This was a hugely significant change in the climbing community at the time. There was real risk involved in climbing "clean" without pitons. A piton hammered into a granite crack is very solid protection, it's pretty straightforward to find where to place one and to place one in a manner such that it will hold a fall. In contrast, it takes a lot more skill and experience (neither of which existed anywhere initially) to place a hex or a nut correctly. And if you place them incorrectly, or even if you sling them incorrectly, there's a very real risk they can pull out or not hold a fall. Moreover, passive protection of this sort only works in certain kinds of rock, some of the more popular routes at the time were cracks which were very hard to protect.
This meant that a lot of very popular routes became a lot more dangerous to climb cleanly. To their credit, the climbing community just accepted that and moved on.
It wasn't until the late 70s that cams (SLCDs) were invented and clean protection devices attained sufficient breadth to protect very nearly any climb that could have been protected with pitons.
If you find this interesting, Chouinard's story of the history of patagonia, "Let my people go surfing," is a quick and interesting read on how he built patagonia, while trying to stick to his beliefs about the environment.
Came here to say this. Every entrepreneur should read this book as it's a great manifesto about what a business can be. How you work can (and should) be as revolutionary as what you produce.
Here's an Amazon link -- no kickback, I just want more people to read it.
What a great solution to a moral quandary: take the high road, and sell it. Of course, it needs to be a dilemma that affects the whole community, no just you.
Imagine, however, if Chouinard had sold his piton business to some generic manufacturing concern. They would not have had the creativity to imagine "clean climbing" methods, nor would they ever have been personally inspired to keep the mountains in a pristine state.
You could tell a similar horror story about what would have happened if anyone had bought Google in say 2001 or 2002. The ethic of "clean search results" would probably never have become the industry standard.
Chouinard was neither the inventor nor the sole proponent of clean climbing, merely one of the most influential. Before it swept the US climbing community clean climbing already had a substantial history in Europe, especially in the UK. A UK climber, Royal Robbins, for example, manufactured artificial chocks several years before Chouinard and also pioneered clean climbing techniques in the US.
That being said, he did have a huge impact, and it's probably for the better that he retained personal control of the company for as long as he did.
Yvon Chouinard is legendary, and not just for his gear. If you can find a copy of "The Vertical World of Yosemite", read the piece about the first ascent of the south face of Mount Watkins. Really, really great story.
My takeaway from watching is that he's incredibly self-absorbed and a total douchebag. I had to stop watching it halfway through because the people in it are just so absurd.
This meant that a lot of very popular routes became a lot more dangerous to climb cleanly. To their credit, the climbing community just accepted that and moved on.
It wasn't until the late 70s that cams (SLCDs) were invented and clean protection devices attained sufficient breadth to protect very nearly any climb that could have been protected with pitons.