Royal Robbins (RIP)

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rick sumner

Trad climber

reno, nevada/ wasilla alaska

Mar 14, 2017 - 06:10pm PT

He was without doubt the number one pioneering american climber of the 1960's.

Was lucky enough to work with him on the Tahoe guidebook researched and put together 1974-75 and published in 76. As a climber in his very early twenties, I marveled at what I considered a very old man of 40 years floating Surrealistic Direct in high top Keds tennis shoes. Funny how perspectives change.

Condolences to his family and close freinds.

Roger Breedlove

climber

Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Mar 14, 2017 - 06:20pm PT

This is very sad news; it feels very personal. My sincerest condolences to Liz, Tamara, and Damon.

I don't get back to California much but when I visited a few years ago, I called Royal on my way back to SF from the Valley (I think it was the Sacherer Memorial weekend). He rearranged his schedule, and we sat at his kitchen table easing back into a time-long-ago. Just the two of us; Liz had an appointment she had to keep. I was surprised when he told me that he had read things I had written on SuperTopo and gratified that he liked my take on the 60s and the 70s. As has happened before when I have had a chance to catch up with Yosemite climbers before my generation, the look back foreshortened the 20 years spanning from the mid-50s to the mid-70s: it all feels so comfortable and fluid, like it occurred at one time in one place with one group of climbers (none of which is accurate). Always warms the place up.

As brief as it was, I am very glad we caught a bit of quiet time together.

Royal did a lot more than climb new, hard routes; we are all part of his legacy.

hobo_dan

Social climber

Minnesota

Mar 14, 2017 - 06:28pm PT

Climber, Boater, Writer RIP

Trad climber

Calgary

Mar 14, 2017 - 06:32pm PT

Not just granite. He did some good alpine limestone climbs too.
How many people in the 60's thought of doing the north face of Edith Cavell solo?

Largo

Sport climber

The Big Wide Open Face

Mar 14, 2017 - 06:48pm PT

Royal Robbins was my hero when I was 16 and he still is. He was the greatest. Feels like I have a hole in my chest. Condolences to all of his peers and fans worldwide. He was an American treasure.

ncskains

Ice climber

Alaska

Mar 14, 2017 - 07:06pm PT

Rip Lord of the Great Stone. Your spirit will for ever be missed. Thanks for setting the example for many great generations of climbers.

mike m

Trad climber

black hills

Mar 14, 2017 - 07:08pm PT

Put this on the other forum as well. Wow what a huge loss. Seemed like that guy never got old. I idolized others more but he seemed to loom large over everything climbing related when I was getting into climbing.

Darwin

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Mar 14, 2017 - 07:23pm PT

A life well lived, but I still have tears in my eyes.

i-b-goB

Social climber

Wise Acres

Mar 14, 2017 - 07:24pm PT

Sad day R. I. P. Royal!

MH2

Boulder climber

Andy Cairns

Mar 14, 2017 - 07:25pm PT

Royal Robbins is woven inextricably into my idea of what rock climbing means.

Climberdude

Trad climber

Clovis, CA

Mar 14, 2017 - 07:47pm PT

Thank you Royal for your inspiration.

Clyde

Mountain climber

Boulder

Mar 14, 2017 - 07:55pm PT

In my signed book of legends, he is among the greatest.

Evel

Trad climber

Nedsterdam CO

Mar 14, 2017 - 07:56pm PT

RIP Royal.

BruceHildenbrand

Social climber

Mountain View/Boulder

Mar 14, 2017 - 07:59pm PT

This is one of my favorite images of Royal Robbins. It was taken on the descent from Robbins' ascent of Tis-sa-ack on Half Dome with Don Peterson. The article that Royal wrote about that climb, where he assumed the narrative of all his partners, was groundbreaking and many consider it his finest work.

Tarbuster

climber

right here, right now

Mar 14, 2017 - 08:04pm PT

THE DAY A KAYAK BOUNCED DOWN BESIDE OUR CLIMBING ROUTE: FOLLOWED BY ROYAL ROBBINS

At the foot of the Planet of the Apes Wall, Malibu Creek runs neat. In the late 1980s, The Gargoyle, E, Mike and Mari, perhaps Mike Ayon, Matt Dancy, a couple others and I were top roping this dirt clod cliff. From the Bubba Deck, Guns and Roses blazed above our pipes and catcalls……

Boom-Bounce-Bang!!!

We all turned our necks aside, ears now stolen uphill along the wall by the hollow thud of a trundling kayak. Two steps behind and attending this curious portage was none other than Royal: the man, myth, scholar…no…make that, Professor, of the steep.

The waterman caught us in his eye, smartly gathered his boat in hand, shuttled it down the slope, plainly dropping the plastic porpoise square within our little circle. Shod in primate-toed neoprene boating booties, the man neatly snatched a string of handy solution pockets dotting the base of the wall and performed a dandy left to right climber-style traverse for us: one part dance, two parts monkey bar routine, three parts Royal!

Without any further ado, and with no break in motion he stepped off the rock, grabbed up his boat, plopped it in the stream, wriggled back into the flow and while Mari perched with her camera clicking, Royal, resuming his descent and in regal declarative, hollered out to our motley crew: “Tell all your friends you saw Royal Robbins in a kayak!"

And that we did.
We're still telling 'em, Royal.

Gary

Social climber

Desolation Basin, Calif.

Mar 14, 2017 - 08:09pm PT

Heard him give a talk at a Sierra Club banquet a few years back. He didn't talk about climbing too much. He talked about hopping trains when he was a kid.

RIP

BrassNuts

Trad climber

Save your a_s, reach for the brass...

Mar 14, 2017 - 08:19pm PT

His solo of the Muir Wall BITD always blew me away, among other things. RIP Royal, a life extremely well lived!

jgill

Boulder climber

The high prairie of southern Colorado

Mar 14, 2017 - 08:19pm PT

Pat Ament said it best when he entitled his book on Royal: The Spirit of the Age. That's how I saw Royal in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Many climbers of that period were reverential of the man and his accomplishments.
RIP Royal.