exclusively over the latter. He claims a bowline is easier to inspect and is a stronger knot. I have heard the opposite of this from virtually every other source I've come across. Sure, a bowline isn't susceptible to ring loading, but appropriate use of figure eights won't be situations where ring loading can occur. And in straight pull-strength, figure eight wins.) ...I'm editing because I didn't want to end this in a bad note. I definitely recommend the book. Connally is good about suggesting realistic situations where Technique/Equipment A is better over option B, and I really like that. Books like FOTH just give you the information but rarely give it contextual to practical application. It also has a lot of good techniques that other texts just completely fail to review, despite their frequent application in the mountains. A great example: how to clove hitch a carabiner that's already clipped. That is some shit you should definitely know, but I guess most books leave you to figure it out on your own.