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| Born | 1944 (age 79–80) Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S. |
| Occupation | Computer scientist |
| Climbing career | |
| Type of climber | |
| Highest grade | |
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| First ascents |
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Ray Jardine (born in 1944) is an American rock climber and rock-climbing equipment innovator, who specialized in traditional climbing and big wall climbing. In 1977, Jardine made the first free ascent of The Phoenix, which was the first-ever consensus route at the grade of 5.13a (7c+) in climbing history. In 1979, with Bill Price, he became the first to free climb the West Face of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley.
Jardine is noted for inventing and developing the spring-loaded camming devices (SCLDs, also called "Friends") with the late Mark Vallance,[1][2] which revolutionized traditional climbing in the late 1970s.[3] He is also noted for his major contributions to the ultralight backpacking community through his books and his "make-it-yourself" gear company, Ray-Way Products.[4]