Big Catch Rock Climbing

The Big Catch Wall is the 100’ tall formation a few minutes downstream of the (B) Spaghetti Western Wall. The variable rock quality doesn’t offer up a large quantity of routes but the handful of routes on the wall are entertaining and just a short distance downstream of the popular Spaghetti Western Wall. Even though the wall is an easy, short half mile, 10 minute hike up from the Las Conchas Day Use Fishing Access and Picnic Area site (not to be confused with the more popular Las Conchas Trail area just a bit further to the west), we’ve encountered very few visitors passing the wall as we’ve been climbing there. The Las Conchas Day Use area has a $5/day fee if parking there.

Despite myself and many other climbers walking past the wall for well over a decade (I even ascribed the name “Big Catch” to the wall in 2008!), it didn’t see its first climbing action until circa 2015 when the first route was equipped on the wall, just left of the center of the wall. Reportedly, though, the route sat equipped, but unsent, until spring 2019. In the fall of 2021, another five routes were established on the wall, including the not-to-be-missed vertical journey, 100’ Surface Swirl (5.11b) route and the stand out line, Foul Hook (5.12a). Three more routes were added in spring 2022 bringing the total to nine routes on the formation. Routes are all new so of course they'll be gritty/dirty/loose--that's the nature of new routes--no need to complain or mention they need traffic, of course they do!