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U-Mound Bouldering

Climbing Area Map

Areas in U-Mound

Backside of Upper Mound/ Wounded Knee area (Northern cluster of boulders) 0 / 0 / 0 / 6 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 6

Brett and Jill boulders 0 / 0 / 0 / 5 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 5

Lower Mound (western cluster of boulders) 0 / 0 / 0 / 20 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 20

North of U-Mound Boulders 0 / 0 / 0 / 3 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 3

Rock Face Boulders 0 / 0 / 0 / 5 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 5

Small Slab Boulder 0 / 0 / 0 / 4 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 4

Switchback Boulder 0 / 0 / 0 / 6 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 6

Upper Mound (main upper cluster of boulders) 0 / 0 / 0 / 15 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 15

Upper Mound - The Corridor 0 / 0 / 0 / 8 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 8

Warmup Boulders (AKA Brett & Jill boulders) South Side 0 / 0 / 0 / 6 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 6

Explore this area in 3D

Use onX Backcountry to explore the terrain in 3D, view recent satellite imagery, and more. Now available in onX Backcountry Mobile apps! For more information see this post.

Elevation:	6,069 ft	1,850 m
GPS:	35.08351, -106.48107 Google Map · Climbing Area Map
Page Views:	120,438 total · 498/month
Shared By:	Dave Wachter on Jan 24, 2006 · Updates
Admins:	Jason Halladay, Mike Hoskins, Anna Brown Page Updates (admin only)

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Description

Surprisingly good granite bouldering in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains, right at the edge of town. Also Albuquerque's best approximation of an "after work crag," at least from late fall to early spring (when it's warmer, Big Block takes that dubious honor). So, when the days get longer, and the latest dusting of snow melts off, get out and shred your fingers at U-Mound! The granite here can be quite rough, but once you know where the more finger-friendly problems are, and have an idea exactly how to grab specific holds, you can manage to keep from wearing through your pads and still get a good crimp-pump.

Resources

- "The Official Online Guide to U-Mound Bouldering": cs.unm.edu/~moret/u-mound.html
It's in a convenient, printable html format, but if you're going to print this out and use it at the boulders, I'd recommend annotating it with info from this site.

Getting There

Go east on I-40 from basically anywhere in town. Get off at Tramway (last exit before you head up the canyon) and go north until you reach Copper (second light). Turn right on Copper (east toward the mountains), and drive until you arrive at the end of the road, there is a parking area here. Hike north on a trail for ~ 200 yards, keeping the houses to your left and the U-mound (big rocky-topped hill) to your right. Cross a berm with a concrete drainage ditch to your left, and the boulders come into view straight ahead.
See photos for details.

78 Total Climbs

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Classic Climbing Routes at U-Mound

Mountain Project's determination of the classic, most popular, highest rated climbing routes in this area.

V1 5 30 ● Layback arete Boulder Warmup Boulders (AKA…
V1 5 48 ● Dead Cat Boulder Lower Mound (western…
V2 5+ 41 ● Jelly Bean hand traverse Boulder Upper Mound (main upp…
V2 5+ 31 ● Highball slab problem Boulder Upper Mound (main upp…
V2+ 5+ 31 ● Wounded Knee Boulder Backside of Upper Mou…
V3 6A 25 ● Balancing boulder problem Boulder Lower Mound (western…
V3 6A 62 ● Knob Problem Boulder Upper Mound (main upp…
V4- 6B 21 ● The V4 Boulder Lower Mound (western…
V4 6B 22 ● Driftwood or Petrified Wood Boulder Backside of Upper Mou…
V4 6B 6 ● The OW Boulder Upper Mound - The Cor…
V4-5 6B+ 19 ● The Manatee Boulder Upper Mound (main upp…
V5 6C 22 ● The Egg Shell Boulder Lower Mound (western…
V6 7A 30 ● Corridor Problem Boulder Upper Mound - The Cor…
V6 7A 18 ● Whale Belly Boulder Upper Mound - The Cor…
V7- 7A+ 26 ● Arete to Crack Boulder Upper Mound (main upp…