American Climber is a memoir loaded with epic climbing stories and adventures. It contains two underlying themes: a compelling narrative of Mehall's tumultuous journey to climbing that ultimately saved his life, and a detailed look at the American dirtbag climbing culture, which has never truly been examined in a memoir. "I started climbing during a time when people traveled and lived to climb. They scraped together anything they could and lived out of cars, trucks, tents or vans. Climbing was not only a lifestyle for them, but a purpose for life. With the popularity of climbing skyrocketing, a lot of this soul has been diluted or lost. Luke does an incredible job at capturing the essence of why so many of us climb, why so many of us devote our lives to this sport and lifestyle. It's these people that are the lifers, that keep the soul and character alive, and now there is a great memoir documenting one person's journey through it." Beth Rodden, climbing legend, prolific El Capitan first ascentionist "Luke Mehall emerged as a writer just in time to chronicle the dwindling light of the soul-climber: one who climbs for the aesthetics, who adventures for the freedom not the recognition, who's hi-tech gear is merely a tool rather than a totem. Luke and his cohorts embody the dream of the American West with all its promise of freedom and risk and reward. To dive into a Mehall book is to be brought along on a ride that we all wish we had the courage to board, but most of us trade that courage for comfort." Chris Kalous, host of the Enormocast podcast Luke Mehall is one of the few adventure writers out who handle the tricky first person voice as if it were made for him. John Long, climbing legend and Senior Contributing Editor, Rock and Ice Who's more in tune with the ethos of the dirtbag-and more able to write passionately and honestly about it-than Luke Mehall? I think no one. Brendan Leonard of Semi-rad.com, and author of 60 Meters to Nowhere and New American Road Trip Mixtape "American Climber isn't just about climbing; it is a strong and well-told story about climbing out of the gray cave of existential depression that infects so many young people today, an always-honest account of finding meaning in his life not through disposable McJobs or the standard-issue American dream, but through self-medicating on nature and nature's challenges, where the true highs of life and living are hard-earned doing strange things in strange places with a band of brothers and sisters equally disaffected but spirited. I've previously said that Mehall could be the Kerouac of his generation; with American Climber, he's there." George Sibley author of Dragons in Paradise and Water Wranglers, longtime contributor to the Mountain Gazette

The complete history of North American mountaineering from the early nineteenth century through the 1970s.

A dream list of the most celebrated climbing destinations in North America, each explored in depth. Climbing Rock features some of the most classic and cutting-edge climbing areas across the magnificent and the most diverse landscapes of North America. The author recommends twenty-two of the best climbing areas to be found, spanning the year's seasons: ranging from Rifle, CO, in spring, to Canada's Bugaboos in the summer, to New York's Shawangunks in the fall, to Mexico's Potrero Chico in winter. These legendary locations cover the full spectrum of climbing experiences, including masterful big-wall free-climbing on Yosemite's El Capitan; desert trad climbing at Red Rock, NV, and Indian Creek, UT; classic sport climbing in Rumney, NH, and Red River Gorge, KY; oceanside cragging in California; and bouldering in Bishop, CA, and Chattanooga, TN. François Lebeau's artful photographs uniquely capture both the stark beauty of the rock walls and the adventurous spirit of those who journey upward. Climbing Rock is the perfect book for anyone interested in climbing, from athletes of all abilities to readers who appreciate breathtaking photography of improbable physical feats across stunning North American landscapes.

"Following in the prose of the beatniks, the athletic counterculture of the dirtbags is carrying the torch with the belief that a simple, rewarding life, close to nature, is still possible in this modern world. In The great American dirtbags, these people and their wild stories come alive..." -- BACK COVER.

One afternoon in 1987, two renegade climbers in Berkeley, California, hatched an ambitious plan: under the cover of darkness, they would rappel down from a carefully scouted highway on-ramp, gluing artificial handholds onto the load-bearing concrete pillars underneath. Equipped with ingenuity, strong adhesive, and an urban guerilla attitude, Jim Thornburg and Scott Frye created a serviceable climbing wall. But what they were part of was a greater development: the expansion and reimagining of a sport now slated for a highly anticipated Olympic debut in 2020. High Drama explores rock climbing's transformation from a pursuit of select anti-establishment vagabonds to a sport embraced by competitors of all ages, social classes, and backgrounds. Climbing magazine's John Burgman weaves a multi-layered story of traditionalists and opportunists, grassroots organizers and business-minded developers, free-spirited rebels and rigorously coached athletes.

Including two new chapters on Alex Honnold’s free solo ascent of the iconic 3,000-foot El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. On June 3rd, 2017, Alex Honnold became the first person to free solo Yosemite's El Capitan—to scale the wall without rope, a partner, or any protective gear—completing what was described as "the greatest feat of pure rock climbing in the history of the sport" (National Geographic) and "one of the great athletic feats of any kind, ever" (New York Times). Already one of the most famous adventure athletes in the world, Honnold has now been hailed as "the greatest climber of all time" (Vertical magazine). Alone on the Wall recounts the most astonishing achievements of Honnold’s extraordinary life and career, brimming with lessons on living fearlessly, taking risks, and maintaining focus even in the face of extreme danger. Now Honnold tells, for the first time and in his own words, the story of his 3 hours and 56 minutes on the sheer face of El Cap, which Outside called "the moon landing of free soloing…a generation-defining climb. Bad ass and beyond words…one of the pinnacle sporting moments of all time."

A dramatic, inspiring memoir by legendary rock climber Tommy Caldwell, the first person to free climb the Dawn Wall of Yosemite's El Capitan. On January 14, 2015, Tommy Caldwell, along with his partner, Kevin Jorgeson, summited what is widely regarded as the hardest climb in history Yosemite's nearly vertical 3,000-foot Dawn Wall, after nineteen days on the route. Caldwell's odds-defying feat was the culmination of an entire lifetime of pushing himself to his limits as an athlete. This engrossing memoir chronicles the journey of a boy with a fanatical mountain-guide father who was determined to instill toughness in his son to a teen whose obsessive nature drove him to the top of the sport-climbing circuit. Caldwell's affinity for adventure then led him to the vertigo-inducing and little understood world of big wall free climbing. But his evolution as a climber was not without challenges; in his early twenties, he was held hostage by militants in a harrowing ordeal in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Soon after, he lost his left index finger in an accident. Later his wife, and main climbing partner, left him. Caldwell emerged from these hardships with a renewed sense of purpose and determination. He set his sights on free climbing El Capitan's biggest, steepest, blankest face the Dawn Wall.