Science Of Climbing Mountaineering

This is the first book to explore in depth the science of climbing and mountaineering. Written by a team of leading international sport scientists, clinicians and climbing practitioners, it covers the full span of technical disciplines, including rock climbing, ice climbing, indoor climbing and mountaineering, across all scientific fields from physiology and biomechanics to history, psychology, medicine, motor control, skill acquisition, and engineering. Striking a balance between theory and practice, this uniquely interdisciplinary study provides practical examples and illustrative data to demonstrate the strategies that can be adopted to promote safety, best practice, injury prevention, recovery and mental preparation. Divided into six parts, the book covers all essential aspects of the culture and science of climbing and mountaineering, including: physiology and medicine biomechanics motor control and learning psychology equipment and technology. Showcasing the latest cutting-edge research and demonstrating how science translates into practice, The Science of Climbing and Mountaineering is essential reading for all advanced students and researchers of sport science, biomechanics and skill acquisition, as well as all active climbers and adventure sport coaches.

This is the first book to explore in depth the science of climbing and mountaineering. Written by a team of leading international sport scientists, clinicians and climbing practitioners, it covers the full span of technical disciplines, including rock climbing, ice climbing, indoor climbing and mountaineering, across all scientific fields from physiology and biomechanics to history, psychology, medicine, motor control, skill acquisition, and engineering. Striking a balance between theory and practice, this uniquely interdisciplinary study provides practical examples and illustrative data to demonstrate the strategies that can be adopted to promote safety, best practice, injury prevention, recovery and mental preparation. Divided into six parts, the book covers all essential aspects of the culture and science of climbing and mountaineering, including: physiology and medicine biomechanics motor control and learning psychology equipment and technology. Showcasing the latest cutting-edge research and demonstrating how science translates into practice, The Science of Climbing and Mountaineering is essential reading for all advanced students and researchers of sport science, biomechanics and skill acquisition, as well as all active climbers and adventure sport coaches.

When it comes to training for climbing, there is an overwhelming amount of information out there. In The Science of Climbing Training, top Spanish climbing coach Sergio Consuegra has analysed our sporting needs from the perspective of exercise and sports science to provide an evidence-based approach to training for climbing. It is designed to help us improve climbing performance, whether we're taking the next step in our training as we work towards a project, or if we're a coach looking to optimise our athletes' training. It doesn't contain any 'magic' training methods, because there are none – although you might be shocked by the science behind some popular methods. The first part explains what training is and how different training methods are governed by the physiological and biomechanical processes that occur in the body. The second part looks at how to improve specific needs (such as finger strength and forearm muscle endurance) and general needs (such as basic physical conditioning, pulling strength, pushing strength, strength training for injury prevention) for the different demands and types of climbing and bouldering. The third and final part suggests the best ways to fit it all together. It looks at adjusting training volume and intensity, and tapering to encourage supercompensation, all to help us achieve improved performance, whether it's a breaking into a higher grade, ticking that long-standing project or climbing a dream route.

Mountaineers, Rock Climbers, and Science Educators Around the 1920s, rock climbing separated from mountaineering to become a separate sport. At that time European climbers developed new equipment and techniques, enabling them to ascend mountain faces and to climb rocks, which were considered unassailable up to that time. American climbers went further by expanding and improving on the equipment. They even developed a system of quantification where points were given for the degree of difficulty of an ascent. This system focused primarily on the pitch of the mountain, and it even calculated up to de- mals to give a high degree of quantification. Rock climbing became a technical system. Csikszentmihaly (1976) observed that the sole interest of rock climbers at that time was to climb the rock. Rock climbers were known to reach the top and not even glance around at the scenery. The focus was on reaching the top of the rock. In contrast, mountaineers saw the whole mountain as a single “unit of perc- tion. ” “The ascent (to them) is a gestalt including the aesthetic, historical, personal and physical sensations” (Csikszentmihaly, 1976, p. 486). This is an example of two contrasting approaches to the same kind of landscape and of two different groups of people. Interestingly, in the US, Europe, and Japan a large segment of the early rock climbers were young mathematicians and theoretical physicists, while the mountaineers were a more varied lot.

This unique volume applies physics and basic science to the mountain environment and is written in a non-technical language for curious laypeople who wonder why or how natural phenomena happen, and what their scientific explanation may be. The book discusses physics in a non-specialized way. Alpine Physics is mostly organized in categories relevant for non-scientists with an interest in alpine environments.Intuitive decision-making is often just grounded in plain common sense, to which mountain and nature lovers relate easily, especially when involving high-stakes decisions based on the estimation of such a treacherous environment. The book highlights how this intuitive decision-making can be complemented and augmented by basic scientific knowledge, and with better understanding it leads one to become a rational decision-maker.The book stimulates its readers to reason and discover why things are the way they are, at high altitudes, where many risk factors are aggravated, often dramatically, by steep gradients. The writing style marries that of the conventional science textbook and that of the informal North-American climbing guidebooks.

THE ALTITUDE EXPERIENCE: Successful Trekking and Climbing Above 8,000 Feet (Falcon) Mike Farris The first comprehensive guide for climbing above 8,000 feet The one-volume resource for any traveler who will be at high altitude for any period of time, this guide contains organized technical information from medical and science texts as well as anecdotes from real climbers who share their own experiences, in the body as well as the mind. This new book also lists preparation and training guidelines for ascending altitude, tips on how to acclimate, what to bring, how to "come down" after descent, and how to treat altitude sickness if it occurs. This is a practical guide for anyone new to such travel, as well as an up-to-date guide with new information for experienced climbers. Mike Farris is a biology professor at Hamline University and an experienced high-altitude climber who has traveled throughout North America, South America and the Himalayas. He lives in Northfield, Minnesota.