Intro and Interview by Andrew Zalewski / Photos by Tim Kemple
From Urban Climber #18

My earliest meetings with Paul Robinson, in retrospect, 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 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.

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.