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ron gomez
Trad climber
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Mar 13, 2018 - 02:41pm PT
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Peace
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rmuir
Social climber
From the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Mar 13, 2018 - 03:41pm PT
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The venue at Greens on Tenth, Modesto:
Before:
During:
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Fritz
Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Mar 13, 2018 - 07:54pm PT
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My great thanks to the Robbins family & all who helped this event happen!
Per the worthy comments & photos upthread, It was a wonderful celebration of RR's life & his many achievements.
I am in awe of the legendary climbers who showed up to celebrate RR's life. It was truly, an "epic" gathering of his friends and peers.
After Heidi & I work our way back to Idaho through the storms, I'll share some photos.
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Tamara Robbins
climber
not a climber, just related...
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 13, 2018 - 09:15pm PT
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Anyone with photos to share, would love to see them here or through my email....
SOOO much gratitude. For the "Spirit of Adventure" of anyone following this thread. An extra salut to those who made it despite nearly impossible circumstances:
"Alice laughed. 'There's no use trying,' she said: 'one can't believe impossible things.' 'I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.'"
So, cheers to "impossible circumstances". Looking forward to continuing the conversations and relationships developed through Dad. (PS...I'll be largely off the grid, exhaling for a week or so...)
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Mar 14, 2018 - 07:22am PT
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Tamara,
Thank you for sharing your father's memorial with all of us.
It was a fitting tribute to Royal. Like him it was majisterial and dignified, but at the same time overflowing with the affection of his friends and the love of his family.
I don't have many photos as I was too busy seeking out old comrades and the climbing heroes of Royal's generation I'd never met.
Thanks again for an unforgettable day.
Rick Accomazzo
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Roushski
Mountain climber
Durango, CO
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Mar 14, 2018 - 03:12pm PT
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Tamara Robbins
climber
not a climber, just related...
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 14, 2018 - 05:20pm PT
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Tamara Robbins
climber
not a climber, just related...
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 14, 2018 - 05:47pm PT
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the two pics above are both from Janie Levy.... ;)
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Mar 14, 2018 - 11:16pm PT
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Fritz
Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Mar 15, 2018 - 11:13am PT
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The Celebration souvenir program:
And on the other-side, Royal & Liz, back in the day.
Tamara: I left a Mountain Paraphernalia DVD for you with Keith R. Thank you again, for all your work in organising the Celebration Memorial.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Outside the Asylum
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Mar 15, 2018 - 09:56pm PT
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It was an unexpected honour to be invited to attend the memorial for Royal on March 13th - the anniversary (within a day) of his death. Here is a verbal report - I didn't take many photos. Others did.
I left Vancouver on a perfect late winter morning - blue sky, new snow on the mountains, frozen bluebirds scattered around. And arrived in Modesto via San Jose and Livermore on Saturday afternoon, where it was of all things raining. WTF?
The military says that time spent in reconnaissance is never wasted, so I spent Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning doing so. I quite like walking around new places, getting to know them, and did 20+ km. However, I was quite annoyed not to be able to find a good map - another small pleasure - at any of the usual sorts of places. Eventually I got one at the bus depot, which showed all the streets and bus routes, but none of the street names. (OK, it at least had a N arrow and a scale.) Is cartography on the wane? O tempora! O mores!
Modesto means, in Spanish, "modest". It may have given Royal wry pleasure to live in a place with such a name. It's rather flat, apart from an inexplicably high hotel, but isn't too far from mountains. Royal set down strong roots there, and was a major part of the community. Modesto seems a comfortable place, much like mid-size prairie towns. After years of movement, from West Virginia to Los Angeles to the world of climbing, a stable home must have been very attractive.
This is the McHenry Mansion in Modesto, one of the historical buildings there. Across the street is the McHenry Museum (originally the library), which I talked my way into despite it being closed on Sunday morning. Lots of neat stuff. However, when the attendant explained that McHenry really wasn't named McHenry, and had changed his name to avoid military service under Polk..
Another sight is the Modesto arch, which I'm afraid I didn't climb. There's also a George Lucas park. He was born in Modesto, and American Graffiti was allegedly set there.
Royal did extraordinarily well for a boy of his background. Hard work, dedication, and a willingness to self-examine all helped, as did the times. This is one of the sights of Modesto, a classic of another young man, on his way.
Sunday morning was the marathon and fun run. As I've mostly watched such things from the inside, it was nice to have another perspective. In the afternoon, various of the usual suspects began to appear, beginning with John Stannard and Cathy Peterson. They warned me that the birds had so to speak flown the coop from Delano Wildlife Refuge, nearby, but we had a nice drink at the Camp 4 Wine Cafe.
When we first started going to Yosemite in the mid-1970s, we would always stop at the Robbins shop - same building. Indeed, once or twice we bivouacked in the parking lot. Sort of a pilgrimage, as there wasn't really anything much we needed to buy.
As we were leaving, Jim McCarthy, the Chouinards, Doug Robinson and partner Eva, and others arrived - it was the first time that some had seen each other for years.
Not much later, Mouse from south of Modesto, Ron Gomez, Dave Yerian, Lynne Leichtfuss and others appeared, so we had supper there. They have a sort of childrens' room at the back, with pictures of action figures (climbers) and stuff. No crayons, luckily. So they put all the climbers there.
The memorial, at Greens on Tenth in downtown Modesto (a repurposed theatre, IIRC), started at 2:00. Close to 500 had said they would be attending. There was a minor challenge, that being that about half the name tags had failed to print - they'd forgotten to exorcise the printer or something. Some last minute scrambling ensued. (Pun intended.) While that went on, they weren't ready, and so everyone waited outside. There was no line or anything - that would have been far too organized. But everyone seemed to have a good time seeing old and new friends.
We went in at 2:00, and everyone saw the various displays, met and talked, and drank and snacked. There was lots to drink and eat! The formal part started at 3:00, with eulogies by Neusom Holmes, Damon Robbins, Loren White, Max Gammon, Jerry Gallwas, Joe Fitschen, Yvon Chouinard, John Feasler, Kathy Galvin, Bill Derr, Ron Kauk, and Tamara Robbins. A heartfelt program. Then there was more food, drink, socializing, story-telling, and introductions. Somewhat later, many of us adjourned to the Camp 4 Wine Cafe, which is owned by Damon, for a very pleasant evening with more food and stories. But the jig was up, and we had to buy our own drinks.
Damon, or if you like dæmon, is a Greek word which means something like "guiding spirit". Royal must have had such a spirit, given his accomplishments as a boy scout, a son, husband, father, businessman, participant in the community, kayaker, and climber. Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. Royal lived up to that dictum, also. He always seems to have been learning, and improving. He was capable of looking at himself, and even laughing - see Tis-sa-Ack, perhaps his finest writing, and the cartoons of his great friend Sheridan Anderson, which regularly lampooned Royal. Or, for that matter, the photo of Royal in Jim Herrington's book.
A memorable occasion. As Chouinard observed, had a meteor hit the building, it would have wiped out much of the US climbing establishment.
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Joe Metz
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Mar 15, 2018 - 11:16pm PT
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Mar 16, 2018 - 02:32am PT
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Great Caesar's ghost, Mighty Hiker! You should have a reporter's gig with the Daily Planet!
Plenty of Pulitzer potential in that wry write-up.
See ya to da Facelift, eh?
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Outside the Asylum
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Mar 16, 2018 - 04:53pm PT
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Royal is likely to be remembered for many things, much more than just climbing. Certainly an impressive portfolio of climbs and later kayaks, over decades. But I wonder if he'll be most remembered for his resolute insistence that style and adventure are what matters when it comes to climbing? That goes back to the upper middle class Britons who more or less began climbing in the mid 19th century. But Royal's insistence - sometimes to his own discomfort - that it's essential to be honest with yourself and others about what you've done, and how you did it, resonate for the ages. Also that it's essential to minimize your impacts on both human and natural environments.
A second legacy being Royal's taking the idea of clean climbing and nuts, from England and elsewhere, and running with them. It took considerable character to swim against the techno/mechanistic methods that he and others had popularized, in the Iron Age. There was (and is) a fuss about fixed anchors, bolts, and so on. Often to advance other agendas... Had North American climbing not quickly shifted from pitons to nuts in the 1970s, it might have been much worse. We can thank Royal, John Stannard, and others for being apostles of the notion of clean(er) climbing, and Yvon Chouinard, Tom Frost, Jeff Lowe, Ray Jardine and others for taking the basic forms of nuts developed in England, and improving them to the point that they were not only better but easier to use.
We perhaps haven't learned as well as we might have. The insistence of some now on 'convenience' climbing, on 'developing' routes, and on unnecessary bolts, can be a bit disheartening. Not to mention that we could all do more - in reality - to reduce our environmental impacts, as climbers and humans - whatever pieties we might mouth. But there's still style and adventure for those who want it.
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Sport climber
moving thru
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Mar 16, 2018 - 07:20pm PT
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Someday Tami and someday we will meet! :) Cheers!
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BooDawg
Social climber
Butterfly Town
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Mar 16, 2018 - 08:55pm PT
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One aspect of Royal Robbin's life that stands out for me is the depth and breadth and the numbers of people whose lives he touched, and more than just touched, but profoundly shaped and guided, not only by his words but by his deeds. The life that he lived, to a high degree, for his own satisfaction, became an example that others eagerly followed. As in climbing, so in Life, he was always a leader.
Royal’s passing has been called, “the end of an era.” However, the traditions and values that he lived were established by others who, like John Muir and John Salathé, went before him. Those ideals will continue to live on, even though changes in attitudes will continue to be layered upon those that he lived and helped to establish. Perhaps it’s like the walls of the Grand Canyon where each rock layer has its own distinctive characteristics, yet each layer is related, to some degree, to eras that came before and after.
Royal’s memorial brought together a small sample of those who knew, loved, and/or were influenced by him. The pictures posted here and elsewhere necessarily represent a small subset of those who came. People’s names are left-to-right in the photos.
Like some others, Lisa and I arrived earlier than the 2:00 p.m. official starting time, but we met other early arrivals and went to have lunch across the street.
After lunch, we went back across the street where others gathered outside the venue. There we had some time to greet old friends and acquaintances, making connections with some that we hadn’t seen in years or even decades.
When the doors to the venue opened, there was some time to further socialize and to view the displays that had been set up, but after a short while we took our seats.
Royal’s son, Damon Robbins, was Master of Ceremonies
Joe Fitschen, author and early climbing partner of Royal spoke eloquently.
After the formalities, there was more time for socializing.
Later, many people gathered for more socializing, food and drink at Damon Robbins’ nearby restaurant, “Camp 4.”
Later, satiated in many ways, small groups left for continued conversations and their own accommodations and homes.
One can find a few more photos here:
http://yosemitecloseup.com/royal-robbins-memorial/
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Mar 17, 2018 - 01:52pm PT
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Great work Ken!
That was an amazing collection of climbers assembled in Royal's honor.
I thought the speakers did a fine job of remembering Royal in their various ways and that the evening was a resounding success.
Big thanks to Tamara for making sure to reach out so widely to the climbing community and to Liz and Damon for taking care of the catering details and setting up the room so well with help from many folks like Keith Roush.
It would have been amazing to have read the minds of all of the climbers in the room at this splendid gathering so Tom Frost and I have decided to devote Friday evening at the Oakdale Climbers Festival (October 12-14) to a Robbins memorial where everyone present will have a chance to be heard. More on that gathering as it comes together.
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