Higher Education
Comprehensive big-wall & aid climbing manual by Andy Kirkpatrick. 478 pages of advanced techniques, hauling, portaledge life, and El Cap wisdom for serious wall climbers.
Details
Publication date:01 May 2018
Publisher: Andrew Kirkpatrick
Print length: 478 pages
Style: Softback (B&W)
Buy on Amazon"I can't stress enough how much this book has helped me prepare...from my mental game to all the technical know-hows, there's no other book on the market right now that has the level of detail and depth of coverage for aspiring big wall climbers like me. I'm going to make a quick comparison to Chris McNamara's "How to Big Wall" manual, which is short and leaves much to be desired - it's a good, quick visual guide, but I wanted something much more comprehensive on the subject, so I started looking for another book and stumbled upon this one."
- William Alonso
Higher Education: A Big Wall Manual by Andy Kirkpatrick is widely regarded as the most comprehensive and in-depth guide ever written on big wall and aid climbing. Published in 2018 (under the Cragmanship series), this hefty 478-page tome (around 200,000 words) is a true labor of love from the award-winning British climber, author, and big-wall veteran.
Far more than a basic how-to manual, Higher Education dives deep into every aspect of multi-day, multi-pitch wall climbing—drawing from Kirkpatrick's decades of obsessive experience on routes like El Capitan (which he's climbed over 30 times), remote alpine big walls, and extreme cold-weather expeditions.
It covers advanced techniques for aid climbing, hauling, rappelling/abseiling, portaledge living, efficiency on the wall, risk management, and survival in prolonged high-commitment environments.
The book blends granular, cutting-edge technical instruction with Kirkpatrick's signature storytelling—personal anecdotes, hard-won lessons, humor, and philosophical reflections on the psychology and culture of big-wall climbing. As Kirkpatrick himself notes, learning these skills has become “as much the kick of climbing as the climbing itself,” and the book treats the process with equal reverence.
Key topics include:
- Advanced aid techniques and gear placement
- Hauling systems, counterbalance, and load management
- Portaledge setup, living, and hygiene on the wall
- Descent strategies (rappels, lowering heavy loads)
- Safety, fear management, and decision-making under stress
- Expedition-style big walls in remote or harsh conditions
It's not beginner-friendly (this is graduate-level stuff), but for intermediate-to-advanced climbers eyeing The Nose, Salathé, or remote Grade VI routes, it's often described as the definitive modern reference.
If you're passionate about big walls and want a book that's as entertaining and insightful as it is technically exhaustive, Higher Education stands as a modern classic in the genre.
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