Estrellada (a.k.a. Mountain Momma)

Admin note 1: This route was originally named "Mountain Momma" and was known by that name for decades. In late 2022, the first ascensionist, Denis Udall, decided to rename the route to Estrellada. In his words, "I’d like to rename the route Estrellada, which means starlit in Spanish, in honor of the fact that we summited under a star lit sky. It’s a more dignified and appropriate name that acknowledges the Hispanic roots of the mountain range."

Admin note 2: All bolts on pitches 1 and 2 were updated in June 2025 to modern hardware.

Claimed to be one of the best 5.10 routes in the Sandias. Most of the climb is on clean rock, with a few loose sections, as goes the Sandias. See attached topo for more detailed climbing beta.

Pitch 1 (5.10a) 100ft: Climb up to a ledge to the right of the dihedral. From the ledge, clip the bolt and move up and left into the dihedral. Follow the dihedral up passed a second bolt to a face that leads you to a 2-bolt anchor (rap rings). Pitch 1 and 2 can just be linked with a 70m

Pitch 2 (5.10a) 110ft: Some face climbing to a bolt leads to a right facing dihedral. After finishing the dihedral, climb up and to the left through some ledgy sections, eventually gaining a 2-bolt anchors on a nice belay ledge (rap rings).

Pitch 3 (5.10c): This is the pitch that makes this climb what it is! Climb up and slightly right, and through the bulge. You can clip a fixed pin below the bulge and add a 0.4 or 0.5 Camalot just before pulling through it. After the bulge, continue up some ledges to a nice hand crack. Follow the hand crack and pull through a roof section. Clip the anchors. There are two crux sections on this pitch, over the overhang and going up through the crack. Some believe the overhang is more difficult, others believe the crack is more difficult. Take your pick!

Pitch 4 (5.9+ or 5.9): I thought this was the worst pitch on the climb, mostly because I really like cracks and not disconnected and run-out face climbing. There are two variations, both of which I have done, and the first is the one I would recommend the most.

Variation 1: (highly recommended): Traverse low and left from the anchor, continue directly through a shallow alcove and underneath a small roof. There is a small detached block that rests between you and the crack. The feet are minimal and the hands can be difficult. Felt pretty awkward but solid. At the end of the roof is a crack that can be followed straight up. I placed a nut to pull the move then reached down to remove it after I placed some pro. This helps to eliminate rope drag. Continue up, clipping two fixed pins (confirmed in place July 2025), and continue through meagerly protected climbing and route finding. You'll angle slightly to the right before moving left again and up to the anchors. A note of caution: from the belay station to the crack and solid pro is about 6 feet. There are no places to place pro while you traverse. This could cause the leader and/or follower to pendulum in case of a fall.

Variation 2: (not recommended): Though the initial climbing is probably more fun this way, you end up with rope drag from hell in combination with run out climbing. Climb straight up from the anchors through some fun 5.9+ climbing. Clip a fixed cam with a fixed nut not so far above that. After the fixed nut traverse left. You'll see a fixed pin below your feet but going down to clip it would result in impossible rope drag. You'll also see places to place meager pro (much of which I did not use because of fear of rope drag). After climbing high enough I did get some pro in. Move slightly right through a crack then back left to the anchors. If you really enjoy run-outs and heinous rope drag you should consider going this way!

Pitch 5 (5.9): Short, move up and right from the anchors, clipping a pin (the first time I did this route I clipped a pin, did not see it the second time; however, the pro is more than adequate) then gaining a nice ledge. Continue up and right from the ledge to a very large ledge. Build an anchor here.

Pitch 6 (5.7 or optional 5.10b): We did the 5.7 section. Climb up and right of a huge dihedral, continuing right up poor quality rock to the summit. Anchor from a tree. Although we considered the variation, we were not sure exactly where to go.

DESCENT: From the summit, looking down to the northeast face you'll see a half dead tree with some slings wrapped around it. Rap from this tree while angling north as much as possible. Once down, traverse north on grassy ledges to get to the first obvious couloir. Scramble up this, using a fixed line about 2/3s up. This gully ends west of the log structure you saw on your way in.

To find the route, go to the center of the Torreon. As you are hiking along the base of the rock, continue looking up until you see a huge roof in the middle of the face. To the right of the roof there is a prominent dihedral with ledge just to the right of it, and a bolt about 15 feet high. This is pitch one of Mountain Momma! There are some bushes in the crack to the left of the ledge you will start on. The bushes are within the crack you will begin climbing on higher up.