Welcome to the New Mexico section of Mountain Project!
The contributions that are made to this site are greatly appreciated; this site is made up of an awesome community of users that make the site what it is.
Although there is very little information regarding “rules” for submitting climbing areas and routes to this site, the New Mexico Administers all agree that the following guidelines may be helpful to truly make this site go “Beyond the Guidebook”.
1) Don’t be a jerk (this one states the obvious). 2) Route and area submissions should truly be helpful to those out climbing. Before posting, you should have some first hand experience actually climbing the route. This always results in a much more useful description. 3) Please, please, please… Don’t copy route descriptions directly out of guidebooks, online publications, etc. This is plagiarism! Remember, BEYOND the guidebook! 4) Please use the spell check and make an effort to use correct grammar.
Again, the Mountainproject community truly appreciates the efforts taken to make good route descriptions. If you feel that a route or area description is not up to standard, a brief email to one of the area admins for suggestions on improvement will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for taking the time to make the New Mexico section of Mountain Project quality! We look forward to seeing you out there!
BETA PHOTO: Photo of the area as you come upon it. Looking Nor...
Description
This area describes the collection of short trad and mixed routes that are found on the assorted boulders and slabs in the lower Domingo Baca canyon area. These are all easy to moderate routes (but I am sure there are harder offerings here) and range from 50 to 160 feet. The rock is good quality, with finer grain crystals than found at 3-gun springs.
All these routes face south, are at a low elevation in the Sandias, and can be climbed in the middle of the winter on a sunny day. If it is in the high 40s in Albuquerque and the wind is not blowing you can climb here (even though 50 and 60s feel better). Looking at the names you will see that many of these climbs were done in January and February during some of the notoriously dry and warm winters. We usually find our selves climbing here in early spring or late fall, and by linking a lot these climbs can put in a full day. There are no trails connecting any of the formations, and the brush and cactus can be intense if you wander in the wrong directions. Long climbing pants are strongly suggested.
Photos and descriptions can be found in a small mini-guide at
From Elena Gallegos Picnic Area, park in the east most lot and follow the natural trail north-east. Once you pass the picnic area, the trail will head north, traversing the base of the Sandias and passing Pino canyon. After about 10-15 minutes, you cross into the wilderness area at the base of the Domingo Baca canyon. Head up trail until you see the formations on the north (left side of the canyon). A good starting point is to hike up to the base of the Out of Darkness Slabs. Approach time is 30-40 minutes (car to slab).
Add CommentComments on Lower Domingo Baca Slabs (AKA: The Ribcage)
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By Anthony Stout Administrator From: Albuquerque, NM Mar 3, 2008
This area is nice to visit if you have a day to kill, and you can't go anywhere else for various reasons (tweaked elbow and can't climb anything that will make it worse, weather, etc.). The hike into DB canyon is nice and with beautiful scenery. The climbing is fun, but short. But that last bit, the part from the trail to the separate crags, was enough to make me not want to go back more than once! If you like adventurous bushwhacking through the native poky things that infiltrate the lower Sandia's, this is the place for you! I even got poked by a cholla on the top of my head when I was scrambling atop a rock when I was going from out of darkness slabs up to right tower! Long pants are a must here!
Lower Domingo Baca Slabs (AKA: The Ribcage)
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