Royal Robbins

Royal Robbins (born 1935) was one of the early pioneers of American rock climbing. Learning his skill at Tahquitz he moved on to put up many of the early Yosemite routes. A prolific writer, Robbins has written numerous influential magazine articles emphasizing a philosophy of minimal climbing equipment and maximum climbing skill. He authored "Basic Rockcraft" and "Advanced Rockcraft", two very influential books, which passed on his skill and ethic, and inspired a whole new generation of climbers. A very early proponent of "clean climbing" (boltless, pitonless, use of natural features for protection) he, along with Yvon Chouinard, was instrumental in changing the climbing culture of the late 1960s and early 1970s to minimise overall human impact on the vertical wilderness. Later founded an eponymous outdoor apparel company, Royal Robbins.

One of Robbins's less-publicized accomplishments was his 1971 second ascent, with Don Lauria, of the Wall of Early Morning Light on El Capitan. This climb closely followed the 1970 first ascent by Warren J. Harding and Dean Caldwell, completed with a heavy reliance on bolts: a method that offended Robbins and other clean climbing advocates. Harding had left all his bolts in the rock; Robbins and Lauria used the bolts to repeat the climb; and Robbins then chopped the heads off the bolts behind them. After two pitches, Robbins stopped chopping the bolts - according to Don Lauria - because the "quality of the aid climbing was much higher than he had ever expected of Harding or Caldwell and, of course, it was also taking us an awful long time to chop all those goddam bolts." [cite book | last = Harding | first = Warren
authorlink = Warren J Harding | coauthors =
title = Downward Bound: a Mad! guide to Rock Climbing
publisher = Menasha Ridge Press | date = 1990 (original 1975)
location = Birmingham, Alabama, USA | pages = 165 - 167 | url = | doi =
id = | isbn = 0-89732-101-4 ]

Royal Robbins now lives in Modesto, California.

First Ascents

* 1952 Tahquitz Open Book, CA, USA. First 5.9 in America.
* 1957 Northwest Face of Half Dome, Yosemite, CA, USA. First grade VI climb in America. With Mike Sherrick and Jerry Gallwas. [cite book | last = Reid | first = Don | title = Yosemite Climbs: Big Walls
publisher = Chockstone Press Press | date = 1993 | location = Evergreen, Colorado, USA. | id = ISBN 0-934641-54-4 ]
* 1961 Salathé Wall, El Capitan, Yosemite, CA, USA. Hardest big wall grade VI climb in world at time of first ascent. With Tom Frost and Chuck Pratt. [cite book | last = Reid | first = Don | title = Yosemite Climbs: Big Walls
publisher = Chockstone Press Press | date = 1993 | location = Evergreen, Colorado, USA. | id = ISBN 0-934641-54-4 ]
* 1962 American Direct, Aiguille du Dru, Mont Blanc Range, France. With Gary Hemming.
* 1963 Direct NW Face of Half Dome, Yosemite, CA, USA. With Dick McCracken. [cite book | last = Reid | first = Don | title = Yosemite Climbs: Big Walls
publisher = Chockstone Press Press | date = 1993 | location = Evergreen, Colorado, USA. | id = ISBN 0-934641-54-4 ]
* 1963 Robbins Route, Mount Proboscis, Logan Mountains, NWT, Canada. With Jim McCarthy, Layton Kor and Dick McCracken.
* 1964 North America Wall, El Capitan, Yosemite, CA, USA. With Tom Frost, Chuck Pratt and Yvon Chouinard. [cite book | last = Reid | first = Don | title = Yosemite Climbs: Big Walls
publisher = Chockstone Press Press | date = 1993 | location = Evergreen, Colorado, USA. | id = ISBN 0-934641-54-4 ]
* 1964 North Face Mount Hooker, Wind River Range, Wyoming, USA. With Dick McCracken and Charlie Raymond.
* 1964 Danse Macabre, Devils Tower, Wyoming, USA.
* 1964 Final Exam, Castle Rock, Boulder, CO, USA. With Pat Ament.
* 1964 Athlete's Feat, Castle Rock, Boulder, CO, USA.
* 1965 American Direttissima, Aiguille du Dru, Mont Blanc Range, France. With John Harlin. [cite journal
last = Harlin | first = John | authorlink = John Harlin
coauthors = | title = Petit Dru, West Face Direttissima | journal = American Alpine Journal
volume = 1966 | issue = | pages = 81–89 | publisher = The American Alpine Club
location = New York City, New York, USA | date = 1966
url = http://www.americanalpineclub.org/AAJO/pdfs/1966/Harlin_PetitDru1966_81-89.pdf
doi = | id = ISSN 0065-6925 | accessdate = ]
* 1967 Nutcracker, Yosemite, CA, USA. An early all-nut protected route, now a Yosemite classic.
* 1969 The Prow, Washington Column, Yosemite, CA, USA. With Glenn Denny. [cite book | last = Reid | first = Don | title = Yosemite Climbs: Big Walls
publisher = Chockstone Press Press | date = 1993 | location = Evergreen, Colorado, USA. | id = ISBN 0-934641-54-4 ]
* 1969 Tis-sa-ack, Half Dome, Yosemite, CA, USA. With Don Peterson. [cite book | last = Reid | first = Don | title = Yosemite Climbs: Big Walls
publisher = Chockstone Press Press | date = 1993 | location = Evergreen, Colorado, USA. | id = ISBN 0-934641-54-4 ]
* 1970 Arcturus, Half Dome, Yosemite, CA, USA. With Dick Dorworth. [cite book | last = Reid | first = Don | title = Yosemite Climbs: Big Walls
publisher = Chockstone Press Press | date = 1993 | location = Evergreen, Colorado, USA. | id = ISBN 0-934641-54-4 ]

Other Climbing Achievements

* 1960 The Nose, El Capitan, Yosemite, CA, USA. Second ascent.
* 1963 Leaning Tower, Yosemite, CA, USA. Second ascent and Yosemite's first Wall done Solo (Grade V).
* 1968 Muir Wall, El Capitan, Yosemite, CA, USA. First Grade VI solo (and therefore the first solo of El Capitan).
* 1975 Wall of Early Morning Light, El Capitan, Yosemite, CA, USA. Second ascent.

Biographies

* cite book
last = Ament
first = Pat
authorlink = Pat_Ament
title = Royal Robbins: Spirit of the Age
publisher = Two Lights
date = 1992
location = Boulder, Colorado, USA.
id = ISBN 1-881663-02-7

References

ee also

* Warren J Harding
* Yvon Chouinard

External links

* [http://www.royalrobbins.com/ Royal Robbins website] apparel company site