1 Month of climbing in NM

So I'm taking the month of June off to go climbing. I need to stay in NM for the majority of the time and I have heard there are restriction due to potential forest fires and current forest fires. Can anyone give suggestions on areas that are not under restriction currently and wont be to hot to climb in?

jemez there is a bunch of stuff to do in this area. and it will be running low 70's .

Depends where you are going to be located. Typically the further North you go the more lenient the restrictions are.

In the past during fire restrictions we have climbed at the Box. It is on BLM land and is not subject to the same Fire Restrictions as Forest Service land. North wall is bearable as it gets shade most of the day.

I would expect the forest to close this year few weeks before the 4th of July.

If you are in ABQ, I'll show you around.

I was planning on being where the good rock is and reasonable temp's are :). I moved to NM last June and was abruptly shipped back over sea's for the past 8 month. I live down in Alamogordo but was planning on living out of my Jeep and tent for the month. I'm pretty much up for any place with good climbing and climbing partners. I'm probably only climbing in the sport 5.10 - 5.11 trad 5.9 - low .10 range right now as i have not been climbing in 8 months. Have full rack sport/trad and boulder pad will be traveling with all of it.

I would love to get on some long classic routes in the Sandia's if anyone wants to play guide (as in show the way and swing leads) I'd be willing to provide beer of choice.

Hi guys. I don't know if anyone is interested, but I will be in the area from the end of June until I get bored (probably mid July) I've been climbing for 30 years but not so much as of late, so probably in the same lead /second range as 1up. I will be living out of my converted van, so I will be very mobile. I have all gear, and I am willing to climb sport or trad. I'm planning to leave Vermont on June 22nd. Let me know.
Cheers
Mark

Sandias are tough as there is not really any good free camping near the actual climbing. You really need to find partner before heading out.

I'd say Jemez/Los Alamos area if you a looking to hook up with partners as a lot of people climb at White Rock, Las Concahs and the Dungeon during various times of the week. You could also go bouldering at Ponderosa, camping is just up the Road.

There is some bouldering at and around Tres Piedras and Questa Dome that could be fun if you are going solo.

Wow, a whole month? That's tough... if I were in your position I would clip bolts and get strong; still have a chill place to recoup on my off days (food, beer). Once I felt stronger, I would trad-crag. Save the Sandia's for the latter of your trip, when you are strongest. The loose rock, coupled with route finding and tricky gear placements can make the Sandia's a nightmare for the "rusty" trad-leader; don't underestimate even the 5.9 climbs here.

Since you will be driving by Datil I would hit the Tower, there's nothing easy on the tower itself but lots of climbing around it. Camping can be done easily. After, I would probably head to ABQ/Jemez. Climb at Palomas, Gilman, Los Conchas, which, for the area have the best crags with varying difficulty. Once I felt strong, head up to El Rito and camp for a couple day's; head to Sugarite, or White Rock afterwards to hone gear placing and jams. Then, head back and take down some routes in the Sandia's.
Recommended routes in Sandia's:

Bush Shark Spire (only done first pitch but super fun)
Estrellita
Ms. Piggy
Second Coming

Do Second Coming only if you are feeling up for a hike, and a long day out. (Drop your packs at the top of the climb) You will want to save some cold brews for after.

You should have a blast...when in the Jemez be sure and hit the falls and some springs. Fishing to be had too!

Just made a trip to NM...good stuff. Anyway I won't make it back for awhile and have the latest books for Taos, Jemez and Enchanted Tower. Let me know if you interested in them. I bought them new at the beginning of the month. Could definately save you some money.

801 633 5426 cell

Taos

Jemez

Enchanted

Ty Harlacker wrote: Do Second Coming only if you are feeling up for a hike, and a long day out.

Personally, I wouldn't call 2nd Coming a long day and a long hike, especially for the Sandias. But if you haven't climbed the Sandias or done mountain granite before then you probably want to give yourself a full day. But the route's only 4 pitches & maybe 30-45 minute walk out from the top.
We've left town at 2:30 in the afternoon and been back to the car before dark. Nor were we exactly speed climbing (but we have done the route before.) Moderate 5.8 with a pitch of 5.10 to exit. (or you can exit on 5.8 or 5.9, never done the 5.8, the 5.9 is ok, short awkward bit.)

An experienced trad climber who's done mountain rock before will cruise this climb. Beginning trad leaders will probably find it a good challenge. Route findng on gear routes in the Sandias can often be challenging.

But... keep your fingers crossed for your month.
Closures can happen at almost any time. Usually there's some warning but it's dry dry dry out here now.

Good point, it's just, the more familiarized one becomes the faster they can navigate. I figured they would need an hour per pitch, (probably less for the first and second) and two hrs to get from car-climb-car. I know that's a long time but, these guys haven't been there yet. I heard someone say the trail off the limestone band to Chimney Canyon was tricky to find. I just don't want to tell someone to head out under my advice and have em' get in a hairy situation. Especially, cause I quoted them the amount of time it would take me.

Maybe, scouting your prospective climbs on your off-days would be smart.

I was just in the Taos area, there's lots to choose from and being a little higher elevation I could see it being cooler?

FYI, the Falcon guide was more up to date than the Sharp End book for Taos.

Dead Cholla Wall was great for some easy approach cragging.

first thanks for all of the inputs :).

I have climbed at the Tower before, really liked Zee Wicked and Tinker bells nightmare. I was planning on hitting up the tower and surrounding area, are there any fire restrictions there currently?

I was wanting to hit Questa Dome and White Rock, are there any fire/falcon nesting restrictions for those areas right now?

I think I saw that the forest around Datil (Cebola) closed last weekend, check all the forest web sites don't know when it would open again - usually after monsoon rains (July or Aug!). I've got a pretty loose schedule and can sometimes get away quite a bit so I may be up for some things around Santa Fe (Diablo, El Rito, Jemez? - Sandias too but I think that might be closed or closing). PM me sometime and I'll see if I can get free

If you want to session Big Block or some other ABQ crags in the coming weeks, let me know. The bouldering is quite good.

Rstrang, I'll be sure to hit you up when I start heading up to that part of the state. Is there any specific time of the week that would be best for you?

Ted, Same goes out to you, I'll probably do the smart thing and go through ABQ then Sante Fe and move on to Toas after that.

Thanks again for all the inputs. Hopefully I'll get to meet some of you guys out on the rocks.

1up wrote:Rstrang, I'll be sure to hit you up when I start heading up to that part of the state. Is there any specific time of the week that would be best for you? Ted, Same goes out to you, I'll probably do the smart thing and go through ABQ then Sante Fe and move on to Toas after that. Thanks again for all the inputs. Hopefully I'll get to meet some of you guys out on the rocks.

Anytime works unless I have a deadline going (that usually goes week to week) I might be a bit busy the week of the 13th but theres a chance I can get away close to home at Diablo. Things should be flexible toward the end of the month
RS

Rstrang: I'll be up in your area between the 20th and the 24th. I'm open for climbing anywhere so let me know what and when.

I live in Santa Fe and I'm up for climbing most weekends and afternoons. Hit me up.

1up wrote:Rstrang: I'll be up in your area between the 20th and the 24th. I'm open for climbing anywhere so let me know what and when.

I can probably do a day or 2 mid week. PM me and let me know what you want to do
RS

sorry to say all but family needs have stolen me off to NY so the trip has been canceled :(. Thanks for all the information and hopefully I will be able to meet with at least some of you when I get home on a weekend excursion