Royal Robbins: Spirit of the Age

by Pat Ament

Book Overview

Royal Robbins is one the pioneers of American climbing. His competitive spirit helped him change his sport forever. But it was his relentless desire that helped him push back the boundaries of what... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811729133
• ISBN13: 9780811729130
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Stackpole Books
• Length: 2 Pages
• Weight: 1.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Spirit of the Age

I was the original publisher of Spirit of the Age--Pat Ament working with us as the author. Despite our past, business-oriented differences, I find Pat to consistently write with incredible creativity and accuracy, especially in the case of "Spirit of the Age."As his publisher through a number of projects, I can categorically say that Pat Ament is one of the most creative talents I have ever encountered across ALL genre of writing. His ability to put the reader "within the story" and to express the "spirit" of his story sets Ament apart from most writers, especially moutain-genre authors.Thanks for a chance to comment.Sincerely,Gary Gabelhouse, CEOFairfield Communications, Inc.

I am now just ordering this book.

I feel driven to respond to the colorful commentary with regard Pat Ament's rendition of Royal Robbins. Particularly to those in Pennsylvania that appear to "frequent" these pages. I hope the Keeper of these reviews will find my remarks suitable enough to post. I am a climber who began as a 16 year old wannabe in 1970. My partner then, Kevin Givens and I were both raised in Modesto, California. Of course Modesto was Royal's headquarters. Kevin was one of Royal's first employees at Robbins Mountain Shop in Modesto when it had just opened. Kevin and I spent hundreds of days through the 70's seeking the prize we called 5.11. Although, I did not "know" Royal, I certainly had my share of encounters with him. Kevin and I were a small part of those great days in the 70's when all the doors that had been opened by Royal Robbins, Warren Harding, Layton Kor, Yvon Chouinard, Chuck Pratt, Tom Frost,and all, made it possible for us to realize what can be done. Fo! r that, all climbers in my generation are grateful I'm sure. Everyone of the individuals that we all tried to emulate, were in the Valley because of those who pioneered the sport in Yosemite in the late 50's through the 60's. Ask Lohn Long, Jim Bridwell, Ron Kauk, John Bachar, Dale Bard, Ray Jardine, John Lackey, etc. what drove them to be in the Valley in those days. I am certain that all would say someone else's name. Someone perhaps on the list of names I just mentioned. Our heroes.Pat Ament, I knew who you were then. I know who you are now. I appreciate your attempts at describing your renditions of any climber that had inspired me to climb. You were one of them too. Right along with the names I have already mentioned. I too would find it disheartening to here the negative remarks coming from someone who "never knew who you were then". I thought every climber knew who you were. I got my first taste of your writing through John Gill:Master of Rock when it was f! irst published back in the 70's. Rather that focus on your ! writing talents, I found it thirst quenching to simply have someone describing the life and talents of these pioneers in this sport we love so dearly. I suggest that others do the same. Thank you dearly for your published words about these climbers and of the climbing that took place in the days when style and ethics mattered. I miss them. By the way Pat, you were an awesome climber then. I am sure you still are. I remember all of those frozen moments in books and magazines of you on some crux somewhere in Colorado or the Valley. Thanks for your words and love of climbing.

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I am actually the author, and not a reader, but I must make a final comment... in the running discussion that has ocurred at this site. I notice still more from the Springhouse fellow. His entire mentality is summed up in his latest comment that Jim Perrin would say something he (Perrin) doesn't believe. Perrin is a man of integrity and says what he means. Perrin is also astute and knows what he is talking about. As for Mr. Springhouse having a little trouble with my writing in the book, that's fine. But why is he wasting time airing his thoughts, especially such general thoughts, in these review sections? Is he aspiring to be a reviewer? No one cares whether he likes or dislikes my work. And that is my point. It is so easy for someone who has no credibility and perhaps no writing ability himself to throw out some very general comment with nothing to support it. I am not afraid of criticism. But I like to see honesty and good, intelligent criticism. I like to see balanc! e and perspective. That is, no general comments. Only specifics and examples. Show me a line, for example, that is poorly written. Or show me a factual error. If there is some way the book fails, keep that in proper perspective with the other ways that the book succeeds. As for the criticism that I have played Royal too much as a hero, well I spend quite a bit of time in the book pointing out his imperfections and struggles with people. His greatness, as expressed in the book, simply mirrors the hundreds of contributors to the book and their opinions. I had to juggle an incredible amount of information from hundreds of people and could only hope to come away with a small vestige of my own voice. A whole lot of the climbing world sees Royal with the same respect that I do, and they--who truly knew him--respect what I have done, but I think I have kept such respect in a good balance with his human qualities and imperfections.--Pat Ament

A Masterpiece

"Spirit of the Age" is another achievement by the man that I consider to be the greatest writer of the genre. Ament does a suberb job of chronicalling the achievements one of the most prolific and influential figures of rock climbing, whose feats and ethical standards continue to challenge (and even infuriate) rock climbing's rising generation, which tends to sacrifice all--style, comraderie, even the rock itself--in the pursuit of numbers. Ament's voice, like Robbins, can be disturbing to some, but it is one that is essential to the climbing community. His reverence for Robbins is the same as my own, not so much for the individual as for the level of mastery he brought to the endeavor. Ament is not uncomfortable at all about bringing art and spirituality to the realm of climbing--"the clean, white rock of El Capitan was conducive to their philosophy of joy and purity of ideal." In terms of readability, this book is incredibly dense. It is a chronicle, a climber's log book, a collection of anecdotes. For this reason my copy of the book has never made it to my bookshelf. After reading it initially, I have kept it out to enjoy the beautiful photography (Tom Frost's work is alternately sublime, stunning, and humorous) and to experience the incredible detail Mr. Ament provides of Robbins' climbs. If climbing ever had a golden age, surely it belonged to the old Camp 4 generation with its hip-belays and freight trains and love of Yosemite's abundance of forest, rock, and adventure.

Criticism is too easy

Anyone can criticize. Anyone could, for example, say that Shakespeare's writing was "poor" or that Rembrandt couldn't pass a Freshman art class. Such words are easy to say, and too many people these days are infected with a desire to be critical in such ways. Where is the credibility in such criticism? The best criticism comes from those who have established themselves in the field that they wish to examine. They can speak of what they know. They will use specific examples and keep things in perspective. Their criticism will focus on the positive, what is good, what is important. Only then will they speak of any flaw, and such a flaw or flaws will be kept in their proper perspective. Anyone can say, "Pat Ament is a poor writer." It's not that such a comment hurts me, since intelligent people know how I write, but such negative, non-specific, mean-spirited words simply fail the intelligence test themselves and are of no use to anyone. On the other hand, I welcome good, constructive criticism. It helps me grow.