—THE FIRST LINE OF THE FIRST EDITION
The following chapter is excerpted from Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, 10th Edition Edited by Eric Linxweiler. Published by Mountaineers Books. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
“Ten is both large and small. Ten feet into an alpine climb is just the beginning, but for a book to endure for a tenth edition, it must have enormous staying power, shares Editor and Contributor Eric Linxweiler, in a blog post about the making of the tenth edition. “Of the twenty-five million books in the Library of Congress catalog, only about 1,640 are tenth editions.”
Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, 10th Edition
Edited by Eric Linxweiler
Honing the skills and techniques contained within the pages of Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills is your key to unlocking the experience of joy of the outdoors. Whether you want to learn to camp and cook outdoors, hike in your local forest, climb hills, cross glaciers, scale rock walls, or summit the world’s highest peaks, this how-to guide is for you. Welcome to the community of hikers, climbers, mountaineers, and other outdoor enthusiasts who count on Freedom of the Hills, affectionately called Freedom, as a critical part of their outdoor education. Whether this is your first copy or you own every edition, Freedom of the Hills will build and refresh your knowledge of most topics everyone needs to be familiar with, from beginners to more experienced mountaineers. Use this book to learn skills, participate in outdoor adventures with more confidence and competence, and discover new places to explore and recreate.
Origins of This Guide
A synopsis of this how-to guide’s evolution encompasses a capsule history of The Mountaineers itself. From its beginnings, Freedom of the Hills has been the product of the concerted effort of a team of volunteer leaders. For each edition, contributors have sprung forth from across the organization’s membership, representing the best it has to offer, along with climbers and educators from the broader climbing and mountaineering community. It has always been an honor to work on this project.
When The Mountaineers was founded in 1906, one of its major purposes was to explore and study the mountains, forests, and waterways of the Pacific Northwest. The direction and emphasis of Freedom of the Hills originated from the nature of climbing in this region, with its wild and complex mountains and abundance of snow and glaciers. Access was inherently difficult—there were few roads, crossing often rugged terrain, and initial explorations of them were essentially expeditions, often requiring the assistance of Indigenous guides. As interest in mountaineering grew in the region, so did a tradition of, and commitment to, education. Increasingly, experienced climbers took novices under their wings to pass on their knowledge and skills. The Mountaineers formalized that exchange, starting in 1935, by developing a series of climbing courses.
For the first several decades, The Mountaineers climbing courses used a number of European textbooks, particularly Geoffrey Winthrop Young’s classic Mountain Craft. These books, however, did not cover the various subjects unique and important to mountaineering in the Pacific Northwest. To fill the gaps, course lecturers prepared and distributed outlines to students. First compiled as the Notebook, these outlines were subsequently published as the Mountaineers Handbook. By 1955, the tools and techniques had changed so drastically, and the climbing courses had become so much more complex, that a new, comprehensive textbook was needed.
Over the next five years, an eight-person editorial committee coordinated the efforts of more than seventy-five contributors in the publication of the first edition of Freedom of the Hills in 1960. Chief editor and committee chair Harvey Manning was the primary individual responsible for establishing the scope of the book. It was his idea to add the distinctive subtitle. Manning was joined on the committee by John R. Hazle, Carl Henrikson, Nancy Bickford Miller, Thomas Miller, Franz Mohling, Rowland Tabor, and Lesley Stark Tabor. A substantial portion of the then relatively small Puget Sound climbing community—including such mountaineering icons as Dee Molenaar, Jim Whittaker, Lou Whittaker, and Wolf Bauer—researched and wrote the chapters, while at least one hundred additional volunteers acted as reviewers, planners, illustrators, typists, proofreaders, financiers, promoters, retailers, warehouse workers, and shipping clerks. Most Mountaineers climbers at the time were involved somehow with this guide. Members who donated their time and effort were rewarded by how well that first edition was received, and members who donated money were repaid by the book’s success, which has contributed for more than six decades to the success and stature of The Mountaineers. Freedom of the Hills was the first title released by award-winning nonprofit publisher Mountaineers Books.
Legacy and Scope
This guidebook embodies the collective wisdom and experience of thousands of climbers and mountaineers. The previous editions of Freedom of the Hills represent a tradition of compiling and integrating the knowledge, techniques, opinions, and advice of many practicing climbers. Both in training sessions and on climbs, students have always been a pivotal sounding board and testing ground for advancements in techniques, equipment, and methods. Each new edition has been carefully built on the foundation of the preceding editions. An outgrowth of more than a century of hands-on mountaineering knowledge and instruction, the first edition included 430 pages, 134 illustrations, and 16 black-and-white plates organized into 22 chapters. In comparison, this tenth edition features 624 pages, with more than 400 technical illustrations, organized into 28 chapters.
Between 1960’s first edition and the tenth edition you now hold in your hands, subsequent editions—each revised and updated, reviewed and enhanced—appeared in roughly seven-year increments, with the eighth edition published in 2010 marking the guide’s fiftieth anniversary. Like all nine previous editions, this tenth edition covers current concepts, techniques, and challenges encountered in the pursuit of mountaineering, to help climbers grasp a fundamental understanding of what they can do to manage their risk and enjoy their outdoor experiences. In addition to informing novices, this guide can help more experienced climbers review and improve their skills. Coverage of some topics, such as rock climbing, ice climbing, and aid climbing, is detailed enough to be useful. To fully delve into the range and complexities of all the topics introduced, however, climbers will also want to reference more advanced how-to guides (such as the Mountaineers Outdoor Expert Series) and connect with mentors or take classes from more experienced climbers.
You cannot learn mountaineering simply by studying a book, and Freedom of the Hills is not meant to be exhaustive. Rather, it is an important source of fundamental information intended to complement thorough instruction featuring proven techniques. A textbook for students and instructors participating in organized climbing courses, Freedom of the Hills has always had its greatest impact in learning environments, and a climbing course taught by competent instructors is essential for all beginning climbers.
Climbing requires continual situational and environmental awareness: conditions, routes, and individual abilities and skills vary. Both the individual climber and the climbing team must apply their knowledge, skills, and experience to the circumstances they face and decide how they will proceed. To reflect this process, Freedom of the Hills presents a variety of widely used techniques and practices, and then outlines both their advantages and limitations. Material is presented, not as dogma nor the definitive word, but rather as the basis for making sound decisions. To explore while managing their risk, climbers must realize that mountaineering is about problem-solving, not merely applying techniques.
The type of climbing described in this guide is frequently—and best—experienced in the wilderness. It is important that mountaineers take responsibility for helping steward our public lands for present and future generations, and recognize that preserving wilderness is crucial to protecting the health of our ecosystems.
Contributors to the 10th Edition
Throughout its history spanning more than a century, The Mountaineers has consistently celebrated its volunteer ethos, emphasizing the complementary goals of inspiring outdoor exploration and offering comprehensive mountaineering education. Thanks to the organization’s initiatives over its lifetime, countless individuals have been introduced to the wonders of the outdoors. Many of these individuals, in turn, become volunteers, finding ways to contribute to the evolution of our shared community. The contributors to this tenth edition, called out below, form a special cohort of dedicated leaders, who generously invested their time, intellect, and expertise to bring this new edition into being. What you now hold in your hands transcends the efforts of a few individuals—it embodies the collective knowledge of an organization devoted to cherishing and sharing the wisdom and gifts of the mountains for more than a century.
In assembling the contributors for this tenth edition, we focused on securing world-class instructors and mountaineers. We sought out the expertise of exceptional teachers and guides, drawing from the ranks of secondary and college educators, professionals specializing in outdoor stewardship, fitness, climbing, and meteorology—even a two-time Piolet d’Or award winner. The collective efforts of these remarkable individuals ensure that this edition remains true to the book’s original intent. It stands as a worthy steward, incorporating the knowledge base accumulated through decades of combined outdoor innovation, experience, exploration, and education.
Several other professionals played noteworthy roles in the development, editing, and production processes, particularly staff and contractors affiliated with Mountaineers Books. Senior editor Laura Shauger laid the groundwork for the revisions and provided immeasurable leadership throughout the project. Kris Fulsaas deftly performed a developmental edit, and Erin Moore skillfully copyedited the materials. Creative director Jen Grable designed the covers and managed the book design and illustration process. Kate Basart refined the design and meticulously laid out the text and illustrations. John McMullen expertly tackled brand-new illustrations and revisions to most existing illustrations, along with the monumental task of vectorizing and updating the figures for the big wall and aid climbing chapter; his deep knowledge of climbing techniques informed his work.
Dale Remsberg reviewed the technical climbing-related material and offered invaluable edits and suggestions to ensure that this edition aligns with modern best practices in the broader climbing community. Immense thanks to the following individuals for their review of and help with select chapters: Rachel Aldridge, Bob Boyd, Richard Brodsky, Michael Cecot-Scherer, Karen Conger, Anthony Cree, Nathan Foster, Katie Goodwin, Bob Keranen, Ryan Kitchen, Takeo Kuraishi, Lauren Linxweiler, Michael Loso, John Lynch, Maya Magarati, Steve McClure, Loren McWethy, Aaron Mike, Lisa Messerli, Erik Murdock, Liana Robertson, John Porter, Vikram Sahney, Doug Sanders, J D Tanner, Laura Tobias, Peter Tran, Ty Tyler, Holly Webb, Sawyer Wolters, and Siana Wong.
This foundational manual is designed to acquaint you with the skills and knowledge essential for a lifetime of outdoor adventures. Absorb these instructions and insightful tips, delve into the technical illustrations, and be inspired by the advice and the legacy. Then venture outside and begin to put all that you learn into practice. In doing so, you will experience firsthand the possibilities, personal growth, and lifelong friendships that await you in the outdoors—and ultimately, discover your own freedom of the hills.
Feature Image: Progression of Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills starting with climbing course lectures that were compiled into the Climber's Notebook then elaborated and published as the Mountaineers Handbook. The first edition of FotH was published in 1960, put together by an eight-person editorial committee (led by Harvey Manning) and more than seventy-five contributors. Photo courtesy of The Mountaineers