New New Place is yet another one of White Rock's basalt crags ideal for toproping or trad climbing. Climbs are numbered from left to right.
Discovered by Steve Schum and Mike Roybal in the early 1970s (soon after the discovery of the Old New Place), the rock at the New New Place is good and nearly vertical, and some of the lines here are as long as any at White Rock (up to 60 or 70' tall). Most climbs are characterized by short sections of difficulty between good rest stances or ledges; however, the New New Place has a greater abundance of 5.8 and 5.9 lines compared to some others at White Rock. A few excellent more difficult lines are found here as well. The New New Place faces east, making it shaded in late afternoon and evenings, and somewhat sheltered from the wind. Because the cliff is not as "classic" as some of the others in White Rock, you're likely to find yourself alone here. Although the 5 minute approach to the clifftop is straightforward, the rocky blocky scramble down to the cliff base makes the New New Place a bad location for dogs or small children. Unfortunately, distasteful graffiti and tire trash below the cliff blemish what is otherwise a beautiful location.
An list of routes with short descriptions (and a couple of minor errors) is found on this page of the LA Mountaineers website A photo with routes delineated is found in "Jemez Rock", which corrected and published (with permission) the original handed down material from Guido, Jason Chen, and Walt Wehner (and others previously?) which also found its way to the LA Mountaineers website. A longtime LA climber was surprised to learn one of the climbs here was named after him, so I'm guessing these are not the original route names.. not that it's a big deal or anything. This area is not described in detail in any other guidebooks, as far as I know.
The White Rock bolting agreement forbids bolts being placed in the middle of climbs here (if you can't protect it on lead- toprope it!), however, bolted anchors are encouraged to prevent damage to trees (although no anchor bolts were present as of early summer, 2008).
Getting There
Enter White Rock, turning at the light with the gas stations. Drive straight, staying on Rover. Turn right on Kimberly. Drive to the end, park at the cul-de-sac. Hike east for 2 minutes, to reach the cliff top, facing the Rio Grande, then go south a ways to find the easiest downclimb. If you see the tire "art" below, you're in the right place. Scramble down to the base along blocks at either end of the cliff (the south end of the cliff being preferred).
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