Paul Robinson - Silent Destroyer


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Intro and Interview by Andrew Zalewski / Photos by Tim Kemple
From Urban Climber #18
My earliest meetings with Paul Robinson, in retrospect回顧, remain my most
defining impressions of his character and personality. I first met him as a
young teenager. He’d come into Rock and Snow, the New Paltz climbing shop
where I work, with his dad and maybe a friend and hang out for a while,
talking about climbing and looking at bouldering guidebooks to far-off areas.
His dad, Chip, would take a seat in the book department and let Paul figure
out on his own how he would fit into climbing culture. Paul always asked
about new problems but didn’t make a big deal of things he’d done. From
these few brief encounters, Paul seemed kind, thoughtful, and enthusiastic;
it was only through others that I learned how good a climber Paul was fast
becoming. When climbing with Paul, I’ve been struck by his energy, during
his own attempts at problems as well as those of others. Strong, psyched,
quiet, kind, thoughtful... these were and continue to be my impressions of
Paul Robinson. This interview took place via email over several days while
Paul was destroying Bishop and I was making my way through The Legend of
Zelda: Twilight Princess. No wonder I don’t climb V14.
When did you climb for the first time and was it love at first sight?
I first started climbing in the end of 1998 and it really was. When I first
started climbing, I would actually go to the gym two times a day.  I loved it
and I could not get enough of it.
Were you good right off the bat?
I really wasn’t good when I started climbing, I mean, I wasn’t terrible. I
could at least manage to get myself up the 5.5s, but it definitely took a lot
of hard work over the past 8 years to get to where I am today.  I started at
the bottom, climbing even worse than V0 for at least the first year.  I think
this was really good for me because as a young kid, I was even skinnier than
I am now.  I had no muscle and had to rely solely獨自的 on technique to get
me up the wall.  Once I actually gained some muscle it all sort of started to
click and I was able to use the technique that I had learned when I was
younger to enhance my climbing that much more.  That and a ton of training
and determination in the gym every single week since I was about 12 years old
has helped a lot too.


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The evil one man can do. After Paul sent the crimpnasty Satan’s Choice
(V12), he still couldn’t leave it alone…so he campused it. Rumney, NH
What did you do before climbing took over? Pokémon cards?
Climbing had completely taken over my life by the time I turned twelve.
 Before climbing, I was very similar to every other kid in the neighborhood:
I played baseball and soccer and just hung out a bunch with my friends who
lived on my street, but as soon as I discovered climbing, all of that went
away.  I pretty much quit everything right away and was totally into
climbing.  At the time, my parents were pretty hesitant about my decision,
but they were definitely still supportive of my dreams.  It was tough and I
definitely lost a few friends because of climbing, but climbing brought in
new friends that enjoyed living the way I did.  Sticking with climbing has
been the greatest decision I have ever made.
I remember one of our early meetings was up in Massachusetts when you were
trying Kim Novak with your dad, Chip, spotting. He is also credited with a
lot of the short films of you on the Internet. How is it having a parent so
involved with your climbing?
My whole family has been extremely supportive of my rock climbing over the
years.  They let me go to school in Colorado knowing that my “major” would
be rock climbing, but my Dad has been so amazing it’s incredible. He’s been
all around the country with me since I was about 12 years old.  He is my
all-time hero and being able to spend the amount of time I do with him is
really awesome for me.  He is always there for me and even though I am in
Colorado now, we are still constantly on the phone talking about the latest
climbs and how I have been climbing.
You’ve done a bunch of first ascents throughout the country. What do you
consider to be your proudest FA?
I think my proudest FA would have to be Agent Orange on the carriage road at
the Gunks.  This line had struck me since I first sent Yikes! many years
back.  I always looked at the line every time I went to the Gunks, but always
walked by saying that it was way too dangerous and the landing was just too
bad. I had heard from a few friends that people had begun trying it and just
last year I began to work it with my good friend, Andy Salo.  He and I made a
little progress and kept working it that spring and even into the summer.  I
got really close a few times, but never managed to stick this right hand
crimp way out on the face that would then lead to easier climbing.  I left
for college and was really bummed about missing out on perfect fall days in
the Gunks.  When Thanksgiving break came around, I knew where I needed to go.
 I bought my plane ticket home and had this project as the main thing in my
mind.  I went to the Gunks the first day I got back and got really close to
the send. I came back a few days later and managed to nab the first ascent of
what is now Agent Orange.
Yeah, that’s a killer line. You know, I think most people, myself included,
dream of being strong enough to go to an area and climb anything they want.
What does that feel like?
Coming to Bishop this year has been a dream come true.  Ever since I first
came to Bishop over spring break of 8th grade I have absolutely loved the
place.  Even though people look at me strangely whenever I tell them that
Bishop is my favorite place in the entire world to climb, I stick to my word.
 I remember my first time here looking at tons of lines that seemed
impossible and now I’ve done a bunch of them.  I climb and train in the gym
a lot so that when I go on a trip I can dispatch a bunch of hard problems in
a short amount of time.
How close do you feel to your full potential?
I hopefully am not close to my full potential at all!  I want to be able to
do what people before me have done: break into new levels of bouldering that
have yet to be reached.  I hope that in the next few years I will be able to
grow even stronger than I am now through training and lots of climbing
outside.  I hope to one day be able to set new standards for bouldering for
the kids that aren’t even climbing yet.
Do you feel famous? Do you feel like people treat you differently for being
such a good climber?
I definitely do not feel famous.  I do not have any money and I still live
off of my very nice parents. I don’t have an Escalade with 24” rims with
girls screaming my name every time I drive down the road or enter a
restaurant.  I travel to places and no one really knows who I am, at least
that’s how I feel.  I feel that others climbers like Dave Graham, Chris
Sharma, and Daniel Woods are definitely well-known wherever they go.  They
walk up to an area and everyone knows their name.  I go places today and I don
’t think anyone knows that I am actually a good rock climber. I mean, I
still get asked if I need a pad and spot on my V0 warm-ups.


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Paul Robinson’s bite is way worse than his bark
Yeah, I get that all the time. You seem to enjoy/crush comps both inside and
out. Would you like there to be more events like the Petzl Roctrip and the
Triple Crown?
Both of the Petzl Roctrips as well as all of the Triple Crowns I have
attended have been a ton of fun.  Both of these events are a great way for
climbing areas to make money and for the participants to have fun climbing
outside with lots of friends.  It is really cool to have so many people
bouldering at one area and having so many people all psyched on climbing
outside.  The people that organize the Triple Crown comps are super-awesome
and hanging out and climbing with them each year is a blast.  I think that it
would take a ton of hard work, but it could definitely be possible and really
cool if comps like the Triple Crown could start happening all over the
country!
What do you think about the possibility of climbing becoming a mainstream
sport? Do you think it has universal appeal or do you think it's still kind
of a fringe activity?
I think that climbing has, since its beginnings, had several surges in
popularity. By seeing how many people show up to watch climbing competitions,
I feel that it is pretty much a sure thing that it will become even more
mainstream.  I know that there will definitely be a lot of people that will
always oppose climbing and never will truly understand the sport, but as more
and more people start to see what climbing is all about, I think that a lot
more people will get hooked on it.
But with the booming popularity of climbing, access issues are bound to
arise, either from the rock being on private land (New England and
Switzerland come to mind) or over-visited and subsequently restricted
(Hueco). What are your feelings on this?
Basically, access is something that people should not take for granted.
 There are many places in the world today that are now closed to climbing
because of people abusing the privileges that they are given at specific
locations.  If this behavior (e.g. not throwing away trash in specific
designated locations, parking at locations that are not allowed just to make
hikes easier, going off trail to get to a rock faster, and just not listening
to the rules) continues, the climbing areas that are open to us today are
going to be closed.  I have traveled a lot and have seen the positive and
negative effects of climber’s behavior. I have seen areas opened by people
who respect and work with the landowners to reach an agreement to allow
climbing, but many more times I have seen areas closed or restricted due to
poor climber behavior. Two areas that I wanted to visit have recently been
closed. Both Sonlerto and Brionne in Switzerland have been closed, it seems,
due to very disrespectful climbers who have just not obeyed the rules set out
for them to be able to climb there. There are also areas in the States like
RMNP, Mount Evans, Hueco, Bradley, and Great Barrington, among others, that
have serious access issues today that need to be cleared up.  I really think
that building positive relationships with landowners and park rangers is an
important task that the climbing community as a whole needs to address. These
areas are all amazing and something really needs to be done before these
areas are closed as well.
What do you think about “secret areas?”
I think secret areas are OK in certain situations, but not all.  For me, if
an area is secret for no other reason other than that the people who found it
want to keep it to themselves and their close friends, I think they’re
terrible. I mean, then climbing just becomes what group you are in so that
you can see "the cool new secret spot."  But in other cases I find that
secret spots are totally fine. They’re legit if access is sketchy or if the
people climbing there are attempting to get access under control before they
alert the crowds.  Again, going back to Switzerland, areas like Brionne and
Sonlerto were unheard of by Americans until very recently and because of this
sudden attention, both of these areas are closed.   I think that keeping
these areas secret would have been smarter than publicizing them before the
people there actually got to learn about the access issues they were dealing
with.  It is really just a shame to me to see such amazing areas closed in a
matter of months because of the sudden publicity that they received.
OK, enough politics. Describe your most perfect day bouldering.
One day that really sticks out in my mind occurred just a few months ago.  I
was on a quick trip to Utah to shoot some photos with Tim Kemple.  I wanted
to try this project that would soon become A Wrinkle in Time.  I warmed up on
the Beyond Life wall, doing both They Call him Jordanand Wills of Fire
without a crash pad!  I felt really strong on my warm up and hoped that the
rest of the day would feel the same.  I went over to A Wrinkle in Time and
was like, “crap! This thing has barely any ice underneath of it now!”  Tim
and Mike Call had already begun setting up their video and film equipment so
I began putting bits of dirt underneath the landing to make sure I would not
just slip right into the freezing water about three feet to my left.  I got
the crash pads ready and booted up.  I sat there, under a very thin sheet of
ice and thought, “Wow. I have not even stuck the last move yet and it’s a
huge move about 14 feet above the thin ice plus the third move is huge and
there is a big possibility of falling.”  I knew that if I fell off of any of
the moves I was going straight into the river which at the time was about 8
feet deep and really, really cold!  Tim yelled over, “Paul! If you fall in
your just gonna get wet, your not gonna DIE!”  I thought about that and with
a good friend and great spotter, Chris Lindner, I decided to just go for it.
 The climb went well and I fired the final move to make the first ascent. I
was so psyched!  After that, Mike Call was telling me about this sick project
that had been tried a bunch over the last couple of years up the canyon.  We
got up there and the boulder was amazing.  I tried it a bit with Chris
Lindner who did really well on it.


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Close your eyes and imagine sending the hardest that Joe’s Valley in Utah
has to offer. Now open them and see Paul shutting the lights on Blackout
(V12) for another FA. Glad he was able to fit it in his schedule, somewhere
between his FA of Wrinkle in Time and his evening send of Black Lung. Yes
kids, this was all in a day’s work
After about an hour, the sequence was figured out and Black Out(V12) was in
the bag. After this, I went about twenty feet to my left and fired off
Gentleman Jack (V12) in 5 tries!  By this time, it was really starting to get
dark and Chris was psyched to try The Worm Turns. I was psyched with my day
already and we all walked over there and spotted and shined lights for him in
the dark cave.  As it was getting totally dark and we were walking back to
the car I got this idea…Black Lung!  I told Tim my idea and he asked me if I
really thought I could do it both tired and in the dark.  I told him I was
psyched and we headed over there while Mike Call and Chris drove back to Salt
Lake City for the night.  We got there and we had one light and my headlamp.
 After about an hour I felt so close and had fallen on the final stab toward
a gaston pocket up at the top of the wall, but as I fell one more time on the
last move the Tim’s light ran out of juice. I was determined to send and
went for it again with just my headlamp. I fell off the first move, UGH!  I
tried again and went to the top. I was so psyched. I had dreamed about doing
Black Lung for many years and sending it in total darkness with just a
headlamp was one of the coolest moments of my life and one I will never
forget.
That’s quite a day!  Do you plan to continue with bouldering exclusively or
do you think you might branch out into more sport climbing or take up trad?
Deep water soloing?
I feel like there is infinite potential for me in bouldering.  Bouldering,
for me, is the most amazing form of rock climbing and interests me the most.
 I want to stick with bouldering as long as I can.  I definitely would like
to try deep water soloing at one point; it looks like such a blast!
What don't people know about Paul Robinson?
My secret to success is a lot of Oreos and big glasses of 1% milk!