New Mexico

[mneagle]

I'm going to be in Albuquerque in late April with 4 days to put to use. Anyone have any experience climbing in that neck of the woods? I could probably drag a full rack along if there are worthy trad routes, but a harness, rope and a dozen quick draws would be easier.

[kevin]

I spent a summer living in Los Alamos (about 1.5 hours from Abq) and climbed in the evenings at least four days a week and never even put a dent in the hundreds of routes in the area. Most of the climbing is along a nearly endless basalt band at the top of the Rio Grand canyon. The white rock over look has a lot of good sport routes, but much of the other areas have a ban on bolting so are mostly trad or TR. There is also some good hard sport climbing in the nearby mountians in an area called the Dungeon (although I heard the dungeon may have taken a hard hit during the fires last spring).

There's a great online guide to the area at http://home1.gte.net/jgchen/rockguide/

[AJ]

I've never climbed there, but Sandia Peak is visible from town (Albuquerque) and pretty accessible (you can even take "the world's longest aerial tram" to the top). There are quite a few climbs on that mountain and others in the area. I'm going to be there in early April for a conference. If I remember to ask around I'll post what I find.

[AJ]

I didn't get a chance to check out the rock for myself, but I did check out some local guidebooks in the Albuquerque REI. Seems like plenty of moderate to hard multi-pitch granite climbs on Sandia Peak. Should be a lot of fun if you can get into the mountains.