Robert John Slater (6 December 1960 – August 13, 1995) was an American mountaineer known for his first ascent of the big wall route ''Wyoming Sheep Ranch'' on

El Capitan El Capitan (; ) is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granite monolith is about from base to summit alo ...

. An avid outdoor recreationalist, Slater made notable climbs during his college years and later as he worked as a trader on the

Chicago Board of Trade The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), is an American futures exchange, futures and options exchange that was founded in 1848. On July 12, 2007, the CBOT merged with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) to form CME Group. CBOT and three other excha ...

and for

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

. He died on August 13, 1995, while descending from the summit of K2.

Climbing background

Rob started climbing early, summiting the

Grand Teton Grand Teton is the highest mountain of the Teton Range in Grand Teton National Park at in Northwest Wyoming. Below its north face is Teton Glacier. The mountain is a classic destination in American mountaineering via the Owen-Spalding rout ...

at age 13 with mountaineering pioneer

Paul Petzoldt Paul Kiesow Petzoldt (January 16, 1908 – October 6, 1999) was an American mountaineer and wilderness educator known for establishing the National Outdoor Leadership School in 1965. Early life Petzoldt was born in Creston, Iowa. The you ...

. He attended high school in

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Wyoming, most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 reside ...

and college at the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a Public university, public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a Federated state, state, it is the fla ...

, an institution he chose for its proximity to the

Flatirons The Flatirons are rock formations in the western United States, near Boulder, Colorado, consisting of flatirons. There are five large, numbered Flatirons ranging from north to south (First through Fifth, respectively) along the east slope of ...

. Sherman, John, ''Sherman Exposed'', 1999, pp. 214–230 Slater climbed the very difficult route ''Wide Country'' (11a R) in nearby Eldorado Canyon, which is still considered difficult today despite the availability of sticky rubber

climbing shoes A climbing shoe is a specialized type of footwear designed for rock climbing. Typical climbing shoes have a tight fit, an asymmetrical downturn, and a sticky rubber sole with an extended rubber rand to the heel and the toe. Different types of s ...

and advanced equipment. While in college, Slater began making summer trips to

Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a U-shaped valley, glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California, United States. The valley is about long a ...

, where he climbed his first big wall route ''Zodiac'' with Tom Cosgriff, and ''Aquarian Wall'' with Robert Kayen. During his junior year, Slater met Randy Leavitt, who taught Slater how to

BASE jump BASE jumping () is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend to the ground. BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antenna (radio), antenna ...

. Attempting a jump with Leavitt in the

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in western Colorado and managed by the National Park Service. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison was establishe ...

, Slater was forced to make a downwind landing on the wrong side of the river, twisting his foot and scrubbing their plans to exit the canyon by climbing one of the walls. In 1982, he made the first solo ascent of the ''Pacific Ocean Wall'', at the time one of the hardest routes on

. Slater capped his ascent with a BASE jump. In 1984, Slater put up ''Wyoming Sheep Ranch'' (A5) with John Barbella. ''Wyoming Sheep Ranch'' was considered the most difficult and dangerous aid climb on El Capitan for several years, until being downgraded to A4 later. Slater may be the first person to take a leash-protected fall on a high

slackline Slacklining is walking, running or balancing along a suspended length of flat webbing that is tensioned between two anchors. Slacklining is similar to slack rope walking and tightrope walking. Slacklines differ from tightwires and tightropes i ...

. In 1983, he set up a short 22 ft line under a freeway overpass in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

with Scott Balcom and others. The line was 80 feet above the ground. In 1992/93, Slater was the first to summit all the

Fisher Towers Fisher Towers are a series of towers made of Cutler sandstone capped with Moenkopi sandstone and caked with a stucco of red mud located near Moab, Utah (). The Towers are named for a miner who lived near them in the 1880s. The Towers are world- ...

near

Moab, Utah Moab () is the largest city in and the county seat of Grand County in eastern Utah in the western United States, known for its dramatic scenery. The population was 5,366 at the 2020 census. Moab attracts many tourists annually, mostly visitor ...

. He contributed to the desert climbing trend of summiting all towers in an area. In 1995, Slater ascended the 3000 ft ice waterfall route ''Slipstream'' in the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies () or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...

. It took four attempts to reach the summit.

Final climb

Slater died in a storm on the descent from K2 along with five other team members, including noted English climber

Alison Hargreaves Alison Jane Hargreaves (17 February 1962 – 13 August 1995) was a British mountaineer. Her accomplishments included scaling Mount Everest alone, without supplementary oxygen or support from a Sherpa team, in 1995. She soloed all the great nort ...

. It was his first attempt at an

eight-thousander The eight-thousanders are the 14 mountains recognized by the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) as being more than in height above sea level, and sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no precise defin ...

. His body was never found.

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Rob 1960 births 1995 deaths American rock climbers Deaths on K2 Goldman Sachs people

Climbing background

Final climb

Bibliography

See also

External links