Bob Robertson was found unresponsive Jan 31 at Shelf Road’s Piggy Bank. After more than an hour of CPR , Bob was pronounced expired.
Bob was born in Trinidad, CO in May of 1946. As a young man he joined the US Army to see the world. That meant being stationed up the road at Fort Carson. Soon after he discovered climbing.
He was among the first wave of bolters in the 1980’s, dealing with the ethics, early hardware, and bolting wars of sport climbing. Bob bolted all over Colorado. He was always scouting and finding rocks “that could support a few lines”. He had thousands of routes. If you are climbing at Shelf Road, South Platte, Wet Mountains, Manassa, Lime Creek, Buena Vista or Bighorn Canyon and come across a homemade angle iron hanger, you’re on a route by Robertson.
Bob made his mark not only with his extensive route development , but also with his self published guides to the areas: Sunnyside of Shelf, Camp Hale, Cheyenne Canyon, Voyager, Badger Mountain and Phantom Canyon.
Bob was developing sport lines right up to the end. His last route had the fitting name of “Nap Time”. Wet Mountain’s climbers have enjoyed his routes in Stultz, Tanner Dome, Newlin, Titanic, Green Wall, etc. Thanks Bob.
A memorial to our local legend is being held Feb 15 at Colorado Springs City Rock climbing gym from 3-6pm.