Hooking Up

Everything you [n]ever wanted to know about big wall and aid climbing - from light and fast speed ascents to full-on vertical camping - along with the most up-to-date tips, tricks and techniques to teach you the Better Way to climb big walls. The "climbing porn" photos are superb, and the text is both creative and entertaining.

The passion, thrill and suffering shared in the stories by the best aid climbers on the planet will make your hands sweat in terror, and the brilliant action photographs ensure this book will end up in haul bags and on coffee tables the world over.

Fabio Elli, one of the authors, is a chemical engineer who lives in the north of Italy near Como - he was introduced to climbing and the mountains by his dad when he was 14, and since then he's never stopped. He's an alpinism and ice climbing enthusiast, he also enjoys biking and photography.

In 2010, he felt the pull of his aiders, and he has been active since then, often solo. He has climbed many of the most demanding classics in the Mont Blanc massif, and also on the Moose's Tooth in Alaska plus most of the 'classics' on El Capitan.

Peter Zarbrok, the other author of the guide, began as a caver who started climbing in 1979. Also a chemical engineer, he is a self-unemployed financial advisor preferring the 'dirtbag' lifestyle. He is active in the exploration and survey of the Mammoth Cave System in Kentucky and also in Oaxaca, Mexico.