Pour les lecteurs français: désolé, aucun contenu de qualité sur l’artif n’existe à ma connaisance. Cette page est donc en anglais puisque la langue de Shakespeare est un pré-requis pour profiter de ces ressources.
Ressources
Before trying to dabble into aid climbing, you should be familiar with trad climbing. It’s a mandatory prerequisite. Most of the tools used will be the same.
Disclosure: all the authors of those books and courses are friends. They all deeply know what they are doing, and each of them kick ass. Amazon links are affiliated, so if you buy the books there, it helps me a bit.
- Vdiff big wall course. Honestly, for the price, you can’t go wrong. Neil is an absolute maniac in term of details and precision. His course hits the spot, and is the best 40$ you can invest in your big wall learning process.
- Hooking Up – The Ultimate Big Wall and Aid Climbing Manual. A massive book, full of color pictures, and brilliant stories. « Pass the Pitons Pete », the author, is an absolute legend, and he describes very well his style of climbing. Slow, heavy, and grinding. He shares his technics in a lof of details. This book is a must have, and full of stories that will make you dream about your next wall.
- Higher Education. Pick Andy Kirkpatrick’s brain in this classic aid book. His techniques and approach are quite different that Pete ones. Expect a more alpine focus, and more straight to the point ways of doing things. He goes lighter, faster, and is a very safe climber. Highly recommended.
- Me Myself & I. The one and only textbook about how to solo a wall. If you are crazy enough to want to do those things, here is the only book that will give you the answers you need.
- Down. If you want to get up steep and hard things, you need to know how to get down safely. 400 pages about how to rappel and stay alive should be a good intro.
Classic films and movies
- The aid rant. Absolute classic. This is the basis of our sport so study it.
- Walls in a push. Beak beak, cam hook, free move. The new generation will never sleep on El Cap.