PA, 1993, 1st edition. 334 pp, photos. The definitive history of climbing in the Gunks and White Mountains, etc. Celebrated climbers Guy and Laura Waterman trace the growth of this popular sport by focusing on the first ascents of classic routes and the climbers who made them legendary: John Case on the Adirondacks' Indian Head and Wallface; Robert Underhill and Lincoln O'Brien on Cannon; Fritz Wiessner on Breakneck Ridge. More contemporary climbers Jim McCarthy, Henry Barber, Lynn Hill, and Hugh Herr are described in full detail. Ethics and style, the evolution of ice climbing, the changing role of women in climbing, and developments in technique and equipment are explored.
The rocks and cliffs of New England and the Hudson drainage enticed a few climber/scramblers during the 19th century, but rock climbing and its sister, ice climbing, did not attract many regional outdoorsmen until the 1920s. Because the Watermans' own participation in the sport acquainted them with many of its pioneers, their book is largely primary data. They report changes in the sport and the accomplishments of sporting figures by decade, beginning with 1916 and ending in 1989, when what had been enjoyed by only a few had become so popular that it is now a spectator as well as participator sport. Hardcover, DJ, Fine.
