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You have to know the past to know the future. Camp 4 will give you the history lessons that are articulated very well and entertaining at the same time. Speaking as an "outsider" all I an say is I wish I was part of the 60's and 70's climbing scene in the Yosemite Valley.Dr. Jim Block
An awesome book, detailed to the extreme. Since reading this book I have dropped out of modern society and have went back to my primordial roots with the exception of a computer. If you wanna know about the personalities and the lives of some of the pioneers of modern rock climbing this is the book for you. In the end you feel bonded with the individuals and you will not be the same. So there ya have it. enjoy my friends enjoy.
Roper is no doubt biased towards Yosemite climbing, and furthermore explicitly sided in the Robbins vs. Harding ethics debate, but he recounts his stance and memory of their adventures with amazing detail. The book becomes a bit of a chronological account of ascents by the end, but there are some good stories to read before then. A must for anybody who climbs in the valley or appreciates the history of the sport.
If you want to understand rock climbing, this book is a must read. It may not be written in the most beautiful prose and some may not always agree with Roper's perspective, but this book is packed with pictures, facts, and stories - many of them exciting, often funny, and some of them tragic and sad. Roper's "Camp 4" describes where it all began. This book should be part of every climber's education. Reading this book has only deepened my fascination with Yosemite and climbing in general. I wish there was a follow-up that tells the story about what happenend since the "Golden Age".
His callousness toward the first Camp 4 fatality made me back up and reread. Those were the days when families came, climbed a little, picnicked a lot, and a good time was had by all.The Golden Age of the '60s, of which Steve was a part, was a time of great improvements in equipment and methods, and also a first crack at some of the awesome spires that were heretofore thought "impossible." It was wild, giddy and reckless, adjectives I would never apply to Steve Roper. This is an excellent history, and I feel positive and secure that Mr. If they were women, they were mere appendages.
I enjoyed reading about the historical climbers and the more social rock climbers of the '30s. Steve Roper is meticulous. Yep, I read it right, though I'm sure he was trying to keep up the "Right Stuff" façade in the face of what must have been a great shock to an 18-year old boy. John is Steve's polar opposite except in their mutual love for and expertise in rock climbing. Mr.
That is the problem; there are so few that Roper considers to have the Right Stuff. John is wildly funny and sometimes just wild, but I had more a feeling of place when reading his book.As another reviewer said, "Camp 4" is a must-have for West Coast rock enthusiasts. Roper's records are as accurate and precise as they can possibly be of that rowdy and rambunctious world. If male and had the misfortune to be born after 1955, they were not pure enough. Roper is austere in his beliefs of the "purity" of the climb and who is worthy.
Though he recounts a few wild escapades, I had the feeling he did not approve. John Long's "Rock Jocks, Wall Rats and Hang Dogs" is devoted to Camp 4 in the '70s. It is considered the Bible of the Golden Age.-sweetmolly-Amazon.com Reviewer
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