12/2/98 The DOME has moved!

THE D.O.M.E. IS CHANGING LOCATIONS!!! They will be officially open in the new location: 3801-A Arkansas Ave. on December 1, 1998. They will be located behind Conoco, next to Dominos and the Film Festival. BIG GRAND RE-OPENING ON DECEMBER 5th...FOOD, MUSIC, DRINKS, PRIZES!!! For More Information email: dome@trail.com or phone: (505) 661-DOME

11/30/98 Online Once More

The LA Climbing Update is back! Unfortunately, I have little or no news to report - except that TONIGHT, Monday the 30th, there is a meeting of all climbers interested in the NEW BOULDERING WALL at the YMCA!! It's at 6:30 at the climbing gym, so show up and give us your support, eh? Nathaniel Walker is organizing the meeting, but a number of others, including Rick Smith, Peter Gram, Gary Clark (I think) and Josh Smith also have something to do with it. Please come.

8/28/98 Ok, I Lied

Ok, just one more update before I disappear. Rick Smith reportedly bolted a new route at the north side of the Overlook this weekend, to the left of "Just Say No to Jugs". No idea about a name or rating - go climb it and decide for yourself! Rick (who is, btw, the first ascentionist, so don't be gripin' about him adding bolts!) also added a bolt to "Huecos Rancheros" in order to make it a little safer. Thanks, Rick!

8/24/98 The End of the World as We Know It?

And I feel fine. Folks, it's been a great summer, I've had fun climbing, kayaking, and biking with all my friends, but it's just about time to say goodbye. As you may or may not know, my visits to Los Alamos are seasonal - when I'm out of school, I'm here working at the Lab. The LA climbing update page will NOT be updated nearly as much (if at all) until next summer - if I'm back. I'll still post any news sent to me (wwehner@nis.lanl.gov) - but this has almost never happened in this page's glorious 1-year history, so don't hold your breath. You may have noticed a major slowdown in the updates in the last few weeks as well - this is because, quite frankly, I'm burned out on climbing, and I've got some other irons in the fire right now. Real life (don't know if that's good or bad...) intrudes. If you really want to read silly climbing news, please visit the LA Mountaineers site. Keep on climbin', bikin', and having a good time, everyone! See you next summer.

-Walt

PS: Want a few laughs? Then check out Price's Advices and Tom's Tips

8/11/98 New LA Mountaineers URL

Jan Studebaker has informed me that the LA Mountaineers URL has changed (through no fault of his) to http://www.losalamos.org/climb/zLAMC.html The links page has been amended to reflect this change.

8/4/98 Sort of a New Route at the Dungeon

A lowering biner has been placed on the 4th bolt of "Siege Warfare" 5.13a, creating the opportunity to climb the incredibly steep, very fun first 35 feet as a separate, 5.11d route. The new "variation" has been dubbed "Sissy Warfare".

7/29/98 "Piton, P.I."

This has absolutely nothing to do with Los Alamos. But it's hilarious. Click here to read the story.

7/23/98 "Y" to be Part of DOE Land-Swap?

The latest information on DOE land transfers is that the land encompassing the popular "Y" crag just south of Los Alamos county along NM 502 may be transferred to San Ildefonso pueblo -- meaning that climbing would probably become illegal at this historic site. For complete text of the information I've received, click here.
7/28/98 -- To find out what you can do about this, please have a look at the LA Mountaineers "Save The Y" site.

7/21/98 More New Dungeon Routes

2 new routes were bolted by Luke Laeser and compatriots at the Dungeon on July 21st. "Couch Warrior" (5.12b) climbs the fairly narrow face right of "Rogue Warrior", and is described as "somewhat contrived". "Toss No Moss" 5.12c is a 2-bolt route to the left of "Tweak Freak", and is described by Laeser as "the worst route I've ever put up."

7/16/98 New "Routes" at the Dungeon

Intermediate lowering anchors have been added to 2 projects at the Dungeon - leaving the upper roof sections uncompleted, but providing quality routes to the base of the roof. "Peter's Route" *** 5.12b climbs to the base of the main roof route (to the right of "Siege Warfare"), and another *** 12b, "Excaliber" climbs to the base of the righthand roof project (left of "Loose Cannon"). The anchor on "Excaliber" was installed by Timmy Fairfield, and the anchor "Peter's Route" was placed by Luke Laeser.

7/10/98 Hangers Replaced at Donut Shop

Some unknown person has replaced the hangers on one of Los Alamos' worst bolted routes -- "Little Debby's Ding Dong" (*, 5.10). Will the rest of the Donut Shop be replaced soon? I doubt it. (7/13/98 - Scottie Beguin has confessed to being the responsible party. What a guy!)

7/6/98 "Paul's Boutique" anchor replaced.

The anchor on "Paul's Boutique" 5.11a at the Overlook has been replaced to facilitate lowering without total destruction of one's rope (the chains were replaced with coldshuts, placed several feet lower). More anchor maintainance is planned for several other routes.

7/1/98 New Route Possibilities at the Dungeon?

Tuesday, June 30th, Luke Laeser and friends toproped and scoped what may be the last lines left at the Dungeon (though people's willingness to add more bolts to the "grid" does not seem to have faded). The first, a "fairly independent" 5.12a or b, is just to the right of "Rogue Warrior", and may be bolted in the near future. The next, which would basically be a boulder problem attached to a 5.10 finish, is a linkup of the start of "Dragonslayer" with the finish of "Xena: Warrior Princess". One bolt would be needed to make this route a reality.

6/98 Los Alamos' first 5.14!!!

Timmy Fairfield, just a week before leaving for France, completed the longstanding direct start to "Dragonslayer" at the Dungeon. The 2-bolt variation (Fairfield preclipped both) was named "Honkey Serial Killer" and given 5.14a, a grade which awaits confirmation. The route had been tried by such NM luminaries as Jean Delataillade (who felt it would probably go at 13d) and Ed Strang, with no success. Fairfield also installed a few more bolts, and attempted the project route out the righthand seam on the main roof, but decided the rock was too chossy and gave up in disgust. Timmy also did several other linkups of lesser quality on the east face of the 45-degree boulder.
(6/30/98 - Timmy also added 3 bolts - directionals for "Dragonslayer" and "Honky", and one linkup bolt between "Dragonslayer" and "Beastmaster")

6/18/98 Anchors installed at Estante Edge

Bolt anchors have been installed on 3 of the routes at the Estante Edge, making it possible to lead and lower from them without angering the folks who own the land over the top of the cliff. More (there are at least 10 more routes that need them) will hopefully be installed soon.

6/10/98 El Rito Trad Crag Online Guide - Improved!

Gary Clark has put a new, improved version of his El Rito Trad Crag guide online - no more hassling with that annoying PDF format if you just want to look at the text and (excellent) topos - just point and click, baby! Click here to look at the new version of the guide.

6/7/98 New Gallow's Edge Route

Scott Fitzgibbon and Walt Wehner bolted and climbed a new route at the Gallow's Edge this Sunday. "99 Red Balloons" is a quality 5.8 with 4 bolts and a 2-bolt anchor, just left of "Once Were Warriors".

6/3/98 Dungeon Maintainance

Wednesday, June 3rd, Luke Laeser and Carlo Torres did some much-needed maintainance at the Dungeon. A directional bolt has been placed for use on "Slope-a-dope" and "Tweak Freak" (still a project, currently being re-bolted to improve clipping stances), chains with lowering biners were placed on "Loose Cannon" and an uncompleted 13b to the left, and previously highly visible hangers and anchors on several main wall routes were painted. Climber impact is becoming increasingly obvious at the Dungeon, and some non-climbers (and climbers too) have complained about bushes being cut down, dogs out of control, and proliferation of highly visible bolts. With this in mind, the plan is to paint ALL visible hangers and lowering equipment (including carabiners) and allow bushes in front of the Main Wall and 45-degree Boulder to (hopefully) grow back.

6/2/98 Fairfield Continues to Rage

Continuing his streak of hard onsights at the Dungeon, on Tuesday, June 2nd, Timmy Fairfield onsighted "Moat Jump" 5.12a, "Moat Pump" 5.12d (which he thought to be only 12c), "Beastmaster" 5.12d (Fairfield did the dynamic crux of the route statically, and felt it was soft for the grade, but praised it's quality), and "Rogue Warrior" 5.12b. Timmy is also reportedly working on Ed Strang's longstanding project - a possible 5.14 direct start to "Dragonslayer" 5.13c.

5/30/98 New Dungeon Project & a Visit from Timmy Fairfield

Saturday, May 30th, Walt Wehner began bolting one of the final lines remaining at the dungeon - the incredibly steep arete left of "Slope-a-dope". The route still needs cleaning and one more bolt (it took more than 5 hours to install the first two, due to the steepness of the line), but should be finished soon, assuming that somebody can do it...projected grade is 5.12/5.13 (most likely on the 5.13 end of things, once the loose holds are cleaned). (6/3/98 - final bolt has been placed, and Luke Laeser will probably do the first ascent of "Tweak Freak" 5.12b/c this afternoon.)
Also on Saturday, New Mexico celeb Timmy Fairfield paid the Dungeon a visit. He said that he found the climbing fairly unesthetic, but thought the routes on the 45-degree boulder were quality. In an earlier visit, Fairfield onsighted "Crimp Chimp" 5.12a/b, "Tendon Bender" 5.12c, "Slope-a-dope" 5.12b, and "Muscle Hustle" 5.13a (which he downrated to 5.12c and called "one of the most contrived routes I've ever seen."). The previous week, Timmy did the FA of what may well be NM's hardest route - "Sick Man", a longstanding project at Palomas, is tentatively rated 5.14b.

5/21/98 2 New Boulder Problems at the Dungeon

Thursday, May 14th, Nathaniel Walker did the first ascent of "Green Goblin Picker" V3, a toproped boulder problem on the boulder north of the main wall. Then, on Wednesday, May 20th, Luke Laeser and Theo Takeda did the FA of "Shoulder Boulder" ** V1 - another toprope, this one from the anchors of "Perverse Traverse" on the 45 degree boulder. "Shoulder Boulder" could easily be done unroped, but the crux is at the top, a good 15 feet above a very sloping landing.

4/19/98 El Rito: New Route, Californian Invasion

A First ascent team consisting of Max Minnerop, Chris Hampson and Mike Diggs put up a new route at El Rito - "Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery" 5.9+ ***, which is a 4-bolt climb up the short wall to the right of the super slab. The trio also put anchors on another route on the same wall, but ran out of Bosch power to finish it.

On the trip with them were Californians Lee Brinckerhoff and Shems "Tennis Shoe Wigger" Baker-Jud. Brinckerhoff quickly sent some of El Rito's testpiece boulder problems - onsighting the problems on the 45 degree boulder, "Better Beer Breath" V6-7, "Beer Breath" V6, and a second try ascent of "Bozo" V8. He also established a new power problem - "Leadbutt" V9, and would have sent "The Thing" 5.13b/c on his third try, if he had not fallen attempting to clip the anchors.

Baker-Jud also sent hard- though in a slightly different way. Disdaining climbing shoes and chalk, he onsighted several V3's and a V4, and sent a V6 on the 45 degree boulder in half a dozen tries. Both Baker-Jud and Brinckerhoff felt that the bouldering ratings were at least 2 grades soft.

4/2/98 New URL for DOME mountain shop website
Scott Beguin has given me the DOME's new URL: www.domemountainshop.com - you may have noticed that the old link wasn't working. The NM Climbing Links page has been updated to reflect the change.

3/21/98 New Route at El Rito
Don't know the name, or the FA party, but there was one new route at El Rito when I visited last week - a steep 9-bolt 5.10 located 20 feet left of "The Sting". Pretty decent, but watch for loose rock in the middle section. There should be more routes going in soon, as the weather improves, and I'll try to keep up with developments as best I can. Remember that last month's issue of Rock and Ice (the one with Scott Milton on the cover) had a guide to El Rito which has all the names and junk like that.

3/23/98 Gallow's Edge Topo Map
The Gallow's Edge Miniguide now includes an overview topo. Sorry it took so long to get this scanned, but I've been quite lazy. Remember that printouts of the miniguide (including a badly drawn map) are available at the climbing gym at the LA YMCA.

3/20/98 New bolts at Gallow's Edge
Someone (I don't know who) has placed 3 bolts on the 5.8 to the right of "Fire Swamp" (I assume they share anchors) and also placed 3 bolts (looks like it needs one more, and an anchor) on "Prince Humperdink" 5.12. On a more sour note, someone also destroyed several of the bushes growing at the base of the wall by smashing them with something. People! Come on! That just isn't cool! The bushes didn't get in the way of the climbs, and destroying them would be questionable even if they did. The Gallow's Edge miniguide has been amended to reflect the new bolts.

2/24/98 Chockstone Press Sold!
I've been informed by Julie Garrison of Chockstone that the company has been sold to Falcon Press, and that they have also purchased my contract for the Los Alamos area guidebook (maybe I shouldn't call them "habitual bunglers" anymore, eh?). This will probably mean that the LA guidebook's publication will be delayed until sometime next year, instead of coming out this spring. My apologies for the delays - I will attempt to use this extra time to improve the guide even further, perhaps including a Las Conchas section and El Rito section. -Walt

Jan./Feb. 1998: 4 Months of No Updates!
That's right, folks. I'm out of town (in Colorado Springs, which isn't too far away) until late May of 1998. If you want to get ahold of me, please either email me , or call me (no answering machine, though!) at 719-389-7867. Got updates? Send em in! -Walt

1/2-14/98 Gallow's Edge: New Sport Routes and Bouldering
Developers including Scott Fitzgibbon, Luke Laeser, Theo Takeda, Rick Bradshaw, Carlo Torres and Walt Wehner have begun development of a nice new crag near the Old New Place. 4 sport routes, from 5.6 to 5.8+ have been put up, and toprope routes and boulder problems have also been established. An Online Gallow's Edge Guide is in the works.

12/26-30/97 New Routes at the Old New Place, New New Place
First ascent teams including Theo Takeda, Luke Laeser, Carlo Torres, and Scott Fitzgibbon finished 4 new routes at the Old New and New New Places over the Christmas holiday. The first and best, "Momentum" *** 5.12a climbs the smooth, overhung face just right of "God Route" (on the far left side of the crag). On the other end of the cliff, "Half Nelson" ** 5.10d scales a short double overhang. And in the middle of all this, a variation up a smooth grey slab called "Jump Chump" * 5.11+. Finally, at the New New Place, the short, smooth face route on the left side of the crag was finally completed. "Avalauncher" * 5.12b/c is basically a boulder problem, but it was the last natural line unclimbed at the crag.