PRINT: Rock Climb Forrest, Jemez Mountains and Jemez Valley

Forrest

5.10b/c, Sport, 62 ft (19 m),

Avg: 3.7 from 215 votes
FA: Cam Burns, Mike Schillaci on gear in the late 80s. Retro-bolted in 2011 by unknown person.
New Mexico > Jemez Mountains… > Las Conchas > (B) Gateway Rock

Description

A steep, featured, route with cool tufa-like rails on the far right side of Gateway Rock. Figure out how to pull up off the ground to a chalked-up tooth and then get to a crack where a .5 camalot previously protected steep moves. Now a couple of bolts protect it. Continue up on nicely featured face and crack climbing passing a number of bolts as the crack gets wider (fist size) and steeper. You don't need crack skills, however, as there are plenty of nice features to grasp along the way.

This route was initially climbed on gear and rated 5.11b by the FA party. Consensus suggests it's easier and in the spring of 2011 the route was bolted by an unknown party and a anchor added so gear is no longer necessary. The gear was pretty marginal and this is a very fun line so it sees quite a bit more traffic now with the bolts. It's not clear whether or not the bolter tried contacting the FA party or even realized this was an established line (although given the length, fun moves and busy location, one should have suspected it had been climbed previously.)

Location

Far right side of Gateway Rock just right of Road Rage.

Listed as route #7 on route topo photo for Las Conchas Gateway Rock.

Protection

9 bolts to its own anchor with steel carabiners on chain.

Used to require BD camalots .4 to #3. Doubles in the .75, 1 and 2. Maybe some medium nuts too. Used to be you would need to move left to the anchors on Road Rage at the top without much issue.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Pinching the cool tufa-like rails on Forest. July 2017.

Entering the crux area. July 2011.

Fall climbing on "Forest". October 2011.

William Penner takes a run

On Forest on a fine November day well before it was bolted. Just about to get into the hand crackin'.

Ben, high on the route

Audrey going up Forest for the first time. Now she has to lead it!

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Karl R. Kiser

This note is good for historical use but the rock isn't good and I have been told that rock has broken during a fall. Apr 1, 2008

Jason Halladay
Los Alamos, NM

5.10b/c

I added this route to MP so I can't give an "opinion rating" but having led it today I'd call it 5.10b R. The R is on account of the poor rock for pro. The placements were plentiful but I had a hard time mentally committing to the thought that the rock in the cracks would hold up if I fell. I ended traversing left a couple of times to clip bolts on Road Rage with double-length runners as a backup if the pro failed. Otherwise, it's a fun line with entertaining climbing. Nov 22, 2008

Chris Wenker
Santa Fe

5.10a/b

Freshly bolted; appears to have happened sometime in the last 3 weeks? Jun 11, 2011

William Penner
The 505

The drills can never be silent

That piece of stone is already way over-bolted. Go find a new area or develop other sections of Las Conchas that are less used. More importantly don't bolt an existing line.

W Jun 13, 2011

Michael Wheat

I had no idea this was an established route prior to seeing the bolts. Based on the poor rock quality I wouldn't have thought about leading this on trad. I guess I would be ticked if I was into leading routes with poor rock quality on gear. But you can always trad climb at Diablo. The Side-by-Side bolting at the bottom dosen't make any sense to me. Jun 24, 2011

Josh Smith

I second the opinion on not adding bolts to an existing line without consulting the FA party. I found the gear adequate on this route. Nov 10, 2011

Jason Halladay
Los Alamos, NM

5.10b/c

I swapped out the first five hangers on this route with colored/painted hangers today since the route is in a high non-climber-traffic area. Nov 26, 2011

Jason Halladay
Los Alamos, NM

5.10b/c

JeremyA wrote:You should've chopped the bolts as well.

I really hate to see bolting and then chopping "wars" nearly as much as I don't appreciate someone adding bolts to an existing line so I didn't take it upon myself to chop the bolts. I hope if someone decides to chop the new bolts, they'll first contact the the FA party to get their opinion. I know Cam Burns, Camster (Rhymes with Hamster) , frequents MP so contacting him would be easy. And for all we know, the person that added the bolts may have contacted Cam or Mike prior to the additions. I'm told something like that happened at Tres Piedras a few years back when the first ascensionist of many routes there went back and added a bolt or two to one of his routes, and shortly thereafter a couple people, without checking with said FA first, promptly chopped them.

Personally, having led this route on gear years before the bolts were added, I found the gear pretty inadequate in chunky rhyolite. It's a very engaging line with cool features and it's really just a lot of fun when not worrying about the gear placements not holding should you fall.

That said, should the FA be displeased with the added bolts and desires someone do the dirty work of chopping them, I'd appreciate the hangers back for upgrading aging hardware on other Northern NM routes. Nov 27, 2011

Scott Beguin
Santa Fe, NM

5.10b

All egos aside. This is a superb route whether done naturally, or clipping the bolts. It is always respectful to check with the FA folks but not always an option. Either way the route kicks butt and gets more traffic with bolts installed. We as climbers have to be able to adapt to change. It is different now than it was in the eighties, and standards will continue to change. If you want opposition and battles, join the army. Apr 26, 2012

LeeAB Brinckerhoff
Austin, TX

5.10

Best route on the wall. Jun 3, 2012

Chris Wenker
Santa Fe

5.10a/b

And yet, Mainliner goes clean.
Climbing.com climbing.com/news/hotflashe…
Cody Roth: "I do hope that my ascent will be an example of new school creative trad climbing, and that it will encourage others to consider climbing in this low impact style, and to think twice before sinking bolts." Jun 8, 2012

LeeAB Brinckerhoff
Austin, TX

5.10

For reference, Cody first worked Mainliner on bolts for a few day before sending it as a sport climb. He then used the bolt to figure out how to get enough and good enough gear for him, someone who climbs 3 letter grades harder, to feel comfortable leading the pitch without the use of the bolts.

So while Cody's ascent is quite impressive it still relied heavily on the use of bolts. Aug 16, 2012

CJ K
Northern, NM

5.10b/c

Best line on the wall!!! Aug 12, 2013

Ben Burnett
NM

5.10b/c

I agree, best route on the wall. I prefer trad, but this would be crappy on gear. Always ask before you drill, though. Sep 22, 2013

San Juanderer
Durango, CO

5.10a

Awesome route! So much better with bolts! May 12, 2014

Owen S
Los Alamos, NM

5.10b/c

I decided to move the anchor a little higher on this classic which adds another bolts worth of decent climbing in character with the rest of the climb, enables a far less awkward anchor clipping position and puts the anchor in a better line with the rest of the route. Given that the original bolter is unknown, I did not consult anyone other than other local climbers who agreed it was worthwhile. I hope to get back and give it a second scrub, for now the top is clean enough and will definitely improve with traffic [update 7/26—scrubbed multiple times now, just needs more traffic now].
This is one of my personal favourite routes in the Jemez, amazing flowing pinches that I could never tire of climbing. I always thought the only negative was the weird premature finish, which hopefully now is fixed. There are now 9 bolts on this route, but most people don't use the first one. Jul 11, 2017

Andrew Ellis
Albuquerque, NM

5.10c

Fantastic route! Wonderful movement, and I think this is one of the gems at the grade for Las Conchas.

I did not get to climb it before Owen extended it. I do hope the top will clean up with more climbs - it was a bit dirty at the anchors. I did appreciate the length of the route though- it now seems to be closer to 65 feet? Jul 16, 2017

Camster (Rhymes with Hamster)

This route was named for a brilliant young climber, Forrest Fukushima, whose father Eiichi was on the first ascent of Mt Vinson and many other important climbs. I never told Eiichi about this natural, beautiful climb named for his son, and was waiting for a guidebook to mention it, and was then going to send a copy to him. Forrest died cycling. He was killed by a young driver near Totavi. Mark Cuoccio, Forrest’s supervisor at Strings and Spokes, went down to identify the body. Forrest was a remarkably talented climber. I went climbing with him all over NM before sport climbing happened and this natural line seemed a fitting thing with which to honor him. Now, I'm embarrassed. I'm not into this bolt-the-planet stuff. Why does absolutely everything have to be bolted? Why do bolters think their way is better? I believe this climb was published in the 1991 (or so) Samet/Jett guide, which I was asked to be a coauthor on (but I decided I didn't need to be). Aug 3, 2017

Tony B

5.10

Truly a New Mexico Classic. I replaced the badly worn right lowering carabiner with a brand spanking new steel one… No TR-ing on the fixed gear boys and girls. May 20, 2018

Camster (Rhymes with Hamster)

Looking back, I believe this was the second route ever completed at Las Conchas. The first was my route on the Leaning Tower that (I think) my buddy Luke renamed Mean Leaner. When we first went up there in 1989, no one had climbed there. Crazy how things change. Feb 20, 2020

Ryan Salazar

I attempted to climb this on gear and I think that this is a prime example of new age thinking improving the experience and quality of a climb. Dodgy rock quality and poor/extremely finicky placements make this a sub-star trad climb. Bolts improve the safety and preserve the fragile flake tufa that make this climb so unique. Crusty trad dads would disagree and say "bolts destroy the quality of climbs" and "do it natural or don't do it at all". While some other local ethics come into play in this instance, volcanic tuff is not bullet rock and provides a good example of bolts increasing number of potential climbs as well as making them safer. Jul 17, 2020

Brennan VanDyke
Rogers, AR

4 star movement and 4 star holds with 1.5 star rock quality. Height and position is good too. Definitely one of the coolest routes in the area, and pretty unique. Due to the rock quality and a desire to maintain the current condition of the route I agree with the retro-bolting. Aug 30, 2020

Usux Atclimbing

4 star climb. I added it to my top 50 best climbs I have done for the grade. Rock quality (is just fine gym climbers) movement and fake tufas. For a sec you will feel like you are in Greece! Jun 7, 2021