The first edition of this book was based on the combined climbing experience of Craig and Silvia Luebben, spanning forty years of climbing at hundreds of destinations around the world, often with some of the best and most respected climbers and guides. The book also benefited from Craig’s longtime involvement in the American Mountain Guides Association guide-training programs and his twenty-two years of guiding experience, as well as his passion for introducing others to the climbing world.
Following Craig’s untimely death in 2009, Silvia invited Topher Donahue to author this second edition. Topher’s father, Mike Donahue, was a mountain guide who got his son into rock climbing when Topher was still a young lad. By the time Topher was fourteen years old, he was guiding rock and alpine climbs in Rocky Mountain National Park, becoming one of the youngest climbing guides in history.
Craig and Topher were longtime climbing partners and friends, sharing a rope on many adventures in the United States, Canada, and China. This second edition is a compilation of their combined experience, and through consultation with guides and climbers from the United States, Europe, and Canada, it is also a milestone in the collective progression of the sport of climbing.