Royal robbins climber

Royal Robbins February 3, [ 1 ] — March 14, [ 2 ] was one of the pioneers of American rock climbing. After learning to climb at Tahquitz Rock , he went on to make first ascents of many big wall routes in Yosemite. As an early proponent of boltless, pitonless clean climbing , he, along with Yvon Chouinard , was instrumental in changing the climbing culture of the late s and early s by encouraging the use and preservation of the natural features of the rock.

He went on to become a well-known kayaker. Robbins was born in and grew up in trailer parks in Southern California. Robbins first began to climb in the early s at the nearby Tahquitz Peak. At age 17 in he climbed the now famous Open Book route up Tahquitz. In , Robbins completed the second ascent, with Don Lauria, of the Dawn Wall on El Capitan , with the controversial intention of erasing the route as they climbed it.

Royal robbins net worth

Their ascent closely followed the first ascent by Warren Harding and Dean Caldwell, completed with protective 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 because according to Lauria "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. Robbins authored two seminal books, Basic Rockcraft and Advanced Rockcraft , [ 5 ] which emphasized free climbing skills and a clean-climbing ethic.

In a section of Advanced Rockcraft called Values , he described his climbing philosophy. He believes that "a first ascent is a creation in the same sense as is a painting or a song", and that choosing a climbing line may well be "an act of brilliant creativity".

Royal robbins clothing

With modern technology of aid climbing available, a first ascent is more artistic if it consciously rejects the use of certain climbing aids that are not essential to the success of the climb. He places emphasis on using equipment which is non-destructive to the mountain environment. He opposes climbs done outside the accepted mores of a given climbing center, or the prevailing style of an area.