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ldo1
Oct 26, 2004, 12:56 AM
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Registered: Sep 24, 2002
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I'm planning to move to the Santa Fe/Northern New Mexico area next year and am just trying to get a little information on the climbing out there. Is there enough out there to get pretty excited about? I know the Sandia's have quite a bit of stuff, but how far away are they. Basically, I'm looking to spend a lot of time climbing and am wondering if the Santa Fe area will support a five/six times a week habit(outdoors). Thanks!
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pt
Oct 26, 2004, 1:06 AM
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Registered: May 29, 2003
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I lived in Santa Fe for a while and there is good climbing there.
Bolted basalt sport climbing up in Los Alamos
Traditional basalt climbing with cracks and top ropes on the way to Los Alamos
Nice granite climbing with a mix of trad and bolts in Tres Piedres
Adventure granite climbing outside of Taos on Questa Dome
Sport climbing at Cochiti Mesa and Eagle Canyon
Sandias outside Alb.
A few other areas up outside of Los Alamos.
I'm sure there is more that I'm not aware of - I lived there 14 years ago. You should have fun there. Santa Fe is an awesome place to live; Perfect weather, good skiing, good climbing, mountain biking, restaurants, art galleries etc.....
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tyify
Oct 26, 2004, 1:30 AM
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Registered: Apr 22, 2003
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tyify moved this thread from General to Regional Discussions.
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colqueerio
Oct 26, 2004, 2:58 AM
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Registered: Jul 13, 2004
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Tons of climbing, not too many people, but enough that you'll be able to find partners. There's a pretty good mix of sport and trad, but your only options for multi-pitch will be the Sandias (1-1.5 hour drive) and Questa Dome (2.5- hour drive). The Brazos Cliffs offer, at least I've been told, great, 2,000 foot routes on good quartzite, mostly in the 5.5 to 5.9 range, but access is touchy. They're roughly 2 hours from Santa Fe.
For sport and bouldering, driving times from Santa Fe:
*Diablo Canyon, right by Santa Fe. 5.10-5.13 on basalt. 20-30 minutes.
*White Rock basalt areas, below White Rock on the rim of the Rio Grande Gorge; incredible setting, great winter climbing with lots of sun, multiple mini-crags 50-70 feet high. Routes are 5.9-5.12+. 30-45 minutes.
*The Dungeon--Los Alamos (right above town) rhyolite. Was a pretty area by a stream but suffered in the huge fire about 5 years ago. The crag, however, wasn't damaged. 5.11-5.14, overhanging powerful climbing. 45 minutes.
*El Rito--up a National Forest canyon above this small town off the road to Abiqu from Espanola. Some of the funnest sport climbing anywhere on red-, tan- and black-streaked conglomerate. Positive holds, short and long pitches. Great routes in the 5.9 to 5.11 range, as well as a handful of very good 5.12s and one 13a. Similar to Utah's Maple Canyon but perhaps more solid rock, just less routes. Also some bouldering here. 1 hour.
*Dead Cholla Wall--Pilar, just south of Taos. A great, east-facing basalt craglet (50 feet high) with mostly sport, some mixed, and a few pure cracks. Super-easy access--park at the rim of the gorge and walk down. 1.5 hours. Also, off and near the dirt road leading to the rim here, just before and after the bridge (2-3 miles on either side), is some great basalt bouldering. Good landings, boulders scattered about. No guidebook, but perhaps the best cluster is off the Vista Verde trail about halfway up the west side of the gorge over the bridge. Park at the big pull-out on the right and walk a half-mile until you see a basalt outcropping on the left with some nice tan blocks.
*Tres Piedras--2 hours, west of Taos; over the bridge featured in "Natural Born Killers". A mix of sport and trad, with 4 very, very good sport routes on the Mosaic Wall--3 5.11+ dinner-plate routes, and one 5.12 on the right. This area also has great mixed gear/bolt leads, a few cracks, and old-school runout slabs of doom in a beautiful setting, all on pink granite. There has also been a fair bit of recent bouldering development here. Ask at Mud and Flood just off the Taos Plaza. If Trennis is still there, he'll have the beta.
*Cochiti Mesa/Eagle Canyon/Cacti Cliff--great welded tuff climbing on pockets, often derided as slabby (most routes are 85-90 degrees) but fun nonetheless. Most routes are in the 5.10-5.12 range. There are also good pure-crack routes here, but the rock is soft and a bit unpredictable. Double up at the cruxes, because pieces do tear here. 45 minutes.
*Las Conchas--a beautiful setting in meadows high in the Jemez Mountains southwest of Los Alamos. Rhyolite climbing, similar to Penitente in places, but perhaps a bit chossier. Most routes are in the 5.7-5.12 range and climb up huecos or flakes, with a couple of 5.13s on the Leaning Tower up crack/seams. Summer area only. 1.25 hours. Not that many routes, but a few classics.
*Glorietta/Pecos--rumors of sandstone bouldering out in the mesas near these small towns east of Santa Fe. Ask at the gym. No guidebook as far as I know.
*Ponderosa--great welded tuff bouldering on the southwest side of the Jemez near San Ysidro and just above the hamlet of Ponderosa. Good winter area, nice landings, some very high problems. 1-1.5 hour drive. Stacks of bouldering.
*Enchanted Tower--3 hours south, but worth the drive for a weekend. Some of the best jug-hauling the U.S., very similar to the Red River Gorge in style. The tower itself overhangs 50 feet in 120 but still has routes that go at 5.11! Routes range from 5.8 to 5.14a, with most of the best routes in the 5.11 to 5.12 range. Plenty of good climbing here; the Land Beyond, about 2 miles up the road from the Tower, is also good stuff. Sinker pockets on all the routes, just long cranks and big endurance. Nice camping.
*Palomas Peak--short limestone cliffs on the back side of the Sandias; 1 hour drive, 30 minute hike. Beautiful setting, lots of routes, reminiscent of Wild Iris--sharp pockets, powerful moves, but bullet stone. Most routes are in the 5.11-5.12 range, with one 5.14b. There are also a few bouldering areas in the same canyon--the Woody and the Temple, but it's best to get the tour, as the bouldering can be sort of eliminate style..
*Box Canyon, Socorro--a great winter area, with lots of very steep bouldering at all grades, long traverses, some old-school sport routes, many of which require gear, newer routes up to 5.13+, and a great setting. Lots of opportunities for toproping at the Waterfall Wall (30-40 feet; plenty of good but steep moderates), a two-pitch 5.8 on the Red Wall, and plenty of mini-crags spread out in about a one-mile radius from the central canyon. Bad in the heat--also has biting no-see-ums in the summer, so forget it. Plenty of very nice sport climbs in the 5.8-5.10+ range, with some good 5.12-5.13 stuff, too. You can chase the sun all day in the winter, but windy days suck. 2 hour drive. The rock is some type of andecyte (volcanic), and takes getting used to. Lots of hidden pockets and bizarre sequences. The best areas are Major Wall, Box Canyon (Waterfall Fall, Streambed Traverse, Waterfall Wall Boulders, Red Wall west and north faces), Minor Wall and Spook Canyon (good in the mornings, as it face east). Major Wall seems to be the most popular for lead-climbing and the Unbeatable Boulder down below it lives up to its name. Very Hueco-esque.
*New Canyon, above the town of Manzano. Short routes on good grey limestone. Some dumbasses stripped the hangers, not for ethical reasons, but to put them on their own crappy routes out by Datil, but I think the routes have been re-established. Cliffs are 25-40 feet high. A good summer/fall area, might seep a little in the spring. 2 hours.
Trad:
*The Sandia Mountains: 1-1.5 hour drive depending on where you park--at Sandia Crest, to descend to the routes (usually the case) or at one of the trailheads right above Albuquerque, if you're hiking up from the base, as you would for the Shield (1200-foot wall) or stuff on the mid-La Luz Trail area (Pulpit, Yataghan, Thumb, etc.) There are some very good routes in the Sandias, but there are also some very, very bad ones. Climbing is reminiscent in a way of the Black, with tricky route finding, grainy rock the higher you go, and loose blocks. Stick to the classics: Warpy Moople (5.9), Mountain Momma (5.10), Second Coming (5.10-), Southeast Ridge of the Needle (5.8; 18 pitches), Aviary Ort Overhangs (5.9+), Northwest Ridge of the Thumb (5.6-5.8), Knife Edge of the Shield (beautiful 5.4 ridge), Wizard of Odd (5.9+), Yucca Flower Tower (5.10/10+ depending on which route you do), 5.8 route up Yataghan, Miss Piggy (5.8+), Mexican Breakfast Crack (5.10), Voodoo Child (5.11+/12a), etc. There are a handful of sport routes up high on the granite, from 5.9 to 5.14a, most of them excellent on very good varnished faces, and new stuff going in or getting freed a lot lately. Ask around. Also, the foothills have lots of great bouldering--hard on the skin (crystalline) but bountiful, reminiscent of crystal-tugging in the Needles. U-mound is the main area. The multipitch stuff is best in the summer and fall, as you're usually climbing between 8000 and 10000 feet.
*Questa Dome--2+ hours driving time, hour hike. I haven't done any of these, but you can see just how white and bullet the granite is from the highway. Routes are 5.10-5.12-, slabby, runout a bit. This is definitely a summer area, as it's pretty far north and up high, so subject to alpine weather. There are also rumors of boulders at the base of the Dome in the trees.
*Organ Mountains--4 hours to this area east of Las Cruces. Long approaches to long trad routes, the best ones being on the white, knob-studded dome Sugarloaf, which is about 1000-feet tall. There is a classic 5.6 beelining up the middle of the dome, as well as some sportier offerings to the sides. Expect rattlesnakes and lots of cactus, but no people and good granite.
*White Rock--many of the same crags with the sport routes were originally and still are great crack-climbing areas. The best pure-crack/trad areas, however, are the Playground (5.9-5.12+) and the Y (5.9-5.12-). These areas are more popular for toproping, though most of the cracks can be, and have been, led, and are usually quite safe. Great basalt splitter climbing!
Whew! I've written enough. Buy the Falcon Press guide to New Mexico/Texas climbing by Dennis Jackson--it has most of these areas. There may be other newer guides out or coming out, too. The Sandia Mountains also have their own guidebook/s, which have more routes and more detailed/extensive topos, which you'll definitely want!
So, to answer your question, yup, New Mexico has loads of climbing and a laidback scene. Hot in summer, but otherwise perfect the other three seasons.
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bobd1953
Oct 26, 2004, 3:11 AM
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Registered: Nov 14, 2002
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colqueerio-still hurting and bored? Looks like you know enough about NM to write a guidebook. :D
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colqueerio
Oct 26, 2004, 3:46 AM
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Registered: Jul 13, 2004
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In reply to: colqueerio-still hurting and bored? Looks like you know enough about the NM to write a guidebook. :D
Yo Bob,
Doing a bit better--actually got out (lowball) bouldering on Saturday--but still on the mend and pretty bored. Guidebook, hmmm....not a bad idea. :)
Peace
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