... had to grin after recently reading an on-line description of 'Rob's Knobs' as a climbing area
"apparently belonging to Rob"...
... dug up a few not too recent photos from this place - decent images, thought we'd post 'em up - not doing any good setting in a computer file... used to have a bunch of old '80's era prints in the archives but couldn't find 'em - probably have the negatives somewhere in the negatives binders, will search thru 'em one of these days... file information for these digital images say '08 - doesn't seem that long ago... time rolls along..
... two separate visits from back then - tagged along with Tim and Laura (Hahn) Anderson on both... that's them in the images unless noted otherwise...
... stumbled across this place in the early 80's by accident - was actually following vague directions, given to us by a geologist our buddy 'Rob' knew, to reach another rock outcrop called the 'Lost World' (known now'days as the 'Lost Crag') - took a wrong turn and wound up here... the area had recently been timbered, and you could view the 'Lost World' setting on the adjacent ridgeline across the hollow - was highly impressed with this place, so saved the Lost World for a later date... was pretty stoked - phoned Rob immediately upon arriving back home to inform him of the find (no cell phones back then) - we were back the next weekend with climbing gear...
... not a large area - a few very large boulders - but what is there is all high quality with lots of climbing to be done - definitely one of the best small crags anywhere...
... we put up maybe a dozen routes over time (pictured above is actually the first route ever done back then - Tim's buddy, Christian, climbing this day) - we weren't really into naming routes and gave pretty much vague ratings to what we had done - on top of that we were working probably two to three other area crags and were floating between each mainly on the weekends (along with paddling, biking, caving and other endeavors) - so we didn't get a whole lot completed...
... Christian and his wife Rayna above...
... we put up mostly what would take gear because that is what we were in to (no previewing or working moves on top rope), besides, you couldn't get to the top to most of the (good) stones otherwise... rating wise, we compared everything to High Rocks (Derry PA), so anything of difficulty we called 5.10... placing bolts* was definitely a sacrilege in Rob's book, which didn't matter anyway - he was a fanatic of as well as a master in small gear placement and loved fiddling with RP's and contrivances such as Lowe Balls, Sliders, Tri-Cams and such - one short roof crack that he climbed as such was subsequently bolted and repeated by others and rated at 5.12 (definitely then one of the first area climbs rated so) - he did everything in impeccable style - never hanging on the rope to rehearse moves, and any fall was repeated ground up...
... Tim working above some nested small cams and making Rob proud (5.11c/d)...
... Tim again with a few trees providing some nice framing...
... anyway, as it went, Rob eventually "turned the place on" to a friend who in turn "turned the place on" to some friends - eventually pretty much every route was bolted - bolts were added to established gear routes - with the whole series of events infuriating Rob who in turn pronounced the entire area desecrated ground and vowed never to return... to this day he never has....
... Rayna on a steep boulder start...
... so that's the 'Legend of Rob's Knobs' if you want to consider it that...
... Laura and steep face climbing...
... ditto for Tim...
... anyway, to (possibly) give a bit of solace to Rob's angst (after lo so many years) - last fall we had the experience of witnessing three strong (young) guys from down south ripping the place... we had pulled in to the lot to park next to a large Ford van with Tennessee plates and a few whitewater boats strapped to the roof racks - lots of gear supplier stickers plastered on the van - we were unloading for an MTB ride with nothing in particular in mind so figured to ride up to the crags - first the Knobs and if no one there then the Lost Crag... ran into the guys from the van at the first stop Knobs - they were totin' seven crash pads between the three of 'em and had rigged a few stones only for rappel lines - they were on-sighting some hard lines (while we were there - including the above) and said that they intended to boulder (unroped) every route on their map - (??!!) - a pretty impressive feat if they ever accomplished it... if they're viewing, would be curious to find out...
*... to the uninitiated, the mechanical drilling and permanent fastening of "eye bolts" (basically speaking) into natural rock formations for the purpose of providing a "safety anchor" (basically speaking) in the event of a fall while attempting to climb the exterior face of said rock has always been and always will be a controversial act to many, ethically and environmentally, with regard to the sport of rock climbing...
... Newton North Face (referenced to nearby Yough River north, as are all the valley boulders).... there's probably a grip or an edge every square foot across each face - considering eliminates, you can work out some pretty difficult sequences of moves if ya' want...
... Newton Northwest Arete...
... Newton is well loved...
... some great rock this side of the valley - a short stop at 'Roadside Attraction' on the way out...
... although not highly regarded for tall rope climbing (all less than a rope length - but still good), SWPA is blessed with hundreds of great boulder problems... haven't updated our "secret map" (south c'ville topo quad) for probably twenty five years, but when we left off we were up to forty eight combined rock (roped), ice and bouldering locations - right off the top of our head we can recall at least fifteen to be added since then - and that doesn't include adjacent quad's nor many "one off" boulders we've visited over the years...
... final stop at 'Mojo' boulder...
... and the south face 'Mantle Wall'...
... a succession of short "dyno" moves off small side pulls, crimps or pinches...
... to snatch the summit rail...
