Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills

8th edition cover

Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills is often considered the standard textbook for mountaineering and climbing. 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 and is suitable reading for all mountaineers, from beginners to experts.

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 By 1955 the rapid postwar evolution of climbing techniques and tools had made the Handbook out of date, and the effort was begun to produce Freedom of the Hills.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 were organized by a committee of 8 editors.

The first four editions were only available in hardcover.

5th Edition

The 5th edition of the book is split into four parts over 17 chapters:

• Part One: Approaching the Peaks
• Part Two: Climbing Fundamentals
• Part Three: Rock Climbing
• Part Four: Snow and Ice Climbing

There are four appendices and an index. 447 pp.

Chapters

1. First Steps
2. Clothing and Equipment
3. Camping and Food
4. Routefinding and Navigation
5. Wilderness Travel
6. Ropes, Knots, and carabiners
7. Belaying
8. Rappeling
9. Rock Climbing Techniques
10. Leading and Placing Protection
11. Aid Climbing and Pitoncraft
12. Snow Travel and Climbing
13. Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue
14. Ice Climbing
15. Winter and Expedition Climbing
16. Safety and Leadership
17. Alpine Rescue

7th Edition

7th edition cover

Chapters

1. First Steps
2. Clothing and Equipment
3. Camping and Food
4. Physical Conditioning
5. Navigation
6. Wilderness Travel
7. Leave No Trace
8. Basic Safety Systems
9. Belaying
10. Rappelling
11. Alpine Rock Climbing Technique
12. Rock Protection
13. Leading on Rock
14. Aid Climbing
15. Snow Travel and Climbing
16. Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue
17. Alpine Ice Climbing
18. Waterfall Ice and Mixed Climbing
19. Expedition Climbing
20. Leadership
21. Safety
22. First Aid
23. Alpine Rescue
24. Mountain Geology
25. The Cycle of Snow
26. Mountain Weather

Editions

Edition	Year	Editor(s)	Size	ISBN
1st	1960	Harvey Manning	430 pp.
2nd	1967	Harvey Manning	485 pp.
3rd	1974	Peggy Ferber	478 pp.
4th	1982	Ed Peters	550 pp.
5th	1992	Don Graydon	447 pp.	ISBN 0-89886-201-9 or ISBN 0-89886-309-0
6th	1997	Don Graydon and Kurt Hanson	528 pp.
7th	2003	Steven M. Cox and Kris Fulsaas	575 pp.	ISBN 0-89886-827-0
8th	2010	Ronald C. Eng	592 pp.	ISBN 978-1-59485-137-7

The title as a reference

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.

External links

• The Mountaineers Books