This page is my
list of climbing websites I often visit plus lists of books, magazines
and other miscellaneous sites on climbing. While there are many
sites on adventure and climbing, many have become platforms for selling
something or making political statements. I always prefer the first hand
reports from individual climbers who are on a climb over the large sites.
If you have a personal site and want it considered for listing, please contact me.
I have other pages for
Gear and Guides.
If you dream of climbing mountains but are not sure how to start or reach
your next level from a Colorado 14er to Rainier, Everest or even K2, I can
help.
Summit Coach is
a consulting service that helps aspiring climbers throughout the
world achieve their goals through a personalized set of
consulting services based on Alan Arnette’s 20 years of high altitude
mountain experience and 30 years as a business executive.
Community Climbing Websites
- 14ers.com:
The best site for the Colorado 14ers. Excellent route descriptions
and trip reports posted in a timely manner. Run by
Coloradoan Bill Middlebrook
- UKClimbing:
UK based site for European climbers
- MountainProject:
A nice site for rock climbers. Clean forum with no-nonsense
posts and discussions but with occasional serious "attitude" problems.
- SuperTopo:
Strong site with good forum that has a focus on rock climbing.
- Summitpost: A site with good climbing
information, popular
community for climbers.
General Climbing News
- The
Adventure Blog: A good reprint of adventure news across the web run by individual Kraig Becker.
- Altitude:
Very well written and an excellent source for climbing in the Karakorum run by individual Raheel Adnan. Updates are uncertain ...
- Mountain.RU:
A Russian originated site that creates some
original content. I like them for their coverage of what
the tough Russian climbing community is up
to.
- RussianClimb:
Another Russian site. These guys are crazy strong!
- PlanetMountain:
Covering the international climbing scene out of Italy
- Montagna.tv:
Another Italian site with good coverage on international climbing.
Use google Translate.
- The
Adventure Journal: Nicely laid out website covering unique adventure
stories.
Mountain Health and Training
Climbing Reference Sites
- research: A very
nice site devoted to the 8000m mountain. You can download tables
with statistics covering summits, deaths, Sherpas and more
- Himalayan
Database: The final word on if you summited a Himalayan
mountain. Run by Ms. Elizabeth Hawley and Richard Salisbury
- Mount Everest
The British Story: History, facts and summiteers list relating
to the British and Mount Everest. Annually covers Everest for UK teams
Colorado 14ers
- 14ers.com:
The best site for the Colorado 14ers. Excellent route descriptions
and trip reports posted in a timely manner. Run by Coloradoan Bill
Middlebrook
- Chris Davenport: Skied all the Colorado 14ers
- Colorado Fourteener Initiative:
Amazing organization that helps maintain Colorado's mountain trails.
- Colorado Mountain Club:
Organization best known for basic classes but also does good conservation
and advocacy work.
8000m Mountains, 7 Summits
- Climbing
the 7 Summits: Excellent site prompting excellent book
by High Altitude guide Mike Hammill. Lot's of first hand information.
Well done.
- The
Rest of Everest: A unique look at climbing
Everest North. Jon has produced a series of
podcasts with high quality video and casual
narration of the expedition.
General Personal Sites
- Speaking
of Adventure: Professional climber and speaker, Jim Davidson
- Mark
Horrell: Everest summiter and climber, Horell's articles
are well researched and written.
- Gerry
Roach: The father of Colorado 14er climbing, best known for his
books on 14ers. Also the second person to summit the 7 Summits.
- EightSummits:
Bill Burke's site for his Everest climbs
- TA Loeffler:
A great woman from Newfoundland chronicling all her adventures
Photography
Professional Climbers
- Ed Viesturs:
The most famous American climber. He has made a career of climbing
all the 8,000m mountains without supplemental oxygen.
- Andrew Locke: Australian climber with 13 of the 14 highest mountains
already climbed
- Conrad Anker: One
of the world's best high altitude climber and supporter of Nepal
- Simone Moro:
One of Italy's premier climbers
- Steve
House: Premier climber of all styles
- Ueli Steck:
Swiss speed climber who died in 2017
- Reinhold Messner:
Perhaps the greatest high altitude climber ever
Magazines and Associated Websites
- Alpinist: Slickly
produced climbing magazine of extreme climbs
- Climbing : The website
for the climbing magazine. Good how-to articles.
- Rock & Ice:
Pure rock and ice climbing with great pictures.
- Outside:
Quick read style of reporting on the latest.
Books
- The
Ledge: The story of my friend, Jim Davidson and Mike Price fall into
a crevasse on Rainier; only one survived
- No
Shortcuts to the Top: Ed Viesturs's book about his summits of
the 14 8000m mountains without supplemental O's. A very good read.
- All
Fourteen 8,000ers - Reinhold Messner: One of the greatest Alpinists,
this account of his conquest of all the 8,000+ meter mountains without
bottled oxygen makes it a perfect coffee table book. Beautiful pictures
- Into
Thin Air - Jon Krakauer: The book that brought notoriety to Everest
climbs based on 12 deaths in1996.
- The
Climb - Anatoli Boukreev: The other side of the '96 disaster
as told by the Russian Guide. I think his story is better.
- High
Exposure - David Breashears: The story of a great climber's life
including his Imax film about Everest.
- The
Other Side of Everest - Matt Dickinson: Another Everest '96 book
but told from the North Face.
- Hall & Ball:
Kiwi Mountaineers from Mount Cook to Everest -Colin Monteath
:An excellent account of the history of two pioneers in high-altitude
guiding. Nice pictures. Their company, Adventure Consultants, continues
today.
- The
Snow Leopard - Peter Matthiessen: The classic about Nepal, Sherpas
and all the wonderment of the area.
- The Mountaineers Book-
A publisher dedicated to books about mountains. A great site with loads
of info. Check out the Reading room for previews.
- Climbing
the World's 14 Highest Mountains - Richard Sales and John Cleare:
Another coffee table book. Excellent climbing accounts with great
pictures
- Everest
The History of the Himalayan Giant - Roberto Mantovani: Magnificent
pictures make this a must own book for Everest lovers. The detailed
history of attempts on the mountain make for great reading but the
pictures are stunning.
- K2
- The Savage Mountain- Jim Wickwire tells the incredible story
of the 1953 American expedition to K2
- The
Last Step Rick Ridgeway: The story of the first successful American
climb of K2 in 1978.
Gear Companies (please see my
gear
page for extensive detailed information
on gear I like and use)
- Patagonia:
My 1st choice for clothing. I have Patagonia gear I
bought a decade ago - it works like new and I use it
often
- Mountain
Hardware : My 1st choice for tents and bags.
I have slept in MH tents on all 7 summits.
- Black Diamond:
My 1st choice for climbing hardware. Their ice tools
simply do the job.
Solid, high-quality 'biners, ascenders, harnesses, etc.
- Icebreaker:
A solid choice for merino wool base layers and tops
- Arc'teryx :
Excellent, but expensive, gear. I used one of their
lightweight jackets on Everest and some bibs on Ama Dablam
and found the quality incredible.
- North
Face : One of the "mothers" of the
sport. Making a comeback for serious climbing gear.
- Honey
Stinger: Natural, organic sports nutritional
that gives a long lasting natural boost
Gear Reviews
- Outdoor
Gear lab: Solid reviews without fluff. Very useful
price vs. value chart
- Gear
Institute:
Real world test posted after extensive use
- The
Gear Junkie: A well written, but busy, daily review
of the latest in gear.
- The
Gear Caster: A well written site for gear reviews
without all the clutter of the Gear Junkie.
Shopping
- REI :
Good source for comparing prices and buying on-line.
I have a local store that I use all the time - like
the rebates!
- Moose Jaw:
A nice site to buy climbing gear at good prices,
they run 20% discounts all the time. They have outstanding
customer service.
- Altrec:
A general purpose outdoor shopping site (pronounced "all
trek"). I have never ordered anything from them but
they seem to have links on every climbing site. A
quick check showed some good prices. I will probably
always check them for future purchases. I would appreciate
hearing about any experiences with them.
- Backcountry:
Great prices with a sense of humor. Steep and Cheap
is a companion service.
- Steep and
Cheap: a must have for your PC. A slider window
appears when a new deal is available. I am always
buying something through these guys - can't pass
up a good deal!
- Sierra
Trading Post: excellent customer service
- Sunny Sports: great prices almost all the time
- Campmor: New gear at used
prices
- TravelCountry: Name
brands at good prices
Misc