Royal Robbins by David Smart

• Robbins's passing in 2017 was covered from the BBC News to NPR to the
New York Times, which deemed him the conscience of rock climbers"
• Includes never-before-published information drawn from Robbins's family
archives and personal papers
 • International interest in the Golden Age of Yosemite only continues to grow
Acclaimed writer David Smart illuminates the fascinating life of Royal Robbins
- in all its soulful ambition, rivalry, and romance. Royal Robbins chronicles his
early years growing up as a latchkey kid in Southern California, the push and
pull between being an aspiring banker or one of the original Camp 4 dirtbags,
and his later decades as a father, husband, kayaker, and the trailblazing
founder of the outdoor apparel company that bears his name. This intimate,
colorful tour of climbing history covering Yosemite, the Tetons, the Gunks, the
Alps, the United Kingdom, and more from the 1960s onward features star
characters such as Liz Robbins - Robbins's wife and a pioneering adventurer
in her own right - Yvon Chouinard, John Harlin, Steve Roper, Warren Harding,
Tom Frost, and Doug Tompkins.
An important addition to our knowledge of the Golden Age of rock climbing in
Yosemite and the development of the clean climbing ethos, Royal Robbins
sheds new light on an elemental figure of outdoor cultur

David Smart is founding editor of Gripped magazine, editorial director at
Gripped Publishing, and author of five guidebooks. His biography of Austrian
solo climber Paul Preuss was shortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Prize, and
his biography of Italian climber Emilio Comici won that prize along with the
Banff Award for Climbing Literature. Other honors include the H. Adams Carter
Award for Mountain Literature from the American Alpine Club. His work has
appeared in Climbing, Rock and Ice, The American Alpine Journal, The
Canadian Alpine Journal, and Alpinist . Smart resides in Toronto.

The Mountaineers Books
On Sale: Sep 1/23
6 x 9 • 256 pages
8-page color photo insert; 1 map
9781680516586 • $34.95 • pb
Biography / Adventurers & Explorers