12/16/97 Bandelier = Indian Creek?
On Tuesday, December 16th, a team consisting of Luke Laeser, Jon Butler, and Walt Wehner trudged 2 hours through shin-deep snow to climb a new route near Frijoles canyon, in Bandelier. "Bull Crack" 5.11 R is a perfect splitter that goes from hands to fingers in an excellent, 100 foot pitch. The climb is reminiscent of Indian Creek, according to Butler, and there are several more routes to do, though none as impressive. Laeser is convinced that the route is "one of the best splitters in New Mexico", though the long hike and difficulty of locating the climb will probably prevent many repeats.

12/14/97 Playgrounder 2nd Ascent?
On Sunday, December 14th, Rick Bradshaw and Walt Wehner took advantage of warm, sunny weather to make a trip to the playground, during which Wehner worked and repeated "The Playgrounder" (***, easy 5.12c) on toprope. This is the 2nd or 3rd known ascent to date, though the route still has not been redpointed, due to sketchy gear. Potential suitors beware: the route, located just to the right of "Flying A" is possibly 12d or 13a, depending on how much shorter than 6 feet tall you are.

12/10/97 YMCA Climbing Wall Upgrade?
The YMCA is considering constructing an addition to their climbing wall - to be built by local volunteers, and (hopefully) with donated materials. Currently, the plan is to construct a 45-degree bouldering wall, complete with pads, in the southwest corner of the building. Anyone who has prior experience building climbing structures and is interested in helping, or who is interested in donating materials, should email Walt or call him at 662-3434. Your input is needed to help make this a fun, useful addition to the present facilities.

12/3/97 YMCA Climbing Wall hours online
A complete listing of hours and rates for the Los Alamos YMCA's climbing wall (as well as similar information for the Santa Fe Rock Gym) can now be found on the LAMC web site.

12/1/97 White Rock/Los Alamos Photo Submissions Sought
We are looking for Los Alamos and White Rock climbing pictures for a new guidebook being published by Chockstone press, which covers the Los Alamos and White Rock areas. Got photos of you or your friends climbing in White Rock or Los Alamos? Consider getting them published and becoming a local celebrity!!! Well...maybe not, actually. Here are the some guidelines for submitting photos: Photos should be of lead climbing ONLY. No butt shots! They should feature local climbers on local routes. We're not looking especially for studly people cranking hard stuff - in fact, we'd prefer moderate climbers on classic, traditional routes. We're not going to be paying any money for the photos, but if you submit some good ones, you may get a free copy of the guide, and you'll receive credit in print. Prints, negatives, and slides are all acceptable formats. Black and white and color photos are both fine. If interested, contact Walt Wehner

11/18/97 New Route at Below the Old New Place
On Tuesday, November 18th, Nathaniel Walker led the first ascent of "Pathogenic Cysts" *** 5.11c, at Below the Old New Place. Located just left of "Flesh Eating Gnats", the route is quite high-quality, with 5 bolts and a 2 bolt anchor.

11/6/97 "Jet Stream"
The Old New Place's newest and hardest route got a second ascent and a name, on Thursday, November 6th. Walt Wehner sent the route on his first attempt of the day, and, with Rick Smith, dubbed it "Jet Stream", to match the crag's former hardest route - the stellar "Gulf Stream" (the 12b fingercrack that splits right from Rattlesnake crack at mid-height). Jet Stream is thought to be 5.13a, but awaits more repeats for better confirmation.

11/3/97 Los Alamos' Newest 5.13!
On Sunday, November second, Rick Smith sent a long-standing open project at the Old New Place. The route climbs up the extremely thin, right-facing dihedral in the middle of the crag - 10 feet of easy climbing leads to a 6-move V6 or V7 boulder problem, then 5.11 moves lead to the top. Tentatively rated 5.13a, the route has yet to be named.

10/28/97 YMCA Climbing Wall Halloween Party
That's right - this friday, October 31st, the YMCA's climbing wall will be open FREE to anyone in costume (and all the folks with memberships too, of course.) Free food, wacky dorks in silly costumes, climbing...what could be better! Starts at 5 pm, goes until 9. I have heard "$75 worth of candy". Wahoo! We'll all be sending 5.14!

10/27/97 Diablo Canyon
This trip report has been removed by popular demand of those opposed to publication of information on this area. You can email me and I'll be happy to provide information.

10/22/97 El Rito Action Photos online
There are now 4 fairly nice El Rito action photos on the El Rito Online Guide - check them out!

10/20/97 FA Info for El Rito
First ascent information, where known, is now included on the El Rito Online page. If you have further information, please email me.

10/20/97 The DOME online!
I'm excited to announce that Los Alamos native Scott Beguin has begun putting up a web page for his DOME climbing shop. He says that soon, "we intend to add more pages, many links, colorful graphics, good info, and all that jazz." Take a look at The DOME Website

10/16/97 Los Alamos' BEST Boulder Problem?
On October 15th, the excellent boulder problem at the Dungeon, "Castle Greyskull" **** V4 or V5 was finally completed, after several days of effort. The route, which traverses from the far left side of the main wall to the far right, is overhung as much as 60 or 70 degrees in places, and is about 100 feet long - making for quite a pump. Surprisingly, the Dungeon is still climbable (though barely), even during our recent cold snap. This problem is one of the harder completed ones in Los Alamos - and probably the highest quality. An added bonus: the problem, and the wall above, overhang sufficiently that the route is always dry, making it a good option during the LA summer monsoon season.

10/8/97 Los Alamos Meltdown Climbing Competition
On October 18th, climbers from all over will gather at White Rock Canyon's Overlook Crag for a day-long outdoor climbing competition. Interested in participating/organizing/judging/etc.? Call Melissa Bridge at 662-3100. More details about this comp are available on the Los Alamos Mountaineers web page.

9/28/97 2 New Routes at the Dungeon
    On Saturday, September 27th, Luke Laeser and Jean Delataillade established a linkup route on the west side of the 45-degree boulder at the dungeon. Adding one bolt to the right of "Tendon Bender" *** (12c), they linked this route to the classic "Crimp Chimp" ***** (12a/b) to create "Moonboot Mission" ** 5.12c. The next day, Laeser bolted a new route on the left side of the Black Wall - "The Reverend Mr. Black" **** 5.11d (though it may be harder for shorter people). Though the bottom half of the route is still slightly loose, it is probably the best "non-steep, non 5.12" route at the Dungeon. "Non-steep" is something of a misnomer however, as the crux overhangs by 15 degrees. Climbers who have not visited the Dungeon because of it's rather intimidating reputation would do well to take a look at the area, as more and more routes under 5.12 are going in.
 

9/26/97 More Problems at the Dungeon
On Friday, September 26th, Walt Wehner and Nathaniel Walker bolted the final 30 feet of the righthand roof project at the Dungeon, and worked the route on toprope, doing a good deal of cleaning in the process. Leaving the draws in place, they planned to return and redpoint the route the next day. However, local Peter Gram arrived the next morning and removed the 4 bottom bolts, as well as Wehner's draws. The route (approximately 12c) will now apparently remain a project until Gram gets around to doing it, as well as his 2 other long-term projects on the wall.
  (10/97 - Peter has finished the righthand roof project at the dungeon, and I'll try to find out what he named it. It's about 12c or so)

----------------------------------------------- 8/13/97 More pages online! Three pots of coffee, couple packs of icy pops and a powerbar later we have updated and added many pages to the guide. The Overlook is now complete with pictures. Potrillo, The New New Place and The Quickstop are now online. And lastly The Dungeon is now updated, complete with pictures and new routes found ONLY on this guide. CHECK THEM OUT!!

---------------------------------------------- 8/11/97 The Big Enchilada and Overlook Pages I know, I know. It's taken me a long time, but they are finally up. You can find both the The Big Enchilada and Overlook Pages on the White Rock Page. There are even route picture for the Enchilada page!!

---------------------------------------------- 8/10/97 More routes at the Western Wall The final lines at the Western wall of Pajarito Gorge have now been done. "Yellow Belly Roundup" is an 80-foot 5.11d with weird stemming and thin face moves on the left side of the crag. "All New Lunchables Taco Bell Tacos" is a 70-foot 5.9+ (the crag's easiest and shortest route) which is fairly loose and not as high quality as the other routes, and located on the far right side of the crag. Routes were done by Theo Takeda, Jesse Harvey, Jason Chen and Walt Wehner. Look for a formal guide to this area soon online!

---------------------------------------------- 8/4/97 Small New Crag in White Rock Climbers are invited to visit a relatively new area in White Rock Canyon developed by Rick Smith. Dubbed "Fun City", the crag features 2 bolted sport routes - a 12b/c and a 10d, and 2 crack climbs, plus potential for additional routes. These routes are long, as tall as 100 feet, so bring a 60m rope or be ready to rappel. To find Fun City, drive down Monterrey N. until you reach Rio Bravo. Turn left, and drive until you come to La Bajada way. Turn left again, then drive about 200 yards and park under a large tree on the right side of the road. Hike almost due east down a small wash to get to the edge of the canyon. From there, hike downhill and south for about 150 yards, and locate the obvious cliff. Be inconspicuous, as you must cross private property to reach this area.

---------------------------------------------- 8/3/97 Bolts removed During a recent visit to the Dungeon, Santa Fe locals Lee Sheftel and Jean Delataillade discovered that 3 of 4 new bolts Sheftel had placed (on the righthand main roof project) the previous week had been removed from their holes - though the holes, and presumably the expansion sleeves, had not been tampered with. Hopefully, the perpentrator will either replace the bolts, return Sheftel's gear, or finish equipping the route themselves, so that everyone can enjoy it. Anchor carabiners and quickdraws have also been stolen from this area in the recent past. Please respect other people's gear.

---------------------------------------------- 7/31/97 Well, the first of many crag pictures has been put on the page. The Donut Shop is the lucky crag to receive the first photo. Check it out, and see if you like the format. A small guide to the newly discovered El Rito sport climbing area is now online!! Now remember, you are getting this for free, so stop whining about how poorly done and to scale the maps are! Plus, I think the maps are drawn quite nicely.

---------------------------------------------- 7/30/97 Y Page Finally, the page for the "Y" crag is up. Though the pictures aren't in, the routes for this popular crag are online.

---------------------------------------------- 7/20/97 Hangers Replaced Hangers at the seldom-visited "Sununu place" crag (located just below the Old New) have been replaced by local climbers. The area's 3 short routes are now climbable again. The missing hangers at the nearby "Donut Shop" crag will reportedly be replaced soon. Please respect other people's hangers!

---------------------------------------------- 7/15/97 New Routes in Pajarito Gorge Erica Bigio, Theo Takeda, Alissa Green, and Walt Wehner have begun developing routes at a new area in Pajarito Gorge. Called "The Western Wall", the cliff is one of White Rock's largest - a full 80 to 90 feet, surpassed in size only by the Gorge's lower buttress. As of the end of July, 3 routes have gone in - "Lucky Luke" 5.11d, "Gunsmoke" 5.11b/c, and "It's Just Texas Wine" 5.10d. Currently, none have been led, due to R/X runouts, and the developers are considering whether or not to add bolts to make the routes safely leadable. Several more excellent (and long!) lines await a first ascent.

---------------------------------------------- 7/10/97 "Fire or Retire?" Lee Sheftel of Santa Fe has reportedly begun to finish the bolting job started by local Peter Gram on the righthand roof route at the main wall of the Dungeon. The route, and one to it's left, have been Gram's projects for several years, and Sheftel and others have apparently become impatient. Should Peter "fire or retire" or are the Santa Fe boys outside of their juridiction? In any case, lets hope they keep things civil, as the 2 lines are among the best (and possibly hardest) at the Dungeon.