Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills


Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills is often considered the standard textbook for mountaineering and climbing in North America. The book was first published in 1960 by The Mountaineers of Seattle, Washington. The book was written by a team of over 40 experts in the field.
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Development

The book grew out of the annual climbing course run since 1935 by the Mountaineers, for which the reading material was originally a combination of European works and lecturers' mimeo outlines. These were assembled into the Climber's Notebook and published by the Mountaineers as the hardbound Mountaineers Handbook in 1948. By 1955 the rapid postwar evolution of climbing techniques and tools had made the Handbook out of date, and the effort was begun to produce Freedom of the Hills. Nearly 80 major contributors are credited in the first edition and it was organized by a committee of 8 editors. The first four editions were only available in hardcover.
The title of the book is a reference to the ancient medieval European tradition of "Freedom of the City", that conferred upon the recipient access to a city. The reference implies that with the knowledge in the book, a certain equivalent freedom of the wild mountains can be attained.

Structure and layout

Sections

In the 10th edition, the book is divided into six parts as follows:
There is an appendix, a glossary, and an index.

Chapters

  1. First Steps
  2. Clothing and Equipment
  3. Camping, Food, and Water
  4. Conditioning
  5. Navigation and Communication
  6. Wilderness Travel
  7. Protecting The Outdoors
  8. Essential Climbing Equipment
  9. Basics of Climbing
  10. Belaying
  11. Rappelling
  12. Sport Climbing and Technique
  13. Rock Protection
  14. Traditional Rock Protection
  15. Aid and Big Wall Climbing
  16. Basic Snow and Ice Climbing
  17. Technical Snow and Ice Climbing
  18. Waterfall Ice and Mixed Climbing
  19. Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue
  20. Avalanche Safety
  21. Expedition Climbing
  22. Leadership
  23. Risk Management
  24. First Aid
  25. Self-Rescue
  26. Mountain Geology
  27. The Cycle of Snow
  28. Mountain Weather