This morning I listened to Jake Allen’s book “A Beginner’s Guide to Rock Climbing: Mastering Basic Climbing Knowledge” on Audible. If you’re hunting for a beginner rock climbing book to get you off the ground, this is one that sets out to hand you the basics that help just about anyone get started.
If you don’t want to read the full review, here’s the quick version. There’s genuinely helpful info in here for a brand new climber, but it’s basic enough that you can find all of it online for free. This blog, for one, covers almost everything he mentions, and it’s free for everyone. You don’t even need an Audible credit to read our guide to the basics of climbing.
For everyone else who doesn’t mind a short read, this article walks through the different parts of the book plus my honest take on whether you should read it too.
Book Length and Price
The book is a short 1 hour listen, and you can grab it on Audible for 1 credit or $4.87 at the time of writing this. It’s also available on Amazon in Paper Back for $6.49 and with Kindle Unlimited.
With the price this cheap and the book this short, giving it a try was an easy enough call.
Target Audience
Per the description, the book is aimed at anyone who’s interested in rock climbing and doesn’t know where to get started, or just wants to learn more about climbing. If that’s you, our free indoor climbing guide for beginners covers a lot of the same ground.
I’d say that’s the right crowd, because the info in the book is very basic and you’d probably pick up most of it in your first month of climbing. If you’re already climbing harder than V1 or 5.9, then this book is probably a little more basic than what you need to improve.
Content Overview
Per the description, Allen wanted to 1) share info about the equipment and different types of climbing, 2) cover techniques used while climbing, and 3) give you actionable items to help you improve “dramatically.”
- About 2/3rds of the book is a basic overview of the different kinds of climbing like Trad, Lead, Top Rope and Bouldering, plus the details on gear. So he does deliver on the promise to cover climbing types and equipment. The info is basic though, and if you’re into climbing enough to be reading my review of this book, you probably already know most of it.
- There’s very little on techniques for actually getting up the wall beyond using your feet to push your body up while your hands hold the holds. There were a couple of sentences about climbing on overhangs versus slabs, but the details were so basic that you can learn most of it by watching other people climb or just by climbing yourself. No instruction or book needed. So no, I don’t think it lives up to the promise to “dramatically” improve your climbing.
- When it comes to actionable items, these got blended in with technique. For example, one of the tips was to look at your feet and make sure you’re standing up on them to get a higher reach, which ties right into how you use your toes on the wall. That’s a great actionable item, but it’s also all over free online blogs and videos, including this blog and plenty of my videos, so I’m not sure it’s worth the cost of the book. As for the promise to give you actionable items, even if I don’t think they’re worth the price, he does provide them, so he delivers on that part.
Overall, Allen delivers on his promise from the description to cover the different types of climbing, the equipment, basic technique, and actionable items. As for my frustration about “dramatically” improving your climbing, if you count someone going from V0 to V1 as doubling a climber’s skill, then sure, you could call that a “dramatic” improvement. Though I wouldn’t.
Should You Buy This Beginner Rock Climbing Book?
I picked up this book as part of a series I’m reading to figure out whether you can actually learn to rock climb from a book (article coming soon). With this one, it’s pretty obvious it’s been a long time since the author was a beginner, so he doesn’t quite remember what it’s really like to start out or what actually helped his own climbing improve “dramatically” when he first got going.
If you’re climbing V0 to V1 or 5.8 to 5.9, this book will give you the basic info you need to get started. But it’s short and too broad to be much real help, and most of what’s in it is already on this blog, which is free for everyone.
If you’re in academics, or you’re trying to impress someone who climbs and don’t actually plan on climbing, this is a quick way to get a very basic overview of the sport. Though I’d say climbing itself is the best way to learn, and the best way to impress someone who climbs.
Luckily for me, I didn’t have to spend a penny on this book. I used an Audible credit from my Audible Unlimited to get it, then exchanged the book for a different one when I was done, so it was basically free for me to listen to. Though I did lose an hour I could have spent on a more in-depth climbing book.
If You Are A Climber
Rock climbing, like most sports, takes practice to get better, and like a lot of technical sports it asks for both mental and physical skill. That makes a book only helpful if the info actually moves your climbing forward through real steps or a training plan. Since this book stays surface level, applying it would only help you a little.
I’d point you toward a proper training book, or a book just about technique, so you get the depth that makes reading worth it. Vertical Mind is a good place to start if you want the mental side, and if you like a good climbing story, The Impossible Climb is worth a read too. When you’re ready to actually train the moves, that’s what Grip & Grind is built for.
And if you’d rather skip the book and just start climbing better this week, my free newsletter sends you one short climbing drill you can knock out in about 15 minutes. You can grab the weekly drills here.
Frequently asked questions
Is Jake Allen’s A Beginner’s Guide to Rock Climbing worth reading?
It’s fine for someone who has never climbed and wants a quick overview, but it’s very surface level. Almost everything in it is already available for free online, including on this blog, so most climbers won’t get much for the money.
How long is the book and how much does it cost?
It’s a short 1 hour listen. On Audible it’s 1 credit or $4.87 at the time of writing, the paperback is $6.49 on Amazon, and it’s also included with Kindle Unlimited.
What does the book actually cover?
Roughly two thirds of it is a basic overview of climbing types like Trad, Lead, Top Rope and Bouldering, plus gear. The rest is a light look at technique and a few actionable tips, like watching your feet and standing up on them for a higher reach.
Is this the best beginner rock climbing book to buy?
No. If you want a book that actually improves your climbing, go for one focused on technique or training instead. Vertical Mind is a solid pick for the mental side of climbing.
Can you really learn to climb from a book?
Only up to a point. A book can teach you the vocabulary, gear, and a few movement ideas, but climbing is a physical skill you build by actually getting on the wall and practicing.
