El Rito

The conglomerate climbing here is very similar to Maple Canyon, UT, except no crowds.

I've climbed almost every route at El Rito and I;ve never pulled off a cobble, or seen once come off. If I were you, I'd be more concerned about the sandstone matrix. But it all seems really solid to me.

The NAclassics.com content has moved the Los Alamos Mountaineers website. This includes the El Rito Trad and Sport online guides as well as all of the contents of the CD that one used to have to pay for. This is quality material and we're lucky to have free access to it now!

Great! Uhhhh, makes me glad that I paid for the CD just a few months ago. Oh well, guess you gotta chalk it up to a donation for all the great work they put into it.

So El Rito next week..issues with climbing there re: cold and access? We were there in April last year and it was perfect. Temps look like they'll be high 40's...too cold? Also, I can't remember how bad the road was out there. Will the snow be too much of an issue? TIA.

Hard to say, this time of year. I haven't been out this winter. I've climbed there in November before, but it was pretty cold. Most of the good cliffs face west, but the Super Slab & the Schoolhouse Slab face South, so they would be ok if its sunny.

The real questin will be the road, as you suggested. That road can get really muddy at times. I would be worried that snowmelt will make the road a mess.

Supplemental directions: To get to the trad area travel north on FR 44. At the intersection for road 248 stay to the right (the sign for 248 was in the middle of the fork and unclear which road was 248 and which was FR 44). Continue on FR44, you will pass spur road 44A on the left. Go about .6 miles further and you will come to an unmarked road on the left. This is the road to the trad area. Take this left and drive about a mile until you get to the gate mentioned in the guide book and park on the right (obvious parking area). Look for the fire ring on the southeast corner of the parking area and follow the cairns to the wall. The trad wall is east and south of the fire ring.

I did not find Jay Foley's Taos Rock guidebook to be helpful while climbing in the Taos area and feel that better, more detailed directions and route descriptions can be found online rather than in that book, both at naclassics.com and here on mountainproject. Perhaps the Foley book could be a supplement if you really wanted to buy it.

I was frustrated with Foley’s Taos book mostly because the directions to every area we went to were vague at best and left a lot of room for interpretation in how to get there. We had to ask for help several times. For future editions, it would be helpful to note that the directions seemed like they were written for locals only, who were already familiar with all the unmarked dirt roads and country highways rather than out-of-towners. Same goes for the route information, if there even was any. I guess it’s best summed up in the El Rito chapter when it says for “detailed route descriptions visit Gary Clark’s website at www.naclassics.com/elrito”. I'm confused why I should visit a free website rather than consult the guidebook I purchased for route information. All the locals we ran into sympathetically laughed when they saw us using the Sharp End book and one of them was gracious enough to let me keep the print out from Clark’s website – thanks Mark!

If I could do it over again, I would have saved my money and simply looked at the information online, both at naclassics.com and on this website.

Scott,
Welcome to MP and thanks for your opinion (even though it came off a touch harsh when I first read it) but I think my point is still valid. Given 'Taos Rock' is in the first edition, I agree it could be improved on. When it came out a few years back (2005) it was, and I would argue still is, the most complete book on the subject for this area and a real gift to our climbing community. I think Dennis Jackson's statewide book is also done well (with some limits by scope he would probably admit) but Jay's book tried to make available every route in the county.

Jay, Bob D'Antonio, Joel Tinl, Dennis and a few others have since tripled the total number of pitches in the county and some of that is listed here. I agree on the difficulty of finding one's way around NM, I still get lost, but I have checked the directions and I think they are pretty sound. As for the route descriptions, aren't they all shown as photos?

I, for one, have been impressed by the effort these guys have put in.
Salud y paz,
Mike

Please see the Taos Area page for additional comments

Does anyone know if they are still having "theft/ break-in problems @ El Rito?

Ron, I've been going to El Rito sport and trad areas for years including overnight camping and never had a problem personally or known anyone that has had a problem. In my opinion the theft issue is over-hyped.

Thanks Jason - information greatly appreciated! i'm definitely not one of those paranoid people that would blow off a trip altogether based on rumors but i will definitely be a little more relaxed ON my trip thanks to your information! So - thanks again! Happy Climbing!

BE AWARE OF THE LOCALS! My trip to El Rito ended with an indirect direct threat by one rancher and a confrontation with another one about a calf. As my friend and I were leaving, we pulled off the side of the road to allow a truck and trailer coming the other way pass. As we were pinned down, the rancher took the liberty to inform us that we need to make sure to keep our speed under control (even though I felt like I was not speeding) and that I need to tell all my friends, that means you guys. He ended this condescending speech with “if something happens, like you hit a cow or a person, you are going to be in a lot of trouble, not just with the law.” I got the feeling that he was not necessarily irate at me specifically, but that the people of El Rito do not like foreigners in their area, especially if we are driving more than 5 MPH.

The second incident happen a couple miles down the road where there was a calf on the side of the road and I was trying to pass it. I thought I was not being threatening to the cow and I was just trying to pass it, but apparently a second rancher thought differently. He rode up on his horse, with lasso and all, and yelled at me for chasing the young cow. I thought I was driving appropriately around the cow, but I guess not.

The moral of this trip is that you should be respectful of the people in the area so that me and "my friends" don't get a bad rap with the locals. So drive VERY slowly on the road from El Rito to the climbing area and be very careful when driving around cattle. Other than that, the climbing is good.

I'm gonna go ahead and second the warning about the denizens of the El Rito climbing area. Another climber (a lady) and I were there ready to depart when these two guys in a red F150 pickup approached us. They were very strange -- asking us what we were doing -- weren't we afraid of dying -- would we be willing to sell her dog -- did we want to buy their dog -- were we "eachother's ladies." Their looks were not friendly or welcoming. They did not smile or laugh. Basically it was a WEIRD ENCOUNTER. We both thought they were gonna get out of their truck and try something with us. Even though we knew we could take 'em it wasn't a pleasant experience.

Last summer I frequented El Rito about 4-5 times and never had any problems but maybe the people there are getting tired of the traffic.

That's creepy, Amanda. You'd kick their asses! Reminds me of the types of encounters we'd have in our snake hunting days. We befriended a snake hunter/business connection in Ca. who lived on the Rez (man, his family was CRAZY, very bizarre!)so we could have access to key areas to look for Red Rubers, which at that time there was a high demand for them; in, and outside the US. He'd "escort us", and tell us where bodies are, or have been found, and warned us about people who were watching us. He didn't smile when he'd tell us, so I was hypervigilant when we were out hunting with him. I'd always breathe a BIG sigh of relief when we drove out of the danger zones. I have some friends from some of more unfriendly areas in NM, and from what they tell me, it ain't no joke! Be safe.