Steve Roper is a noted
climber and
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
of the
Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. He along with
Allen Steck are the founding editors of the
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...
journal ''Ascent''.
Roper is the winner of the Sierra Club's
Francis P. Farquhar Mountaineering Award for 1983.
He is also, with Allen Steck, the recipient of the American Alpine Club's Literary Award (1995).
Publications
* "A Climber's Guide to Yosemite Valley" (1964) LCC # 63-21911
* ''A Climber's Guide to Pinnacles National Monument'' (1966),
* "Climber's Guide to Yosemite Valley" (1971),
* ''The Climber's Guide to the High Sierra,'' (1976),
* ''
Fifty Classic Climbs of North America'', (1979),
* "Timberline Country: The Sierra High Route" (1982)
* ''Sierra High Route: Traversing Timberline Country'' (1997),
*
Publications as editor
*
*
Notable ascents
* 1959 ''North Face'' of Middle Cathedral Rock,
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 ...
, CA (VI 5.9 A4), with
Bob Kamps
Bob Kamps (1931 – 2 March 2005) was an American rock climber whose climbing career spanned five decades. Born in Wisconsin, he began climbing in California in 1955, and was a member of that cadre of Yosemite pioneers who first ascended many o ...
and
Chuck Pratt.
* 1963, first free ascent of the
Kor-Ingalls Route on
Castleton Tower near
Moab
Moab () was an ancient Levant, Levantine kingdom whose territory is today located in southern Jordan. The land is mountainous and lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by ...
, Utah, with
Chuck Pratt.
* 1963 ''West Buttress'',
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. (VI 5.10 A3+) FA with
Layton Kor.
* 1963 Third ascent of the ''El Cap Nose'', with Glen Denny and Layton Kor.
* 1966 First one-day ascent of the NW face of
Half Dome, with Jeff Foott.
* 1966 Third ascent of the
Salathe Wall on El Cap, with Dick Long and Allen Steck.
See also
*
Sierra High Route
References
External links
The Sierra High Route: A Journey at Timberline Roper's account of how he forged the Sierra High Route
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roper, Steve
American rock climbers
Sierra Club awardees
Living people
1941 births
20th-century American non-fiction writers
Climbing and mountaineering writers