Who is royal robbins

He also planted the seeds for the modern clean-climbing era with his all-nut ascent of The Nutcracker 5. After his successful climbing career, Robbins made many kayak first descents, as well as launched a climbing-gear company, importing boots, ropes, and helmets with Liz.

By the s, their small gear company had transformed into a successful clothing business, called Royal Robbins, which is still going strong to this day. About Us. B2B Publishing. Business Visionaries.

Hot Property. Times Events. Times Store. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options. Liz and Royal Robbins at the summit of Half Dome in By Associated Press. Reporting from Modesto — U.

Royal Robbins in Dusted with snow, Half Dome has attracted climbers for decades. Harding finally finished the job with a day push in , after which Robbins did the second ascent in just seven days. The competition between Robbins and Harding turned bitter for a while in the late s, when Harding established the Dawn Wall route by drilling many hundreds of permanent metal bolts into the cliff. In practical terms, that means always using whatever gear will cause the least possible damage to the rock.

It means respecting the first ascent of a given climb as a work of art, such that later climbers never change the essential nature of the route by, say, adding new permanent safety hardware. Lastly, it means celebrating the constant push toward bolder and braver ways of climbing. Robbins later became a world-class whitewater kayaker, joining The North Face founder Doug Tompkins and Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard on first descents of many of the great rivers of the Sierra Nevada.

Reg Lake, who was part of that crew, recalls carrying their kayaks up to 8, feet on the eastern side of the Sierra, and then spending nearly a week running the headwaters of the San Joaquin—through Class V rapids in boats heavily loaded with camping gear.

I think he was aware that he was bigger than life, and he knew that he had a responsibility to share that with people. Search Search.