This was news passed on to me....
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Bob Allison passed away last weekend. Bob was the founder and long-time president of the Kansas City Climbing Club. He didn't start climbing until he was 50, but since then has succeeded on numerous peaks and attempted Everest, and apparently made many friends in the international climbing community.

I'm hoping someone (i.e., Jeremy Collins, current KCCC president) would submit a more-detailed obit, as I only met Bob last year. I'm approaching 50 and considered myself an almost has-been climber, but took inspiration from Bob about climbing while old.

Thanks!
Dana Cline

Damn,

I just saw this post. I moved to Lawrence, Kansas in 1989 after climbing for many years in my beloved Wasatch Mountains of SLC. SLC climbers are spoiled. I grew up less than 1 mile from the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon and I viewed moving to KS as the end of my climbing. At that time there were no climbing gyms so that was not an option although some walls were starting to sprout up around the country. I bought a bicycle and forgot about climbing for a while.

I remember reading the newspaper one chilly Sunday Morning and there was an article about an old guy attempting Mt. Everest. The article was about Bob Allison, president of the Kansas City Climbing Club. It blew me away. I really couldn’t figure out how someone could be so interested in climbing while living in KC. I really thought it was crazy. These guys obviously loved the rocks and mountains to be involved in this sport. It had never occurred to me that someone living in KS or even Missouri could be into rock climbing, how wrong I was!

I called Bob and asked him about the club. In all my prior years of climbing I never ever thought about belonging to an organized group of climbers, that wasn’t my thing or so I thought. I showed up to their meeting place where they had a small climbing wall and I learned that they climbed at Cliff Drive in KC, MO on some evenings. The enthusiasm of this group was contagious and I joined and participated in the KCCC until I moved away in 1995. The fun and active group led by Bob was a great source of friendship and fun while I lived in KCCC and I have many fond memories. Sharing trips to Arkansas at Sam’s Throne and exploring some Missouri Choss was all great fun.

Bob’s spirit compelled me to chase my own dreams and while living in Kansas and training on my wall in my garage I climbed the Nose in a Day and on another trip, the Salathe Wall on El Cap in a day. I may never have felt compelled to chase these goals if it had not been for Bob and the KCCC. The KCCC’s members shared and chased their own dreams and I was happy to be a part of them. I am very saddened to hear this news. Bob is a person who represented climbers in a way that makes me proud to have been a member of his club. Rest in Peace Bob, and thanks for touching my life.

gary