Woman on the Rocks The Mountaineering Letters of Ruth Dyar Mendenhall

Royal Robbins (born 1935) was one of the early pioneers of American climbing. Learning his skill at Tahquitz he moved on to put up many of the early Yosemite routes. A prolific writer, Robbins has written numerous influential magazine articles emphasizing a philosophy of minimal climbing equipment - maximum climbing skill. He authored "Basic Rockcraft" and "Advanced Rockcraft" (La Siesta Press, Glendale, CA), two very influential books, which passed on his skill and ethic, and inspired a whole new generation of climbers. A very early proponent of "clean climbing" (boltless, pitonless, use of natural features for protection) he, along with Yvon Chouinard, was instrumental in changing the climbing culture of the late 1960s and early 1970s to minimise overall human impact on the vertical wilderness. Later founded an eponymous outdoor apparel company,Cohen, Valerie Mendenhall is the author of 'Woman on the Rocks The Mountaineering Letters of Ruth Dyar Mendenhall', published 2007 under ISBN 9781893343153 and ISBN 1893343154.