Pat Ament is an American rock climber

Rock climbing

Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...

, musician, and artist who lives in Fruita, Colorado. Noted for first ascents in the 1960s and 1970s, he is the author of many articles and books.

Ament began climbing in 1958, and by the mid 1960s had established the first 5.11

Grade (climbing)

In rock climbing, mountaineering and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a climbing grade to a route that concisely describes the difficulty and danger of climbing the route...

 climbs in Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 (Supremacy Crack) and Yosemite (Center Route on the Slack). A college gymnast, he was a dedicated boulderer and put up many challenging problems on Flagstaff Mountain in Boulder

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, Colorado, elsewhere in Colorado and in Yosemite. His climbing and bouldering companions over the years have included Royal Robbins

Royal Robbins

Royal Robbins is one of the pioneers of American rock climbing. After learning to climb at Tahquitz he went on to make first ascents of many big wall routes in Yosemite...

, Bob Kamps

Bob Kamps

Bob Kamps 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 of its great walls in the 1950s and 1960s...

, Don Whillans

Don Whillans

Don Whillans was an English rock climber and mountaineer. Born and raised in a two-up two-down house in Salford, Lancashire, he climbed with both Joe Brown and Chris Bonington on many new routes, and was considered the technical equal of both. He was an apprentice plumber when he first started his...

, Tom Higgins

Tom Higgins (rock climber)

Thomas John Higgins is a California rock climber with many first and first free ascents primarily in the western United States...

, John Gill

John Gill (climber)

John Gill is an American mathematician who has achieved recognition for his rock-climbing. He is considered the Father of Modern Bouldering by many climbers.-Early life and professional career:...

, and Layton Kor

Layton Kor

Layton Kor is an American rock climber active in the 1960s, whose first ascents and drive for climbing are well known in the climbing world. His routes include many climbs in Eldorado Canyon, near Boulder, Colorado, The Diamond on Longs Peak, towers in the desert southwest, and Yosemite National...

.

Ament's best known written works are his biographies of Royal Robbins and John Gill. He wrote a compendium of ascents and climbers in his 2002 work, "Wizards of Rock: A History of Free Climbing in America," and his "Climbing Everest" is a philosophical essay, adorned with cartoons by the author. Ament is a poet and artist. He won the "Artist Award" from the Art Department of the University of Colorado in 1967. He is a photographer and has given talks around the country, illustrated with his photos. He was twice guest speaker for the British National Mountaineering Festival and has won several awards for films he has made, including from Austria and the University of Geneva, Switzerland.

In November, 2009, he released his latest film Disciples of Gill, a documentary about John Gill and the boulderers he inspired, such as Jim Holloway

Jim Holloway

----Jim Holloway , an American, was one of the first of a new generation of boulderers for whom the sport was a lifestyle rather than a recreation. He began bouldering in the early 1970s in Boulder, Colorado, and in 1973 established his first notable route, Just Right...

and Ament himself. The film features archival footage from 40 years ago as well as modern interviews with older climbers describing where they are now. During the filming, Ament himself took a fall, seriously injuring his leg.

Publications

Pat Ament has had over a hundred articles published in mountaineering magazines, journals, and other publications. Twenty-five or so of his articles have been included in anthologies of the best climbing and mountaineering writings.

His books include:

• Ament, Pat (1967). "High Over Boulder" (first of 5 revised editions). D&K Printing, Boulder, Colorado.
• Ament, Pat (1973). "Swaramandal." Vitaar Publishing. Boulder.
• Ament, Pat (1977). "Master of Rock (the Biography of John Gill)." Alpine House, Boulder.
• Ament, Pat (1978). "Rock Wise, reflections, safety, and technique in rock climbing." March Press, Boulder.
• Ament, Pat (1980). "Eldorado -- a rock climber's guide." March Press, Boulder.
• Ament, Pat (1980). "A Climber's Playground, a guide to the boulders of Flagstaff Mountain." March Press.
• Ament, Pat (1984). "Direct Lines." Two Lights, Boulder.
• Ament, Pat (1989). "Care And Consciousness in Climbing." Two Lights Publishing, Boulder.
• Ament, Pat (1991). "High Endeavors." Mountain N' Air Books, La Crescenta, California.
• Ament, Pat (1996). Stories of a Young Climber. Two Lights, Boulder.
• Ament, Pat (1998). Royal Robbins: Spirit of the Age. Stackpole Books, Pennsylvania.
• Ament, Pat (1998). John Gill: Master of Rock. Stackpole Books, Pennsylvania.
• Ament, Pat (1999). "Reflections on Being the Best Climber in the World." Two Lights Publishing.
• Ament, Pat (1999). "Ten Keys to Climb Everest." Two Lights Publishing.
• Ament, Pat (1999). Climbing Everest. Ragged Mountain Press/McGraw-Hill.
• Ament, Pat (2002). "Climber's Choice (best writers present their work)." Ragged Mountain/McGraw-Hill.
• Ament, Pat (2002). Wizards of Rock: A History of Free Climbing in America. Wilderness Press, Berkeley.
• Ament, Pat (2003). "Too High, misadventures on Everest (a book of cartoons)." Two Lights.
• Ament, Pat (2005). "Everything That Matters, (Remembering Rock Climbing)." Two Lights.

Master of Rock and Spirit of the Age have been translated and published in Japanese, Italian, and Spanish.