“There are only three sports—mountain climbing, bull fighting and motor racing—all others being games.” Ernest Hemingway wrote that a half-century ago, when climbing as we know it didn’t even exist. Nevertheless, while equipment, technique and even the medium we climb have changed, the spirit of climbing has endured, making Hemingway’s observation as relevant today as it was back then.

Welcome to our updated How To Climb, the third edition to climbing instruction by the editors of Rock and Ice. This manual was first published in 1994, updated and republished in 2005, and updated again in 2016 with an eye toward how most climbers are now entering the sport (through a gym), and how gym climbers can make the move to real rock.

Rock climbing is a diverse sport. Whether you’re psyched about tackling a big wall of golden granite or simply amped to mash crimpers on a steep boulder problem in the gym, you’ll accelerate your learning curve by studying this tome.

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