5.10 PG13,
Trad, 390 ft (118 m), 4 pitches, Grade II,
Avg: 1.7 from 7
votes
FA: Josh Smith, Ryan Hess, May 2007 (or John Duran?)
New Mexico
> Albuquerque Area
> Sandia Mountains
> La Cueva Canyon…
> Thumb
Start exactly the same as
Aviary Ort. Head up and right over a flake system for about fifteen feet to the obvious crack system splitting the wall. The crack goes up behind a large pine tree.
The first pitch ends after 100ft at a nice ledge/stance. It's about 5.10a, though after it gets cleaned up a little, it might be easier. Protection is good.
The second pitch goes straight up for about 75 feet to where an offset (small roof) trends off to the right. Don't go straight up; the cracks die out. The crack under the right facing roof takes good pro. A pin was added Aug. 08 to point the way. Above is an obvious right facing dihedral. Belay at the base on a big ledge. Hand size cam useful. 100 ft. Protection is good. 5.10b.
Pitch 3. 5.10+. Goes straight up the dihedral. Both the climbing and the pro are tricky right off the ledge. Look for a V-groove about ten feet off the ledge, below the true start of the dihedral. The bottom of the groove takes an excellent nut. Start up the dihedral proper; there is a fixed nut, then a bolt (Aug. 08)to protect against a ledge fall below. The rest of the dihedral is pretty straight forward, though a bit harder than the first two pitches. 10+, maybe It's got quite a lot of lichen in the upper section of the dihedral. End in the vicinity of a large tree. Protection is adequate.
Pitch 4 goes to the ridge line very near to the Aviary Ort finish. It's possible to do about three different finishes ranging from 5.5 to 5.7. Like Ort, it's a bit loose on top. 90 feet. Protection is adequate.
This will be a good route, but there are a few loose blocks on the first pitch. I've been on it three times, and the area has been too busy to toss them off. If you do the route and can safely throw them down, please do.
We called it Fowl Play because it's near Aviary Ort. We did it with no bolts originally, but added one in August 08, plus two pieces of fixed gear, to make it a bit safer. As always in the Sandias, you might have to look around a bit to find the gear placements and suss the line.
Look up the approach to Aviary Ort. You stack your ropes on the same bit of ground.
Doubles to #2 Camalot. 1 #3. Set of nuts and long runners.
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I know he did one or two things out on that face. Jun 5, 2008
Albuquerque, NM
Albuquerque, NM
Anyway, good sustained steep crack climbing with very healthy rock lettuce throughout. Needs some heavy-handed wire brushing. Personally think the best thing to do would be to establish a rappel route after doing 3 pitches. The top out pitch and subsequent ridge run/walk off are not worth the effort. Aug 23, 2011
Santa Fe, NM
Also, I linked the first two pitches with a 60m and belayed just left of the right facing corner, at a fixed pin with two good small cams. Probably best to finish through the easy corner and head for the big ledge if you have a 70m. Will be a rope stretcher but makes it.
Also, very licheny in Summer 2014. I rarely climbed on rock. Aug 7, 2014
The Dungeon, NM
It's rated 5.9 in Hill's book, with a vague description ("crack system on the face right of Aviary Ort, then up through vegetation to the top", not any more specific).
I emailed Gary Hicks and asked about "There Is A River", as I know Josh and knew he'd be interested if it had been climbed previously.
We learned "There Is A River" climbs a crack just right of Aviary Ort. The 1st pitch goes up a fairly vertical licheny crack. It pretty much joins Aviary Ort where the mantle is after the traverse at the top of the crack on P2 of Aviary Ort. (Here, Hicks and Thomas endured a gnarly rain and lightning storm and rapped off. It was quite a story, but it's Gary's story to tell...) "The climb was named after Thomas Sugrue's book of the same name... his story about Edgar Cayce. It's pretty much the same as Jess Sterne's book, The Sleeping Prophet."
Josh thinks this could mean that p1 and part of p2 of these climbs are the same, then "There Is a River" goes left while "Fowl Play" goes right. The upper dihedral on Fowl Play was dangerous 5.10 before the bolt was added and is to the right of Aviary Ort's crux.
[2022] After climbing Fowl Play, it certainly looks reasonable to go over to Aviary Ort from the top of p2 (bypassing the crux). Also, although I couldn’t really tell, it looked like there might be a 5.9-ish line right of the 1st 2 pitches, that might reach the same belay spot.. the 1st 2 of Fowl Play are definitely 5.10.
[2022] There's no fixed nut at the start of p3. That's the most runout and serious part of the climb, especially if you don't find the placement (we didn't). Jul 20, 2015