After a long break, I'm excited to breathe some life back into this blog with occasional new articles. Let’s kick things off with a topic close to my heart — a data-driven dive into the best rock climbing books out there.
Today we’ll start with a basic data-driven look at the best rock climbing books. We’ll look at all books categorized as “Climbing” at the popular page goodreads.com . Goodreads is a website where users can rate, review, and discuss books, as well as track their reading progress and connect with other readers. Some caveats apply as usual. Goodreads is heavily US-oriented and there a lot of books that don’t have to do anything with climbing in this category, many are more mountaineering-focused (such as the excellent Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills or Training for the New Alpinism: A Manual for the Climber as Athlete). I analyzed books categorized under “Climbing” on Goodreads, but many titles in this category veer toward mountaineering, fitness, or even memoirs loosely connected to climbing. I focused on books that are primarily about rock climbing techniques, training, history, or culture — and excluded guidebooks (topos) and pure alpine/mountaineering texts.
I looked here at the average rating of each book (ratings are on a simple Lickert scale from 1 to 5) but to get a selection of more- as well as less-popular books, I applied a technique called Bayesian Average that weights the average rating by the number of ratings, so a book with 5 top ratings won’t be discarded, but also won’t automatically top the list). For books with more ratings, the Bayesian average rating is closer to the raw average, while books with few ratings get shrunk to the global average. Statistically speaking, we deliberately introduce a bias here to reduce the variance of our estimator.
With those caveats in mind, here are the top-rated rock climbing books according to our adjusted rankings. Note: There and Back by Jimmy Chin isn’t strictly about rock climbing, but since it features climbing photography and rated so well, I’ve included it.
PS: My favorites are The Rock Climber's Training Manual by the twin brothers Michael and Mark Anderson, Jeffrey Moffat’s autobiography Revelations and, because it is an amazingly beautiful area to climb or hike, close to where I live, the German book Die Pfalz. Das Buch. Palatinum. Have I missed one of your favorites? Drop a comment — I’d love to expand this list over time.
Title | Author (1st) | Average Rating | Bayesian Rating | Number of Ratings | Publication Year | Book URL |
There and Back: Photographs from the Edge (Hardcover) | Jimmy Chin | 4.74 | 4.70 | 1004 |
| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58657656-there-and-back |
The Push: A Climber's Journey of Endurance, Risk, and Going Beyond Limits (Hardcover) | Tommy Caldwell | 4.46 | 4.46 | 10052 | 2017 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33155369-the-push |
Down: The Complete Descent Manual for Climbers, Alpinists and Mountaineers (Cragmanship) | Andy Kirkpatrick | 4.78 | 4.44 | 72 |
| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54908220-down |
Crack Climbing: The Definitive Guide (Mountaineers Outdoor Expert) | Pete Whittaker | 4.73 | 4.42 | 75 |
| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44196194-crack-climbing |
The Rock Climber's Training Manual | A Guide to Continuous Improvement (Paperback) | Michael L. Anderson | 4.49 | 4.41 | 287 | 2014 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22392738-the-rock-climber-s-training-manual-a-guide-to-continuous-improvement |
Rock Climbing Technique: The Practical Guide to Movement Mastery (Kindle Edition) | John Kettle | 4.44 | 4.36 | 249 |
| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40526042-rock-climbing-technique |
Beastmaking: A fingers-first approach to becoming a better climber (Paperback) | Ned Feehally | 4.41 | 4.35 | 361 |
| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58936071-beastmaking |
Make or Break: Don't Let Climbing Injuries Dictate Your Success (Paperback) | Dave MacLeod | 4.45 | 4.35 | 192 | 2015 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25021809-make-or-break |
Revelations (Hardcover) | Jerry Moffatt | 4.38 | 4.33 | 411 | 2009 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6625690-revelations |
The Climbing Bible (Paperback) | Martin Mobråten | 4.42 | 4.33 | 215 | 2018 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55547084-the-climbing-bible |
Valley of Giants: Stories from Women at the Heart of Yosemite Climbing (Paperback) | Lauren DeLaunay Miller | 4.38 | 4.33 | 339 |
| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59057970-valley-of-giants |
Valley Walls: A Memoir of Climbing and Living in Yosemite (Paperback) | Glen Denny | 4.43 | 4.32 | 159 | 2016 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26113761-valley-walls |
Conquistadors of the Useless (Paperback) | Lionel Terray | 4.32 | 4.31 | 1467 | 1961 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/945729.Conquistadors_of_the_Useless |
Climbing Anchors (Paperback) | John Long | 4.35 | 4.31 | 403 | 1993 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/410716.Climbing_Anchors |
Rock Climbing: The AMGA Single Pitch Manual (How To Climb Series) | Bob Gaines | 4.52 | 4.30 | 80 | 2014 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18341825-rock-climbing |
The Rock Warrior's Way: Mental Training for Climbers (Paperback) | Arno Ilgner | 4.3 | 4.29 | 2213 | 2003 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/501200.The_Rock_Warrior_s_Way |
Hangdog Days: Conflict, Change, and the Race for 5.14 (Paperback) | Jeff Smoot | 4.33 | 4.28 | 322 | 2019 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44420183-hangdog-days |
Moving The Needle: How An Average Climber Can Do The Hardest Route In The World (Kindle Edition) | Dave MacLeod | 4.5 | 4.27 | 70 |
| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222061604-moving-the-needle |
Psychovertical (Hardcover) | Andy Kirkpatrick | 4.28 | 4.26 | 882 | 2008 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5404376-psychovertical |
Rock Climbing Anchors: A Comprehensive Guide (The Mountaineers Outdoor Experts Series) | Craig Luebben | 4.31 | 4.25 | 229 | 2006 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/325281.Rock_Climbing_Anchors |
Rock Climbing: Essential Skills & Techniques (Unknown Binding) | Libby Peter | 4.42 | 4.23 | 76 | 2011 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13018984-rock-climbing |
The Mountain of My Fear (Hardcover) | David Roberts | 4.35 | 4.23 | 115 | 2012 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2545618.The_Mountain_of_My_Fear |
Slatehead: The Ascent of Britain's Slate-climbing Scene (Kindle Edition) | Peter Goulding | 4.76 | 4.22 | 25 | 2020 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53280541-slatehead |
Trad Climber's Bible (How To Climb Series) | John Long | 4.34 | 4.22 | 110 | 2013 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16056187-trad-climber-s-bible |
Rock Climbing Anchors: A Comprehensive Guide (Paperback) | Craig Luebben | 4.61 | 4.21 | 33 |
| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43195037-rock-climbing-anchors |
Me, Myself & I: The dark arts of big wall soloing (Paperback) | Andy Kirkpatrick | 4.56 | 4.21 | 36 |
| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39085795-me-myself-i |
Self-Coached Climber: The Guide to Movement, Training, Performance (Paperback) | Dan Hague | 4.22 | 4.20 | 565 |
| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/991778.Self_Coached_Climber |
Rock Climbing for the Absolute Beginner: A Complete Guide to Bouldering, Mountaineering, Top-Rope & Trad Climbing- Includes Knot Tying Tutorials (Kindle Edition) | K.J. Moore | 4.54 | 4.19 | 35 |
| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49128010-rock-climbing-for-the-absolute-beginner |
JFK's Secret Doctor: The Remarkable Life of Medical Pioneer and Legendary Rock Climber Hans Kraus (Kindle Edition) | Susan E.B. Schwartz | 4.28 | 4.19 | 140 | 2012 | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27830983-jfk-s-secret-doctor |
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