Bob McMahon passes away

Oh God. I am so sorry to hear this terribly sad news. My wife (Kate) and I only met Bob last year and were immediately drawn to his sense of humor and insatiable appetite for adventure. Given the affection that we developed for Bob after knowing him for mere moments, we can only guess at the sense of loss felt by those that new him for a lifetime, much less that felt by his wife and family.

Our deepest sympathy to Gerry and the rest of that pioneering team of climbers. And of course our heart felt sorrow for Bob's family.

Thats sad news. He was a capital 'L' Legend.

A sad day for Tassie climbing.  R.I.P. Bob.

At the very least Bob should have a buttress at Ben Lomond named after him. He was a significant figure in a number of fields, and a warm irascible character who will be sorely missed.

Gerry, can you let us know the funeral arrangements? I'd like to get there if I can.

I'm really sorry to hear this. I was first introduced to climbing by Bob during a Diabetes camp near Fingal in 1997 and saw him as a great role model especially in terms of respecting our environment and always looking to develop new routes. He also showed me how great (and difficult) crack climbing can be.

I second Olivier's sentiment,  I also met Bob at Fingal valley in 1997.   I remember thinking (I was in my teens) this old man is actually really awesome!  I hope he's laughing if he is watching me write this. Never before had I been encouraged so much by an individual.  I was totally drawn to his inspiration, humour and sense of adventure. He was amazing mentor.

Currently I'm over in North America, but I was back in Australia in the Cataract Gorge on January 9th 2013 sadly it was for a family funeral, it was also my birthday, and I was having a terrible day.  But who did I run into by pure luck - Bob!!  a 10 minute catch up was the best present I'd had that day.

Wishing I could be new route setting with him and Olivier again. What an amazing climber, friend and dude all round!

Very sorry to hear of Bob's death, he'll be missed by the climbing community at large. I am sure that all within this forum send their condolences to both his family and friends.

Very sorry to hear of this. Here is a bit of an outsiders view/tribute. I'm from Qld and have only been climbing for a couple of years. I made my first climbing trip down to Tassie with my brother a bit over a month ago. Before planning this trip we had never heard of Bob (or any other Tassie climbers for that matter).  As soon as the Ben Lomond guide book arrived a few months before we were due to leave though, we started to get a bit of a feeling for the toughness of some of the climbers down there and him in particular. This was only reinforced ten-fold once we actually got to The Ben and did a couple of climbs. We aint at Frog no more Dorothy.

With the climbing world full of so many "cool" climbers on the front pages of the mags these days he was the first climber that I felt I could actually look up to. I sound like a bit of a school girl but just the persistence and mental toughness needed to be on (what seems like) just about every FA at easily the hardest place I've climbed in my short career just astounded me. It makes me sad to think that I won't have the chance to meet him on what I hope will be many more trips down there to come.

Condolences to his friends and family.

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