Royal Robbins Accelerates Advocacy For Stewardship Of National Parks Through Commitment To Yosemite Climbing Association’s Facelift Event
Royal Robbins, the outdoor brand whose mission is to feed the soul through nature and adventure, dramatically increased its support of Yosemite Climbing Association while increasing its commitment to Yosemite Facelift® 2024. The 21st Annual Yosemite National Park Facelift®, organized by YCA in partnership with the National Park Service, occurred Sept. 25-29, 2024.
As a top tier Half Dome-level sponsor, Royal Robbins reinforced its dedication to conserving the natural beauty of Yosemite National Park while promoting education and public interest in Yosemite climbing.
Royal Robbins, a longstanding proponent of sustainability, conservation and outdoor adventure, is honored to support an event that deeply resonates with its core values. Born in Yosemite in 1968, the brand’s DNA is inextricably linked to the park. Partnering with the Yosemite Climbing Association on Facelift since 2016 underscores Royal Robbins commitment to preserving natural places that inspire adventure.
Nearly all of the brand's employees traveled to Yosemite National Park to join climbers and outdoor enthusiasts in an ongoing grassroots effort to clean up, restore and celebrate one of the most unique natural environments on Earth. Building on last year's success, this year’s event saw 1,215 volunteers contribute 7,780 hours and collected over 13,000 pounds of trash, to preserve the park’s natural beauty.
To further support YCA, the brand created a limited edition t-shirt, commemorating the first ascent of Yosemite’s North America Wall. The historic climb in 1964 teamed up a legendary party - Royal Robbins, Chuck Pratt, Tom Frost and Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia. The shirt dropped at Yosemite Facelift, will be available soon on YCA’s website, and 100% of proceeds will fund its ongoing efforts. The t-shirts and all give-away products were poly-bag free, extending the brand’s poly-bag pilot program, reducing waste and trash within the park. Additionally, the brand introduced a Hangboard Challenge, which became a major attraction, drawing over 500 participants, including seasoned climbers and tourists, to test their skills.
“Royal Robbins is a great partner,” says Ken Yager (hanging out right), founder of Yosemite Climbing Association. “In addition to being an El Cap level sponsor, they brought in a level of commitment and energy that helped make this year’s Yosemite Facelift one of our best. They basically brought their entire team, volunteered for clean-up, got everyone psyched on the Hangboard Challenge, and launched the limited edition shirt to further support our efforts to preserve the park and curate our climbing museum in Mariposa.”
“Nature and adventure are good for the soul,” said Erik Burbank, brand president of Royal Robbins. “We were born in Yosemite – this is our home. We’re honored to support the incredible team at Yosemite Climbing Association, and this community. We’re already looking forward to putting our values in motion at next year’s Facelift!”
