Royal_Robbins Royal Robbins (born 1935) was one of the early pioneers of American rock climbing. Learning his skill at Tahquitz he moved on to put up many of the early Yosemite routes. A very early proponent of boltless, pitonless clean climbing, 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 by protecting its natural features.