Synopsis
From the inside flaps of the dust Why would anyone want to climb a mountain? The most famous answer to that question is Mallory’s “Because it is there.” Warren J. Harding has a different “Because it’s there and we’re MAD!” Harding, who prefers to be known as Batso, achieved instant fame (but no fortune) when he and his partner Dean Caldwell made the first ascent of the most difficult rock face in the United States—the sheer, smooth 3,000-foot Wall of the Early Morning Light in Yosemite Valley. The climb took 27 sometimes freezing and rain-soaked days, and was praised by Sports Illustrated as “probably the most skilled piece of technical climbing ever achieved.” But in typical Batso fashion, it was carried out with spectacular nonchalance and buffoonery, including spurned rescue attempts and exuberant wine-drinking parties. Sometime later, Batso had the audacity to presume he could write, so here is DOWNWARD BOUND—a brainchild nurtured by a twisted mind and a hallucinatory imagination. An inside and totally distorted look at the history and present state of rock climbing, this hilarious book is also a first-rate manual for the beginner and the seasoned climber. Here you’ll learn about climbing à la Batso, and have the dubious privilege of discovering Harding’s many innovations, such as BAT tents and BAT hooks (BAT standing for Basically Absurd Technology). Moving on, but not necessarily upward, you’ll find insane accounts of his most infamous climbs, including that crime of the century, the ascent of the Wall of the Early Morning Light. DOWNWARD BOUND also tells the ludicrous story of Batso’s war with the “purists” who have tried to turn climbing into a religion, dramatizes his pointless search for ethnic identity, and recounts many other equally irrelevant adventures in a career that has gone steadily downward from the beginning. – PRENTICE-HALL, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
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Downward bound: A mad guide to rock climbing
Seller: Magus Books Seattle, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: VG-. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. used hardcover in a dust jacket. jacket is a bit worn about the edges and somewhat scuffed, but without any serious tears. pages and binding are clean, straight and tight. there are no marks to the text or other serious flaws. Seller Inventory # 1395867
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Downward Bound: A Mad! Guide to Rock Climbing
Published by
Prentice Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1975
ISBN 10: 013218883X
ISBN 13: 9780132188838
Used
Soft Cover
Seller: Arapiles Mountain Books - Mount of Alex, Castlemaine, VIC, Australia
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Soft Cover. Condition: VG. Beryl "Beasto" Knauth (illustrator). Second Printing. 8vo. original printed paper wraps (spine slightly sunned & creased, a little rubbed & toned, tiny chipped edge to rear cover); pp. 204, with numerous illustrations. A very good copy of a scarce title, part instruction, part autobiography, all humorous. One of the oddities of climbing literature [Neate H30]. Seller Inventory # 036419
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Downward Bound: A Mad! Guide to Rock Climbing
Published by
Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1975
ISBN 10: 013218883X
ISBN 13: 9780132188838
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: Black Cat Hill Books, Oregon City, OR, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good+. Illustrated by Beryl "beasto" Knauth (illustrator). First Edition; First Printing. Very Good in a Good+ DJ: The Book shows a former owner's name neatly but boldly printed at the bottom edge of the text block; very mild shelving wear to the bottom edge of the boards; the expected light tanning to the text pages; a former owner's gift inscription at the front free endpaper; the binding is square and secure; the text is clean. Free of creased or dog-eared pages in the text. Free of any underlining, hi-lighting or marginalia or marks in the text. A handsome, carefully-used copy, structurally sound and tightly bound, showing very mild wear and minor cosmetic flaws, but also showing a couple of more serious imperfections. Corners sharp. The DJ shows moderate wear to the extremities with three short, closed tears and scant loss to rubbing and tiny chips; mild rubbing and faint consequent soiling to the white background field of the rear panel; the price has been clipped; mylar-protected. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo. (8.5 x 5.5 x 0.85 inches) . Illustrated with line-drawnings by Beryl "beasto" Knauth, maps and duotone photographs. Language: English. Weight: 13.8 ounces. Hardcover with DJ. Warren Harding (1924 2002) was one of the most accomplished and influential American big wall climbers and aid climbers of the 1950s to 1970s. He was the leader of the first team to climb El Capitan, Yosemite Valley, in 1958. The route they climbed, known as The Nose, ascends 2,900 feet (880 m) up the central buttress of what is one of the largest granite monoliths in the world. Harding climbed many other first ascents in Yosemite, some 28 in all, as well as making the first true big-wall ascents in the Sierra Nevada range of California. He was nicknamed "Batso", a reference to his penchant for spending days living on vertical cliffs and his exuberant and iconoclastic character. Harding developed specialized equipment for climbing big walls, such as the "bat tent" for sleeping, and "bat hooks" used to hook precariously on small cut-out bits of graniteexamples of his B. A. T. Or 'Basically Absurd Technology' products. This book contains a description of the ascent of the Nose and the Wall of Early Morning Light (1970) , as well as instruction in climbing basics, ratings of prominent climbers of the period, a humorous account of rock climbing controversies and life-styles of the 1960s and 1970s. Harding, who prefers to be known as Batso, achieved instant fame when he and his partner Dean Caldwell made the first ascent of the most difficult rock face in the United Statesthe sheer, smooth 3,000-foot Wall of the Early Morning Light in Yosemite Valley. The climb took 27 sometimes freezing and rain-soaked days, and was praised by Sports Illustrated as "probably the most skilled piece of technical climbing ever achieved. " It was carried out with spectacular nonchalance and buffoonery, including spurned rescue attempts and exuberant wine-drinking parties. This hilarious book is also a first-rate manual for the beginner and the seasoned climber. Here you'll learn about climbing à la Batso, and have the dubious privilege of discovering Harding's many innovations, such as BAT tents and BAT hooks (BAT standing for Basically Absurd Technology). ; B&W Illustrations; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 204 pages. pages. Seller Inventory # 57655