The Spire  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Lat, Long:  32.356, -106.5724 Map Page Views:  621. Good page?    Administrators:  Aaron Hobson, Jason Halladay, Anthony Stout, LeeAB, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Aaron Hobson on Jan 24, 2011 Make this area a Favorite What's New   Print a Mini-Guide with routes Add Route  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event

The Spire viewed from the Pine tree Trail (from th...

Description 

This sharp peak at the north end of the "high horns of the Organs" is a beautiful piece of stone. It towers above the low-horns and provides a spectacular view northward, over the the aforementioned horns and across the Rabbit Ears group. Most of the recorded routes are on the northern faces, which are slabby and cool, getting a good deal of shade throughout the day. The north facing aspect also means a fair share of lichen, which detracts somewhat from the climbing. Perhaps if the routes were climbed more frequently, this would clean up, but it appears that this peak is not as often climbed as it once was back in the days of the Southwest Mountaineers Club.

From the petite summit ridge, Razorback looms massive to the south. On it's northern shoulder, rests a distinct 60ft tall tower dubbed "The Spike". There is even a small bivy platform and fire-pit on the saddle between The Spire and Low Horn #6, enticing climbers to spend a night in this secluded an peaceful setting.

Getting There 

The approach mainly consists of getting to the saddle between The Spire and Low Horn #6. This can be accomplished from either direction;

From the east, take the Pine Tree Trail from Aguirre Springs. Make sure to take the northern fork (right-hand) of the loop trail. Continue up the trail until it crosses a large gully which leads directly up to the saddle between The Spire and Low Horn #6. This gully was the source of a huge rock-slide in 1991 which destroyed much of the camp-ground. It is mostly brush-free and can be scrambled up easily.

From the west, the Ingraham guide describes approaching from the Topp Hut, by striking out over the desert directly behind the hut, climbing some kind of "welt" up to the slabs below Low Horn #6. From what I've heard, this approach requires lots of bushwhacking through some of the areas most insidious flora.

The Classics

Featured Route For The Spire

North Face Direct 5.7  NM : Organ Mountains : The Spire

This is the route called "NW Face Direct" in Ingraham's guide. It doesn't feel like a NW face though, you can really only see out to the east, and checking maps and compasses confirms that this is more of a North Face route.The route meanders a bit through natural weaknesses and the first two pitches are not all that exciting. However the higher up you get, the better the rock gets and the bolder the climbing. The last pitch is on beautiful clean upper slabs, and must have been a very bold first...[more]   Browse More Classics in NM

Photos of The Spire Slideshow

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The Spike from the east.

Looking north from the summit of the Spire