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Roushski
Mountain climber
Durango, CO
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Apr 16, 2015 - 07:26am PT
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Yep, those were the RR Varappe from 1980. Construction was similar to the PA but with a different last for American tastes, wider at the ball of the foot and a more tapered toe shape. The rubber was softer than on the PA which was softer than on the RD, so although not as soft as the Spanish rubber of the time, it was softer than the other French and Italian shoes.
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Roushski
Mountain climber
Durango, CO
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Apr 16, 2015 - 07:38am PT
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Re: Mountain Letters, Mountain Books
Sorry that I've been away from this for awhile, but the idea of separate names for different areas of the business stemmed from the wide range of products at the time. Catalogs were very expensive to produce and we sold books to bookstores in addition to outdoor retailers and ski shops, so many of them didn't also need a gear or clothing catalog.
The Mountain Letters and Mountain Threads names appeared in the early 70's. By the mid-70's, when Lito and I were re-shaping the look of the catalogs and ads, we tweaked Mt Letters to Mt Books to better fit the size and type font we wanted to use at the time. The other point of the different catalogs was that we would have different timing on the updates which helped our workload as we had a very small staff with a wide range of products to cover. Release dates of the various European boot and gear products was also not aligned with the US intro shows (still isn't) and we had to work around that somewhat.
Could we have done things differently? Sure, but we were learning this business side of things on-the-job and we didn't necessarily march to the same drum as the rest of the world in any case.
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 16, 2015 - 07:44am PT
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Roushski = Keeter: Thanks for posting again. You've been a great resource for this thread.
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Roushski
Mountain climber
Durango, CO
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Apr 16, 2015 - 12:09pm PT
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It was a big part of my life for a long time. I still enjoy running into some of the old crew. Its especially interesting to see some of our European partners in the Alps
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Tamara Robbins
climber
not a climber, just related...
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Apr 18, 2015 - 11:39am PT
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...I want to know what was so damn funny! ;)
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Roushski
Mountain climber
Durango, CO
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Apr 18, 2015 - 01:51pm PT
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We were so young a foolish then, we might have laughed at anything. I think I can name 10 of these folks, though many of them might want to remain anonymous
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oldtimer
climber
Concord,CA
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That is me in the middle with the white shorts. Royal and liz in the front left. the guy to the left of Royal is Lauren he was the financial guy. Girl to my left is Lonnie. Girl to my right was Clyde Deal (upper right) girlfriend. Girl on upper left was named Sharon. can't remember the other peoples name. Keith probably does. Older gentleman to the right of Liz is her father whom we affectionatly called Mr. B.
I have long forgotten about this picture and I don't remember what was so funny.
i worked there in the warehouse for about 3 years and at the retail shop several more.
Garry Pollard
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Tamara Robbins
climber
not a climber, just related...
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wow - hello again, Gary! yup, Loren is there, and Clyde's girlfriend later became his wife, that's Jani (was married to Roper before Clyde). Patti Adamson is 2nd in on lower right, she worked in customer service for many years after this pic. And yes, you're correct that Keith can fill in any missing pieces - he has a memory that continues to astound and inform me!
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wstmrnclmr
Trad climber
Bolinas, CA
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TM said Robbins was wearing the blue RR's on his ascent of the "Grey Ghost" in Tuolumne.
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Modesto Mutant
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Wow, that photo brings back a lot of memories. I spent a lot of time working in the back of the shop. What year was this photo taken? 1977?
-Kevin Givens
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Here's a bit of trivia for ya. When I worked for The Evil Empire, before it actually earned that
nebulous sobriquet, I made a trip to Modesto to feel Royal out on his openness to teaming
with us. I felt it could have been mutually beneficial. Royal clearly felt otherwise although he
did not share his reasons. He was very polite and we had a nice chat, then I went out to the
sales floor and bought a pair of the newly arrived EB's from Bruce Carson.
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Tamara Robbins
climber
not a climber, just related...
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Mutant, I'm guessing more like '73, I'll look it up later but am just home on lunch break atm. Or Keith can probably date it without referencing anything ;)
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oldtimer
climber
Concord,CA
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Kevin
Wow Kevin, I still remember to this day when we were climbing on the bridge over the Tuolumne river and you were about 20 feet up and fell to the deck. You were injured bad (two broken ankles)I remember going about 3-4 miles with you on the handlebars of my Schwinn 10 speed while holding your empty 10 speed next to me. I am sure that wasn't much fun for you and I left for college just after that incident.
Garry
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gt rider
Trad climber
moscow, idaho
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I remember seeing Royal at the slide show in Moscow. My friends and I were in junior high school and when we walked in, you and Royal were standing by the door. We said hi to you and one of my friends said "Hiya Royal baby". Royal said to you, "who are those guys"? and I as I recall, your response was something like, "just a bunch of greenhorns" or something like that.
We all thought it was hilarious.
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Modesto Mutant
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Sep 18, 2015 - 08:53am PT
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Thanks Tamara. That was a bit before I worked there but I was a constant in the front of the store with your Father and Mother, the Corona brothers, Chuck Shultz, Charlie Nemec, Keith Roush, Don Near, Leilani, Loren and many of those from that photo.
Yea Gary, I stacked pretty hard. Thanks for your (partial) rescue. I had a full recovery but stacking off that crumbly column set me back. Those were still great times around the shop all those years.
-Kevin Givens
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 7, 2015 - 09:31pm PT
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A Pre-1981 Royal Robbins catalog sold on EBay tonight for just under $80.00. I was interested, but never dreamed it would sell for that much.
Hopefully, the new owner will share some scans of it to this historic thread.
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Tamara Robbins
climber
not a climber, just related...
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holy moley! I can post those pics for you - though i'm considering listing a few things on Ebay..... lol ;)
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rollingstone
Trad climber
Seattle
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Jun 29, 2016 - 06:17pm PT
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Late to the thread, but in reading through this I am reminded of my time with the WSU Alpine Club. It must have been around 1975 or '76. I recall that a bunch of us decided we needed to promote some climbing slide-shows at the university, and without consulting anyone with any business experience (like you or Bruce Franks), decided that Royal would be a good candidate for a program. I called him up, and was shocked when he actually answered the phone. I asked him if he would consider giving a presentation in Pullman, WA, and if so, what he would require. I was stunned when he said he would be glad to do so for $200.00 and a motel room. Of course, I could not fathom that much money in those days!! I mumbled something about needing to consult with club leadership, and getting back to him. Needless to say, I never did.
On an equipment note, I went through some gear in our basement, and my wife still has unused RR boots (not a scratch on the suede), and a pair of Super Guides. I think we got the RRs, and within months, EBs had hit the scene, so they have sat unused for the last 40+ years. Same with the Super Guides...and now the new gear is so light, and efficient, and good, it seems a shame we can't use them. Great memories, and thanks for the thread.
Mick and Theresa H.
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