Royal Robbins

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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."^[1]

Royal Robbins now lives in Modesto, California.

1 First Ascents
2 Other Climbing Achievements
3 Biographies
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] 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.^[2]
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.^[3]
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.^[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.^[5]
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.^[6]
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.^[7]
1969 Tis-sa-ack, Half Dome, Yosemite, CA, USA. With Don Peterson.^[8]
1970 Arcturus, Half Dome, Yosemite, CA, USA. With Dick Dorworth.^[9]

[edit] 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.

[edit] Biographies

Ament, Pat (1992). Royal Robbins: Spirit of the Age. Boulder, Colorado, USA.: Two Lights. ISBN 1-881663-02-7.

[edit] References

^ Harding, Warren (1990 (original 1975)). Downward Bound: a Mad! guide to Rock Climbing. Birmingham, Alabama, USA: Menasha Ridge Press, 165 - 167. ISBN 0-89732-101-4.
^ Reid, Don (1993). Yosemite Climbs: Big Walls. Evergreen, Colorado, USA.: Chockstone Press Press. ISBN 0-934641-54-4.
^ Reid, Don (1993). Yosemite Climbs: Big Walls. Evergreen, Colorado, USA.: Chockstone Press Press. ISBN 0-934641-54-4.
^ Reid, Don (1993). Yosemite Climbs: Big Walls. Evergreen, Colorado, USA.: Chockstone Press Press. ISBN 0-934641-54-4.
^ Reid, Don (1993). Yosemite Climbs: Big Walls. Evergreen, Colorado, USA.: Chockstone Press Press. ISBN 0-934641-54-4.
^ Harlin, John (1966). "Petit Dru, West Face Direttissima". American Alpine Journal 1966: 81 - 89. New York City, New York, USA: The American Alpine Club. ISSN 0065-6925.
^ Reid, Don (1993). Yosemite Climbs: Big Walls. Evergreen, Colorado, USA.: Chockstone Press Press. ISBN 0-934641-54-4.
^ Reid, Don (1993). Yosemite Climbs: Big Walls. Evergreen, Colorado, USA.: Chockstone Press Press. ISBN 0-934641-54-4.
^ Reid, Don (1993). Yosemite Climbs: Big Walls. Evergreen, Colorado, USA.: Chockstone Press Press. ISBN 0-934641-54-4.