Would you like to climb a cliff, hundreds or thousands of feet above safety? It requires a taste for the most adventurous aspects of life, and I wouldn’t do it, but Russell Fralick, a pastor in England, was hooked on rock climbing from his youth and tells about it in his highly readable rock climbing memoir, Over the Top: How One Move Changed a Climber’s Life.

Russell Fralick, Country Preacher.
Photo used with permission of the author.
Since I’m not a rock climber, I was plunged into a world of daring, cliff-defying teenage bravado. I had no idea a book about rock climbing could be so entertaining. I even found it educational as before I read this book, I knew nothing about rock climbing!
Cliff Scaling, Rock Climbing, Mountaineering
All he wanted to do was climb rocks. Big ones. Cliffs. Dangerous cliffs. The more dangerous the better!
“This was a guaranteed way of feeling a buzz, and it was most welcome grist to my adrenaline mill.” – Russell Fralick
Russell Fralick was very young when he started climbing cliffs in the UK. He had just graduated from high school and was about to start college. That summer his friend needed a climbing partner, so the two young men forged a climbing alliance. Together they scaled numerous cliffs in England, where they lived.
That last thing, an understanding of the safety involved, helped a lot when recently my youngest son told me he’s started rock climbing at Mt. Shasta in Northern California.
If I hadn’t read Russell Fralick’s memoir first, I might have panicked. But my son was able to explain why what he was doing was safe enough, and I have confidence in him to be able to excel at that type of sport. After all, he was climbing trees, swing sets, and basketball standards when he was very, very young. Climbing was apparently an inborn skill he brought with him into this world. Knowing what Russell Fralick shared about rock climbing in his memoir set my mind at ease, somewhat.
He’s a Pastor Now
This book was written as a Christian testimonial, but it is about ninety percent rock climbing and mountaineering. You might think that would be hard to read, but no, it is fascinating in many ways and parts of it are even amusing.

Russell Fralick and his two hunting dogs.
Source: Russell Fralick
Why I Recommend Russell Fralick’s Memoir
Not only is this an outstanding book about rock climbing and mountaineering, it is also an inspiring story about what caused young Russell Fralick to find out from personal experience that there is a God.
I very much recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a great rock climbing story… to anyone who loves memoirs, and to those who would like to read an amazing Christian testimonial.
Pinnable Quotes by Russell Fralick
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![]() “As I started to climb, the reflected heat from the sun felt wonderful. The rock was firm and rough to the touch and handholds abounded.” |
![]() “The dull, pleasant ache of tired muscles and the tingle of sore fingertips were therapy in themselves.” |
![]() My mind spun like a whirling dervish. A route like this, so bold, so impossible, so completely out of reach for a mere man. And yet . .” |
![]() “This new pattern of life was perfect. My personality was inextricably linked to what I did: I was a climber. It wasn’t something that I did. It defined me, and that felt good. No, it felt great. I was respected, I was interesting, and I always had stories to tell down at the pub.” |
![]() “To be a Christian, a real Christian, is to be completely over the top, at least in the eyes of the world.” |
![]() “I am identified with Christ that He may be glorified through me because He is worthy.” |
More Rock Climbing Memoirs
A dyslexic young man from a lower class family finds success in climbing El Capitan in Yosemite. |
Riveting classic about an extreme climbing disaster in the Andes Mountains of Peru. |