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vector
Nov 29, 2006, 5:13 PM
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Perhaps the state can buy it and name it Byrd Rocks Park. Of course if the bill to change the state's name to Byrdland passes, this would be redundant.
Seriously, though, does WV have much of a public land purchasing program? Is there a group that might buy this like the CCC did with Laurel Knob?
Henry
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rockgoat
Nov 29, 2006, 6:30 PM
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Does anyone know how much they are asking?
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pedro_burrito
Dec 5, 2006, 10:20 PM
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The owner, Stu Hammett, told me that he is asking $950,000. That's an excellent price. I've got the urge to liquidate everything I own and go for it.
(This post was edited by pedro_burrito on Dec 6, 2006, 12:42 AM)
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yekcir
Dec 6, 2006, 5:45 PM
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I'd do the same, but the 30 grand I could maybe get together would make me the proud owner of a climb or two... so when do we start a WVCC?
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rockgoat
Dec 6, 2006, 6:50 PM
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Does the Access Fund know about this issue?
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ontherocks
Dec 6, 2006, 7:24 PM
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rockgoat wrote: Does the Access Fund know about this issue?
?
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yekcir
Dec 7, 2006, 3:59 AM
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I got an email out to Gene at Waterstone (in Fayetteville). Looks like he's the regional Access Fund point person. Anyway, I'm thinking we can get something rolling here by way of a fund raiser. I can definitely garner some support locally (in central VA) by way of the gym, friends, etc. I'm thinking that Access could help coordinate some efforts and maybe make an acquisition possible.
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meatball
Dec 8, 2006, 3:09 PM
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Any news on this?
Those of you experienced in dealing with the Access Fund or active in the West Virginia community, please let the rest of us know what we can be doing. Writing letters to the AF? Raising money? Etc?
I've only been to the area once...climbing was closed, but it looked like a great place. Sounds like we could be on the verge of a major gain or a major loss with this deal.
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dbrayack
Dec 8, 2006, 3:25 PM
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To be honest, I'm kind of scared of the place. Its quite dangerous and I've had several bad experiences there (broke a hold while lead, carried out someone who muffed themselves, watched someone chunk off a block the size of a table almost onto someone below....)
Its a cool place, but I don't know if we could really get the funds to purchase it. Its not like Boat Rock or whatever they bought.
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yekcir
Dec 8, 2006, 5:42 PM
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Gene is working on getting this on the NPS radar, thinking that it may be best in the hands of the national forest (I believe Seneca is located on national forest land). My personal thinking is that it is a fairly dangerous place depending on your comfort level with dubious rock, but also holds some stellar lines and is an excellent training ground for anyone who is working toward bigger and better things.
That said, I'll post anything that develops on that front and will see about opportunities as far as community involvement to get Nelson in the right hands.
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nnowinowski
Dec 8, 2006, 6:15 PM
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Yeah it is a great training ground for climbing on chossy rock alpine stuff. Defenitely a neat place but i think the reason it failed as a climbing area was that people wanted it to be a more moderate seneca with bolts and it just is not a very good beginner area?
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dbrayack
Dec 8, 2006, 6:32 PM
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I thought that the actual climbing was perfect for beginners, its just that it was quite dangerous, and a lot of the sport routes were really run out for the grade. (You should not be running it out 20 feet on a 5.7 sport climb).
Not necessarily a biggie, I'm suprised it didn't work out as a climbing area, overall, I liked the place, I was just a little iffy about bringing beginners there.
I think they're selling it because someone died there on the Via Faratta right? I could be totally wrong on that though.
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pedro_burrito
Dec 8, 2006, 8:11 PM
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I don't know why Stu is selling but someone did die there in September, 2006.
http://www.dnronline.com/...thor=&channelid=
http://www.rockclimbing.com/.../gforum.cgi?t=120050
I've climbed the Via Ferrata twice, both times with my daughter. One of the guides there told me that my daughter was the second youngest person to ever complete the Via Ferrata (she had just turned 8 years old). It's the safest place I could find to get some serious exposure. It's not foolproof, however.
There is lots of falling rock along the Via Ferrata, particularly when you are following an entire Boy Scout troop who aren't supervised sufficiently. We were almost hit many times by rocks up to the size of basketballs.
With liability issues, I don't know how any non-governmental organization can afford to run a climbing site.
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braaaaaaaadley
Dec 8, 2006, 9:33 PM
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dbrayack wrote: I thought that the actual climbing was perfect for beginners, its just that it was quite dangerous, and a lot of the sport routes were really run out for the grade. (You should not be running it out 20 feet on a 5.7 sport climb).
And why not?... its standard procedure at many areas.
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naitch
Dec 8, 2006, 9:59 PM
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Nelson has plenty of routes that were not run out. I guess it depends upon what definition of run out is used. If you want bolts every 5-6 feet, then yes, it probably was run out as is most other sport climbing places that I've been to. They had climbs in the 5.5-5.7 range that I considered to be perfect for learning leaders.
Of the easier climbs I can only think of a couple that were "run out" and usually it was on easier terrain.
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roninthorne
Dec 21, 2006, 4:34 AM
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Bold lines and HARD moves made Nelson what it once was, back when there were no cabins, and the place was covered in greenbriar and poison ivy and rarely visited by anyolne outside the circle of maniacs who put up lines there. Lucky enough to have been friends with one or two of those folks and to have climbed there in the day.
Nelson was a place of scattered hard routes and a few moderate lines. Not much "beginner" ground, not the horn o' plenty that Seneca is, nor the overwhelming parallel reality of champe, or Judy Gap. In Nelson, you were a long way from anything, on sometimes challenging terrain, moving in the footsteps and sometimes the shadows of giants. You went there humble, and you went there strong, you climbed smart and you backed off when you had to, and went for it when you could, or had no other choice.
You either got your head handed to you, a balance statement on your reality checking account, or the incredible feeling of standing atop a lost world, hiding in plain sight in the middle of one of the most travelled valleys in Eastern America.
Nelson is a place like no other. I would like to think that any climber with any inkling of the importance of this place in the history of West Virginia, Eastern, and North American rock climbing would chip in to keep it from becoming just another Future Generations string of private mansions dominating a public landscape.
So tell me, organizers... anyone really think we could put together a plan to buy one of the legendary hardplaces of the Southeast?
(This post was edited by roninthorne on Dec 21, 2006, 10:48 AM)
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vector
Dec 29, 2006, 10:07 PM
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Just bumping this up to get a few more eyeballs on it.
Like many have said, I would be happy to help any way I can in an effort to make Nelson public land. I think it has far more value to the public than an private use.
Question for those with experience there, would Nelson ever become "safer" over time with more cleaning and perhaps a well-thought-out bolting plan? Or is it always going to be too chossy? Is it that much worse than Seneca?
~Henry
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roninthorne
Dec 30, 2006, 9:17 PM
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Thanks for the bump, V.
Nelson would, no doubt, be better as public land. Anyone want to start the process of lobbying for redesignation? That shouldn't take long.
As far as becoming safer, Nelson will become cleaner, with the passage of many hands and bodies, but safety lies more with the climber than the climb. Like Seneca, Nelson is a wild place, with rock that varies from stellar to incredibly, unbelievably rotten and loose, from bomber if thin holds on Carved in Stone to delicate wind-carved ears of stone on Iroquois League. The old bolts were few and bold, the newer ones less-well-thought-out, perhaps.
Long reply short (I know, too late), Nelson will become more casual, but never entirely lose than wild something special.
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lofstromc
Dec 31, 2006, 12:23 AM
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Excellent point.
I would rather see Nelson not become full of easy sport climbs and stay as is...except for the closed to climbing part.
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notapplicable
Jan 1, 2007, 8:02 PM
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The first time I visited Nelson I was very green and was sucked in by the bolt magnet but after my second visit I wrote it off as chossy, scary and not worth my time. Now I am a completely different climber and I understand that at the time Nelson was just over my head. Im physicaly and mentally stronger now and it is disappointing that I cant revisit Nelson. It would be nice to have another resource in the area with adventure and commitment levels similar to Seneca and Old Rag. If any headway is made towards re-opening Nelson I would be happy to donate time and money. If you have the now how, connections or resources to persue access please do.
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roninthorne
Jan 6, 2007, 4:54 AM
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Just in the email box from Thomson Ling, The AF guy-
What: Access Workshop/Roundtable to discuss saving climbing access at Nelson Rocks Preserve
Where: REI, Bailey's Crossroads
When: 5-7pm on Saturday, January 27th
Why: Learn about the options for preserving climbing access at Nelson Rocks Preserve and climbing on other private lands in the area.
Hello everyone,
As you may be aware, Nelson Rocks Preserve http://www.nelsonrocks.org has recently been put on the market for sale (see below for links to the listing). Nelson Rocks Preserve is a privately owned outdoor recreation area in West Virginia. The land features many climbing routes, via ferrata climbing, hiking, and camping.
http://www.property4u.com/...gs/3039datasheet.htm
http://www.nelsonrocks.org/sell.pdf
In response to this sale announcement, many climbers have raised the question of "what can we do?" While many of us say "let's just buy it", there are many options out there to preserve climbing access in perpetuity ( e.g., buying the land, easement, getting NPS to buy the land, etc). With so many factors that going into acquiring and managing land (or simply preserving climbing), I have arranged an access workshop/roundtable where you can learn about:
-Different tools that can be used to preserve climbing areas in perpetuity
-The pros and cons of fee simple acquisition (i.e., buying the land)
-Conservation easements
-Liability of owning, managing, or holding an easement on land
-Fundraising and how other groups have done it
-Partnerships that have worked in the past for Access Fund and local climbing organizations.
This meeting will also provide a forum where climbers can get involved and organized about preserving climbing access to Nelson Rocks.
This meeting will take place from 5-7pm on Saturday, Jan 27th at the Bailey's Crossroads REI ( http://www.rei.com/stores/baileyscrossroads/index.html ).
If you would like to be involved in saving climbing at Nelson Rocks, please consider attending.
(This post was edited by roninthorne on Jan 6, 2007, 5:59 AM)
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roninthorne
Jan 15, 2007, 10:34 AM
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reminder bump
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pornstarr
Jan 16, 2007, 1:21 AM
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so....what's the latest Mike??
-Phyllus A. Bowl
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