L to R- WarrenHarding, Jeff Lowe, Royal and Liz Robbins. Images WH/RR-Glenn Denny- JL-Lowe Alpine
‘Ah,
but I was so much older then’
Bob Dylan
I
cannot remember now how it came about, but in the latter part of the
summer of 1965, Liz and Royal Robbins arrived in Leeds and stayed at
my parent’s house in Cookridge. By that date we knew about Yosemite
and its big wall climbs; the Nose route of El Capitan and the Salethe
Wall, but in 1965 none of my friends had met any of the climbers
involved in pioneering these epic routes: that is until Royal put in
an appearance. But when he did it did not disappoint, for earlier
that summer partnered by John Harlin he had climbed the American
Direttissima on the Aiguille du Dru, and the rumour mill had painted
Royal as having a professorial demeanour, tall, spry, quiet and
contemplative. This held good at the start of the Robbin’s visit as
Royal took on my chess playing friend and Almscliff guru Tom Morrell,
sitting in my parent’s living room working out how to checkmate his
opponent shortly after settling in.
The
next day it had to be Almscliff, and as we toured around the outcrop
and I recounted the long history of the Crag and its previous
generations of pioneer climbers, Slingsby, Botterill, Frankland,
Dolphin etc I realised what grabbed him most were the boulders. I had
contacted Tony Barley about our guests visit and with him in the lead
we ascended the Green Crack, Demon Wall and the Overhanging Groove. I
then led my party piece Great Western and Royal enthused that our
climbs ‘were intrinsic miniature masterpieces’ but then he was
not to be denied in getting to grips with the boulders.
Ascending
such classic problems as The Crucifix, the Niche, Fisher’s Stride,
Pothole Direct, Royal was enjoying these, but then near the Black
Wall he asked ‘Where are the no hands problems?’ Tony and I were
stumped for we had none of these in our playlist. And so our visitor
began to work one of the classic slab problems nearby to show us how
it was done, confessing that this was something he practised whenever
possible. We quickly realised he was an expert at this, for after a
few tries he could balance up and then descend the problem he had
selected to illustrate this technique. Neither, Tony or I could match
him and gave up trying after many failures. In fact it took us some
more visits and lots of attempts before we could emulate the American
master.
Both
Royal and Liz were easy to be with, for she was also a climber, and
to hear from Robbins first-hand about Yosemite and its climbs fired
my imagination. I also learnt about his early climbing career,
starting out on the outcrops near Los Angeles and at Tahquitz. In
1952 he had pioneered his first major new route as a 17 year old at
that cliff, a 5.9 graded climb the first of that difficulty in the
USA, ‘The Open Book’ but he had already two years before visited
Yosemite as a participant on a rock climbing trip organised by the
Scouts. He told me that he had gazed up at El Capitan and was
informed that such would never be climbed by their course instructor.
But
1957 was to be Royal’s breakthrough year for with Jerry Galwas, and
Mike Sherrick they pioneered the first ascent of the North West Face
of Half Dome. This with Warren Harding’s ascent of El Capitan by
the Nose Climb the following year ushered in The Golden Age of
Yosemite Climbing. For the next two decades Robbins was one of the
climbers at the forefront of this, and the list of his first ascents
is awe inspiring. To put this into some context however, there was a
group of other climbers, some who joined up with Royal who are
equally deserving of recognition, and such in 1961 as the first
ascent of the Salethe Wall accompanied by Tom Frost and Chuck Pratt
was made by a team of equals.
Another key figure in the Yosemite
revolution was Yvon Chouinard, who along with Frost and Robbins
pioneered in 1964 The North America Wall Route of El Capitan.
Chouinard was a key developer of the hardware that made some of the
Yosemite climbs possible.Unfortunately
just as I cannot now recall how Liz and Royal fetched up in Leeds I
cannot remember where we travelled to next except that we stopped off
in the Peak District at Curbar Edge. I wanted to see how Robbins
would deal with the Right Eliminate on that outcrop. A type of off
width crack that are meat and two veg to Yosemite climbers and he did
not disappoint for he ascended it with some ease.
In
1966 when I was hitch hiking from Mexico City to Yosemite solo, I
carried with me an invitation to stop off at Royal’s mothers home
in Barstow, California. Which I did, and she fed me, washed my
clothes and as mother’s do told of her son’s early life battles,
with a not too impressive school record, but how he had found his
true self in the outdoors. For besides climbing he had been a junior
ski champion attested to by the trophies on his mother’s sideboard.
Over
the next decade Royal established himself as one of the most
outstanding pioneers in the history of our sport. Making the first
solo ascent of El Capitan (the 2nd
ascent of the Muir Wall in 1968), soloing the North Face of Mount
Edith Cavell in the Canadian Rockies, the second ascent of the Dawn
Wall in 1971 with Don Lauria and so much more. Early in his climbing
career he had been converted to boltless, piton less clean climbing,
and using nuts only for protection along with Liz he had pioneered a
demonstration route to illustrate his ethics in Yosemite, the
‘Nutcracker’. ‘Robbins exerted a moral leadership in both deeds
as well as words’ observed Ken Wilson in his role as editor of
Mountain Magazine.
In
1971 he published the first of his instructional books; ‘Basic
Rockcraft’ followed in 1973 by a second such, ‘Advanced
Rockcraft’. These were best sellers and in that era they were
perhaps the finest expositions of where the sport was technically.
Liz and Royal also founded a clothing company in Modesto, originally
named ‘Mountain Paraphernalia’ which morphed into the ‘Royal
Robbins Clothing Company’ and eventually this was bought out by
City investors, but which despite the demise of one of its founders
is still trading strongly with Liz as an advisor.
Unfortunately
as the 1970’s decade progressed Royal was diagnosed with psoriatic
arthritis which as it developed prevented him from serious climbing,
so he took up adventure kayaking instead. Within a short period of
doing this he had gained a reputation as an outstanding performer in
that sport, making descents of some of the most challenging rivers in
the Americas. In 1992 Pat Ament wrote a biography of Robbins
according him, in spiritual terms ‘The Spirit of the Age’.
In
his last years Royal also wrote a three volume biography of his life,
published in 2009 (To be brave. My life), in 2010 (Fail falling) and
2012 (The Golden Years). For some reviewers these were seen to be too
matter of fact, too straight laced but they are an important
historical record I believe by someone who wrote honestly about his
life and how it was to be at the sharp end, a leader in the
development of climbing in one of its most creative periods. Royal
died in March 2017 and in an obituary published in the New York Times
written by John Branch, he was accorded as ‘Royal Robbins, the
conscience of rock climbers’. And I feel that more or less sums him
up as the person I was lucky to have shared a rope with.
In
the winter of 1974/5 I learnt Jeff Lowe was paying a visit to climb
in Scotland, and via friends I managed to get a message to him with
an invitation to travel to Manchester to give a public lecture before
returning back to the USA. I also suggested if he had the time
available we could arrange a visit for him to do some outcrop
climbing on gritstone. I think it was the latter which appealed and
by return I received a message to agree to take this on. At that date
Jeff was already one of the most accomplished climbers in the USA,
pioneering rock routes at the highest standards of the day but also
by 1974 specialising in ice climbing, and the pictures then
circulating of his first ascent with Mike Weiss of the Bridal Veil
Falls at Telluride were truly inspiring.
Jeff
eventually arrived in Manchester and his lecture enjoyed a full house
and a rousing reception, post which I started out to drive him to my
home in Yorkshire. All went well until we were nearly at our
destination, but just as we started up the Hollins Hill out of
Shipley my terrible Russian car started to splutter, choked out and
stopped. ‘Oh my God’ I had run out of petrol. And as to be
expected in a grim up north story it was a terrible night of weather,
cold with driving rain. What to do, what to do? There were no garages
nearby or open in those days at midnight. I explained to my passenger
the problems we faced, but as a commentator was to write in tribute
to Jeff at his demise, he was a ‘pathological optimist’. ‘How
far is it to your house, could we push the car there?’ he enquired
‘It will take about 30 minutes on foot’ I gasped out. ‘Ok let’s
go’ and after kitting ourselves out we set forth and walked to my
home, by which time we were like wet rags. But Jeff never complained
and once arrived and sitting in our kitchen grasping a mug of tea he
laughed at my stories of the trials and tribulations of driving a
Russian made car.
Early
next morning Jeff and I retrieved my car and despite it being a very
windy and cold day he still wanted to go climbing. At least it was
not raining, but on arriving at Almscliff it was so wild I thought we
could not snatch a route. But once again, his optimism was infectious
and after battling against the wind whilst tramping around the
different faces of the outcrop, we found that down in the rift by
Square Chimney and below the Whisky Crack the wind was not so strong,
and so we roped up. I decided to ascend via the Pigott’s Stride
(4c) to reach the Crack and when I explained this had been pioneered
by C D Frankland in the 1920’s Jeff was also keen to climb this.
Looking at my partner he was every Yorkshireman’s idea of a USA
climber, tall, blond and athletic. I wondered if he would like to
lead the Whisky Crack if I managed the Stride. To do this you first
climb the sheer side of the Matterhorn Boulder then from near the top
of that bridge spectacularly across onto the main rock face. Having
climbed this many times I managed this despite the conditions and
then belayed below the Crack.
Almsciffe: Image The Climbers Club
Jeff enjoying the gymnastics came
swarming up to me; ‘Would you like to lead the Crack’ ‘Sure
sure!’ and up he went. Pulling over the top the wind was so strong
it nearly blew him back down the face. Once I joined Jeff we ran down
and around into the rift from where we had started to get out of the
gale, and then after packing raced back to my car. A retreat to a
cafe in Otley was followed by a trip to the Cow and Calf above
Ilkley, but the wind was even worse there than at Almscliff and after
some attempts to boulder on the Calf we headed back to my home in
Guiseley. To spend a pleasant evening, dining and over a few brews
talking about climbing and mutual friends. Jeff had heard of ‘The
Legend of Joe Brown’ and I had to play and sing it for him. The
next day he was heading south to London and I bid him good bye at a
drop off at the Leeds City Station. I never saw Jeff again but
followed his subsequent incredible climbing career with keen
interest.
I
use the word incredible to describe Jeff’s record of ascents over
the next decades correctly, Will Gadd no slouch himself wrote about
these as follows; ‘There is not one sector of climbing that Jeff
has not excelled in or helped to create!’ I will highlight here
just a few, for he made more than 1000 first ascents. To do that you
had to start young and he did with his father Ralph and brothers Mike
and Greg. With them he climbed the Exum Ridge of the Grand Teton at 7
years of age. By his teens he was pioneering 5.10 and 5.11 routes
such as ‘Air Time’ and ‘Pass or Fail’ in Ogden Canyon,
Wasatch Mountains Utah and later he visited Yosemite to make early
ascents of the Salethe Wall (7th),
North America Wall (5th)
and ‘The Triple Direct’. Born in 1950 he revelled as a young
climber in his home state environment, tackling the high sandstone
cliffs of Zion and southern Utah, his most famous route being the
‘Moonlight Buttress’.
It
was however in the high mountains that he made his most impressive
ascents, in the Canadian Rockies, the European Alps and the Himalaya.
In the latter a solo of the South East Spur of Pumori, a solo in
winter of the South East Pillar of Nupste, a solo attempt by a new
route on the west face of Makalu, climbing with Caterine Destiville a
repeat of the Slovene Route on the Nameless Tower of Trango, with
Alison Hargreaves the North West Face of Kantega, and a solo new
route on the South Face of Ama Dablam. His 1991 direct route on the
North Face of the Eiger, ‘Metanoia’ climbed solo in winter over 9
days was more than a stand out climb. It was finally repeated after
many failed attempts in December 2016 by Thomas Huber, Roger Shaeli,
and Stephan Siegrist. A film was made in 2014 about this route and
its history, ‘From mountain top to wheel chair’ for by that date
tragedy had struck its pioneer.
There
is so much more to the Jeff Lowe story, his equipment innovations
such as Hummingbird Ice tools, Foot Fangs, Snarg ice pitons, his
development of winter clothing, originally working with his brothers
Greg and Mike at Lowe Alpine, then on his own at a company he founded
Latok. In the 1990’s he was responsible for developing ‘Mixed
Grade’ climbing, with routes like Octopussy M8, he introduced these
M grades for climbs that require both ice climbing and dry tooling.
In the same decade he organised one of the earliest Sport Climbing
Competitions at Snowbird, Utah and in 1996 he founded the Ouray
Colorado Ice Climbing Festival. He also produced three books about
ice climbing, its history and techniques, of which ‘The Ice
Experience’ is classic. He also produced three instructional videos
on this subject.
So
far the Jeff Lowe story is one of marvellous success, one of the most
influential climbers ever, recognised as a leading proponent of
Alpine style climbing, and because of that he was made an honorary
member of the Alpine Club and the American Alpine Club. But then
personal disaster struck in the early 2000’s, for he developed
co-ordination and balance problems, and fell victim to a neuro
degenerative process similar to motor neurone disease. This he faced
bravely and somehow managed to keep in touch with a wide group of
friends around the world at climb fests like Kendal and Ouray,
despite being wheel chair bound and by using social media. His death
in August 2018 made many of us who had been lucky to have known him
to accept the example he exhibited throughout the long fight against
his illness to carpe diem, and fill every day with hours well spent!
In
1980 at a Buxton Conference the celebrity lecture on Saturday; ‘The
Reflections of a broken down climber’ was by Warren Harding. I had
tried to persuade him to do this for some years, for I had met him in
1966 in Yosemite and felt that he would in theatrical speak, ‘knock
‘em dead’. His approach to climbing was in keeping with the
British one at that time, and he was known in the USA for his
doggedness, drinking and farcing as reflected in his motto ‘semper
farcisimus’, which indicated truly his exuberant and iconoclastic
character. His lecture was thankfully well received post which as
with Jeff Lowe I persuaded him to travel with me to my home in
Guiseley, and to try some gritstone climbing.
The
day after our arrival there I took him out to Caley Crags, and post
some easy soloing I led him up the Central Route a Very Severe on the
Sugar Loaf Boulder, a local 5a classic. This made him think, and he
stopped almost half way at a delicate move to observe, ‘You know
Dennis I am going to need to do a lot more of this or a lot less’.
I realised his problem was a lack of reach, for he was short, squat
and powerful, but this was a balance problem. If you are not used to
gritstone climbing it takes some time to realise how good in dry
conditions the friction is. Warren put a foot high, rocked over and
he was up...... and in joining me, was laughing loudly at a new found
ability.
For
me to be climbing with the pioneer responsible for the most famous
rock climb in the USA, the Nose route of El Capitan was truly
memorable, and in talking with him I realised although he was a
central figure in the development of multi-day big wall climbing in
Yosemite, public recognition of this meant little to him. Harding was
born in 1924 and grew up in California near to Lake Tahoe and after
meeting a climber in the late 1940’s who persuaded Warren to
accompany him to make ascents of Mount Witney, the Palisades, and the
Minarets in the Sierra Nevada he started to climb seriously himself.
It was he observed the first thing he had found that his brute
stupidity made him successful at!
He
went on to pioneer 28 first ascents in Yosemite, but the Nose of El
Capitan in 1958 and the Dawn Wall in 1970 remain the most recognised;
although Harding unlike Robbins was prepared to push his routes by
any means he felt necessary, to do which he freely used pitons and
bolts despite the strictures of those he dubbed the ‘Valley
Christians’. The Nose climb was an impressive feat of endurance,
partners came and went, sections were climbed, retreats followed, and
in all Harding spent 45 days on the route, but finally accompanied by
Wayne Merry, George Whitmore and Rich Calderwood he was successful.
The Dawn Wall was different, Warren and Dean Caldwell spent 27 nights
on the wall, there was no yo-yoing, and Harding was given the
appellation of ‘Batso’ in deference to his remarkable ability of
being able to live life on such vertical cliffs. To do this he had
developed specialised equipment such as the ‘B.A.T’ tent and the
‘B.A.T’ hook.
Typical of Warren when he was queried about his use
of such naming, he explained that this acronym meant ‘Basically
Absurd Technology’. Noting how these climbs were achieved, a modern
tyro might think spending so many days and nights on these routes is
not impressive, but with the knowledge and equipment then available
they were outstanding achievements.
In
1975 Warren was persuaded to write a book ‘Downward Bound’ which
spelled out his rebellious and charismatic character. It contains
anecdotes and stories from his ascents of the Nose and the Dawn Wall,
but also farcial instruction in basic climbing techniques, and
humorous accounts of the climbing controversies and life styles in
the 1960’s and 1970’s. I thought the title was a tilt at Outward
Bound, but no he chose that because it reflected the failure of his
career as a responsible wage earner, due to his urge to go rock
climbing. Success for Harding in an establishment world was always
just out of his reach, beginning with him being rejected by the draft
board due to an identified heart murmur, and after working through
the World War ll as a propeller mechanic, he formally trained as a
land surveyor. He held a Union card all his life, and worked on
construction jobs in Vietnam and Alaska, in one such contract he was
hit by a truck which resulted in an injured leg and a limp for the
rest of his life.
Warren
loved to tell stories against himself, and one he told me as I drove
him the next day after climbing at Caley to catch a flight back to
the USA, was that once in Yosemite he had teamed up with a visiting
British climber who was short in temper. They managed to get their
ropes in a tangle and this became worse as Harding tried to untangle
them, at which the Brit exploded ‘My God Harding you cannot do
anything right!’ Warren’s response was classic, ‘Yes I know,
but I can do it forever’. After the 1980’s he did little
climbing, retiring to the northern hills of the Sierra Nevada,
drinking cheap red wine and hot-air ballooning with friends. He died
in 2002, but on the 50th
Anniversary of the Nose climb, the US House of Representatives passed
a resolution honouring the achievement by Harding and his party. So
despite all, he finally was recognised by the establishment!
Dennis Gray: 2019
