The majority of this book is about Harding's early climbing days in Yosemite with focus on the first ascent of the Nose and the first ascent of the Wall of the Early Morning Light. Anecdotes abound in connection with Harding's contemporary climbers in the Valley: Royal Robbins, T.M. Herbert, Yvon Chouinard, Don Lauria, Chuck Pratt, Galen Rowell, etc.

The book closes with an appendix where Harding rates these and other climbers (61 total) on a scale of 1 to 10, and presents his reasons plus some biographical notes on each climber. Harding describes the rating system as:

"ZONE 1. COLOR OF HAT: WHITE.
Spiritually oriented superclimbers (SOSCs). The real leaders in ever raising the standards, ethics, and organization of American climbing. These fellows are looked up to with great reverence and awe by the hoi-polloi of both the climbing community and the public in general.

It is interesting to note that, in general, those in this group view themselves as enlightened, liberal, hang-loose types. They denounce formal religions, stodgy social mores, and the 'establishment.' They tend to be very intellectual. But, when it comes to climbing, they're about as liberal as Adolph Hitler and his -- uh -- sociological views.

Paradoxically, they come on like some kind of ideological fanatics, treating the (at best) questionable activity known as rock climbing as though it were some profound religious or political entity (might be getting into some metaphysical thin ice here), and go to a great deal of trouble and effort to 'institutionalize' this form of buffoonery. Of course, all institutions require a hierarchy to take charge; zone 1 people certainly are a 'take charge' type. [examples of Zone 1 climbers: Royal Robbins, Tom Frost, Yvon Chouinard] ...

ZONE 7. COLOR OF HAT: DARK GRAY
Climbers who went astray. Those who drifted into other things like serious family lives, professional careers, or bird watching. [examples of Zone 7 climbers: Glenn Denny, Cesare Maestri, Bill Briggs]

ZONE 10. COLOR OF HAT; BLACK.
Those blackguards who climb for heathenish reasons. They are of varying and unpredictable levels of ability and dedication but invariably characterized by shallowness of character, general depravity, and self-aggrandizement." [examples of Zone 10 climbers: Warren Harding, Dean Caldwell, Wayne Merry] ...

Harding didn't rate a few of the people in the appendix; nevertheless, he offers some opinion and description. For example, the entry for Fred Beckey is:

"FRED BECKEY ZONE ?
Mr. Beckey is the object of a complete investigation being conducted by the L.S.E.D. & F.S. to determine the validity of his prodigious (claimed) climbing record -- of which serious doubts have been raised. When one considers the amount of time Mr. Beckey spends driving to and from Seattle, talking on the telephone, and shitting, it seems more than likely that he has done virtually no climbing at all, despite the fact that he is reputed to be the oldest climber in the United States. Zone rating will be withheld pending completion of the inquiry."

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