Old Man of the Mountain tumbles

“The Old Man of the Mountain, New Hampshire's iconic symbol, lost his battle with gravity sometime Friday or early Saturday. Very sad.”

“

RIP Old Man.”

“The limestone dog's head out at Concrete, a local stripmine swimming hole, fell a few years ago.

So, what I'm getting at is...I know how you feel skiracer.”

“I saw that in this mornings paper, that is too bad. Can't believe it's held this long, then all of a sudden....there it goes.”

“Am I the only one that thinks about an overhangs falling when I am sitting on it eating lunch? I keep thinking " Well, it has to fall sometime, why not now with me on it?"”

“oh heck yes poppa, i do that big time. or standing under one or in a cave too....


BB, is there a picture of it after it fell? and did it like totally break up when it rollled down the mountain? just curious...”

“The Gendarme at Seneca Rocks West Virginia fell in '86 or '87.

It was also known as The Gun Sight, I think.

It was a 30-40 foot spire in a notch at the top of The Rocks.

The guy at The Gendarme climbing shop told me there was a climbing class on it three days before it fell.

http://www.thegendarmeonline.com/

He was in the store when it fell and said it sounded like a 747 crashing.
His son was in the elementary school below and saw it fall!
It was a million-year event!”

“I'm really glad I wasn't up there when it fell [and yes, I always think about it when I'm up on such features].”

“Stratdewd, the LA Times had before and after pix this morning. I would post them, but posting a pic to this site is beyond my capabilities.

You categorize the Old Man as "it." It was actually just a bunch of rocks held together with cables and epoxy, and if you didn't look at it from the exact angle, the profile went away.”

“Okay, here's what to do.

Set up a little restoration museum at the base. Place the rocks side-by-side for everyone to see. Have a little room with restoration plans to see.

Then, pay a few people to argue in the media every once in awhile about whether it should be restored. Have a few of them run against each other in local elections.

Build a few little viewing platforms that have glass panels with the missing parts filled in if you stand in the right spot and look through. Set up a little video room like at Mt. St. Helen's and have the curtains dramatically open.

Host a man in mountain marathon with the proceeds going to kids with cleft palates and missing limbs.

Pretty soon, you don't even need to do the restoration - kind of like the Crazy Horse monument. It'll be a tourist attraction anyway.”

“LMAO @ RL!!!”

“Or go for a day hike by it!


8|”

“It's a sad day in these parts. What's even sadder is that the rocks are all broken up and in the pile of rocks below. Kinda hard to distinguish. They may be able to find a few rocks with guy wire clips on them, but.... they'll be hard pressed to restack em at the bottom.”

“Too bad it wasn't Rooney.”

“Wasn't his name Max Forehead?”

“Well...there's still Grandfather Mountain and Profile trail. Of course, it's in a different state...”

“Have been back and forth past that for 37 years. More times than I can count.

SHowed to my hiking bud (from Colorado) just two years ago . . .and my wife just recently.


I had hoped to show it to my kids this summer.

If you grew up with it . . .it meant something to you.”

“I'm w/ you on that Lee. I was upset to hear it's gone.

My parents took me camping to NH every August from age 3-9, and to a kid the old man was pretty cool. I returned 8 years ago, and began taking my children every summer since to NH, and the old man is like "look kids, Big Ben...Parliment". Ya just can't pass it without pointing it out, and my kids always look, and usually imagine going up his nose or something.

It's just like I always point out "the mighty Mississippi...the ol' Miss...the ol' Man" to my kids whenever we go over it, and sometimes break into a verse of old man river. My kids laugh & call me a dope, but this banter is part of our family now. I expect my kids, when they're grown with children of their own, will chuckle to their wives every time they go over the river, and may do just what I did. I'd be devastated if it dried up.”

“Geology happens. Sad to see it go, but it was inevitable.”

“For a mere $10.00 you can bid on a peice of rock from the Old Man of the Mountain at eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3607180840&category=208

There is an 'after' photo on this page too. Amazingly, there's been no bids.”