This is a 45 foot tall south-facing basalt cliff with 25 traditional and toprope routes. The routes tend to be on the short side, but are extremely high quality. Most follow crack systems, though there are a few face routes worth doing. As far as I know, bolted routes are not allowed here, as topropes are fairly easy to set on the bench above the cliff, and many of the routes can be led with clean gear. This area has the largest concentration of hard crack climbs in White Rock.
Getting There
From NM state road 4, turn southeast on Monterey S. Follow this for.7 miles until you come to Potrillo road. Turn right on Potrillo and continue for .8 miles until you come to Estante road. Take another right and follow the road back until you come to a pullout on the right side of the road (.3 miles), just past a fire hydrant ( this hydrant is on the right side of the road as you approach, don't be fooled by an earlier hydrant on the left). Park here. Follow the obvious trail south until it splits, and follow the left branch. After passing a sign instructing you not to "disturb rocks", you will be at the canyon rim. Walk left for 25 yards and scramble down the gully. Walk north along the base of the cliffs (past the Big Enchilada's bolted routes) for approximately 250 yards and you are at the Crack House. DO NOT approach this area from above. It is necessary to cross private land to do so, which is a no-no. When setting up topropes, use the gully on the far right end of the crag and try to stay on the lower bench area as much as possible.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for The Crack House (aka Estante Edge):
Mick Shein, Theo Takeda, Alisa Green, and I did most of the FAs here. We led some of them, we TR'd most. I can't remember which routes fall into which category, though. For what it's worth, this is the FA party's approval (assuming the bolting agreement allows it) to add anchor bolts and protection bolts as folks see fit. Bolted TR anchors would be a huge plus here - the routes are *really* good, but the anchoring situation kinda sucks.
By George Perkins Administrator From: Los Alamos, NM Mar 22, 2009
Walt- Thanks for adding the beta photos here. This is especially helpful as the 'Jemez Rock' book does not have the routes delineated in its photos for most of the Estante Edge.
No problem. Sadly, when I was doing my guide, digital cameras (well, at least ones that I could afford) didn't exist, so a lot of the photography is pretty lousy. It's enough to find the routes, though, I think. Someone could easily snap a few digital photos at the crag and replace these with better ones.
Print a Mini-Guide - Includes Routes!
RSS Feed
Slideshow
