Basic Rockcraft

I'm fairly certain that Rockcraft was the first practical introduction to rock climbing in the United States. And if it wasn't the first, it was the one myself and my buddies bought, read, studied, and emulated in the late 1970's (when the first editions of Rockcraft were published). In fact I'm sure I went through several copies of this *and* Advanced Rcokcraft during the early years of learning to climb. Mainly because there was nothing else to study, and secondly because it was an excellent book. There was always a copy in my climbing pack. "Never leave home without it." No matter that Robbins and his pals (e.g. Yvonne Chouinard) were Big Wall Yosemite hardmen. Rockcraft covered all the essentials right down to your basic figure-8 knot, the placement of chocks (pro), and the proper way to build and balance an anchor. Those aspects of Big Wall technique worked just as well over here in the Small Wall Eastern climbs of the Gunks and Seneca Rocks (my preferred venue) as they did on The Nose. For the Yosemite crowd he was the great leader and the great first-ascender. Robbins was and became an iconic force. But for us in the East he was more of a great teacher, and great teachers are rarely forgotten. As a bonus, Robbins - the trained engineer - is also a taught, precise, and often witty writer. He comes across as you'd expect of an experienced and perhaps obsessive engineer, "Do it this way and no other," but you know he's right, and so you do exactly that. You try to do Robbins' technique as perfectly as he's described it. There also are plenty of illustrations where needed, and again it is the precision, clarity, and relevance of those that makes you want to learn the technique, exactly as Robbins spells it out. We had no instructors, no rock gyms. no climbing walls, and no bolt guns. For us it was a rope, a rack, Robbins, and the rock. That's how we learned. It's a tribute to Royal Robbins that his words and writing were enough to keep us out of (too much) trouble, and alive enough to appreciate the great times he helped us to experience. When I was contracting in Iraq a couple years ago, I couldn't help but notice that today Royal Robbins has a whole new circle of fans doing dangerous things in nasty places. Not climbers, but shooters. It was amusing in a way to watch officers and enlisted soldiers alike ogle at Robbins' "5.10" line of law enforcement clothing favored by the civilian security types as they showed-off the stitching, the big pockets, the secret pockets, and all the other little tweaks that made the Robbins duds "almost perfect." That's what we used to say about Rockcraft, Advanced Rockcraft, and all the climbing munge that Robbins used to invent and sell (like your most basic stoppers and hexes). Simple, basic, strong, functional. And even though I never did Big Wall climbing, there was a time when we'd all look at Robbins' Yosemite routes and marvel at that same, exacting, perfected line of purpose that's seemingly

When I started rockclimbing 15 years ago, this was the first book I bought. Royal Robbins, et al, were the original hardmen of Yosemite Valley. Robbins' book was well written, and very instructive. Every climber that has aspired to more than the experience offered by comfortable climbing gyms, will want to peruse this book. If anyone has ever aspired to bat-hooking an A5 traverse 1,500' off the deck, you'll definitely want the knowledge that this book offers. My first copy was worn out years ago. Thanks Royal, for sharing your love of the greatest sport on earth!