... pretty cool place just west of 'Cumberland, MD'...
... tall cliff with solid, steep face climbing with several good flakes and cracks with good protection - not sure of what rock type (some sort of 'quartzite'? - don't know)...
... was never any published information on the place - so never knew any established route names or difficulty ratings (all the better) - we figured that all the difficult stuff we encountered was probably in the hard 5.10 range - although - a route 'Goodman' put up long ago (now bolted) is rated 5.11b on-line - probably right - remember "seconding" that thing - very thin and "crimpy" - all the "pro" (thin wires and small RP's) was definitely only "psychological" - "X-rated" for sure - so the bolts are probably a good thing - was a good job by Rob.... (no - not the route pictured above)...
... this is the "First Buttress" - good face climbing - those are some guys from Uniontown we'd occasionally encounter - Rob sold 'em an old static rope one day - went back the next weekend and found it layin' in the brush at the bottom of the cliff - never saw them again to give it back - descent from the "belay ledge" was via that single small sapling (always kind of "hairy") - sure there's some "rap bolts" now'days...
... this is a pretty cool and easy left facing corner headin' up the 'Buttress' - "sews up"...
... here's Rob workin' his way up the face of the 'Buttress' - bomber pro following the obvious "flakes"... (the guy in the background this day once played pro-football for the 'Al Davis' led 'Oakland Raiders' back in the 70's - he had a few good stories to tell - especially reg'd Ken Stabler and neurotic blonds and John Matuszak bustin' up bars)... hey - just noticed! - Rob's wearin' old fart 'EB's"...
... a bit higher up...
... this is the "classic" route - 'Bee Sting' - one of the best moderate "crack climbs" to be found anywhere - Rob belaying... still trying to figure out who snapped this photo - think one of Rob's "chicks" was with us that day... there's also a formation known as the 'Upper Slab' in the woods above the main wall that has a few hard crack and face climbs - don't have any photos (that I can find) - but there's a few on-line if ya' look around...
... word of caution: was always access issues - you have to cross an active railroad to reach the cliff, and the ground between the tracks and rock is railroad right-of-way property - never could understand what the big deal was - hardly ever any rail traffic - you might see one train all day, if at all - have read that the railroad has officially designated the area off limits to all and has been enforcing the issue - don't know - haven't been there in years...
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