Below The Old New Place

BETA PHOTO: The Left end of Below The old New Place. Bolted r...

Description 

This crag is known for its high concentration of fully-bolted sport climbs, that ascend high quality pocketed basalt. This cliff probably has the highest concentration of hard routes at White Rock, with 10 of its 30 or so routes checking in at 5.12. The cliff also offers an excellent cliff-base atmosphere, with large, flat belay zones, flat rocks for sitting, and a beautiful, relaxed setting. The routes are so convenient and dense that its easy to tick 10 or more routes in an afternoon.

The cliff faces generally East like most WR crags, but the dihedral-ly nature of the cliff causes a bit more sun/shade variety than other nearby crags. The most norhterly facing routes get shade a bit after 1pm, while some routes aren't fully shaded till after 3pm.

While the rock here is excellent, the crag is a bit short (~50-60 feet), and many of the climbs suffer from mud runoff, coating routes like Sardonic Smile in a thick layer of dirt. Its easy to spot the dirty routes from the ground: they're the ones that look white or light gray.

Getting There 

Stolen from Jason H: From NM4, turn south on Rover Blvd. Turn left on the first street on your left, Meadow Lane. Stay on Meadow Lane for 1.3 miles and park near 719 Meadow Lane. Please respect the homeowners and don't block mailboxes or driveways. A concrete public access trail heads down between 719 and 721 Meadow Lane. You'll know you're on the correct trail if two large, seemingly nasty, Golden Retriever dogs are barking at you. At the end of the concrete veer slightly left and continue straight towards the cliffs. Once at the canyon rim, turn left and walk N for ~50 yds, along the top of "The Old New Place". Locate an easy descent path (one 6 foot downclimb) that switches back down past the Old New Place (to the S), and eventually leads to the S end of Below The Old New Place. Total approach time is ~5 minutes. First bolted routes encountered are Scandinavian Airlines and Inflight Movie.

The Classics

Featured Route For Below The Old New Place

(09) Ralph's Dilemma 5.10a  NM : Los Alamos & White Rock : ... : Below The Old New Place

Quality stemming on good rock.Stem the open book under the big roof, finding ledges on pockets on the side walls. The seam in the corner provides adequate protection, RPs or other tiny nuts are helpful. Higher the crack widens rewarding the climber with hand jams just before you reach the roof. Originally, at the roof, one would make a huge stem to the right with your own gear placements under the roof; turn the corner and a move lat...[more]   Browse More Classics in NM

Photos of Below The Old New Place Slideshow

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BETA PHOTO: The Center section of Below The Old New Place. No...	BETA PHOTO: The right end. Not all routes shown. 18. PMS 19. ...	Jason Halladay (green spiderman) going for the RP ...