West Ridge of Razorback

Dick Ingraham writes that the West Ridge of Razorback,"is one of the classic routes of the Organs, often repeated." Offering the most dramatic exposure in the Organs, it is absolutely a classic! Not sure about often repeated, our ascent being the first in nearly fourty years. We took the most exciting option at the crux, a wildly exposed tight hands and finger crack in the heart of the Organs. This route is a must-do for anybody searching for an unforgettable adventure in these rugged mountains.

The West Ridge is accessed from the gully to its north, between the Spire and Razorback. Ascend the gully until a massive cleft in the ridge is encountered. Dick Ingraham describes scrambling up for several hundred feet until a lieback feature, this is where he recommends roping up, and remaining roped until the summit. I will refrain from reducing this adventure climb to a pitch-by-pitch recipe, instead limiting this post to a general description of character of the route. The posted 5.9 is only a couple moves, and this section is avoidable, likely via easier options; the rest of the climb is in the 5.6 range.

See Dick Ingraham's guide ( web.nmsu.edu/~amato/ingraha…) for details from the first-ascensionist himself. Quotes are from this guide.

We began soloing on the north side of the ridge proper, following a series of featured slabs and ledges until the angle steepens. We roped up at a nice ledge with good gear and continued for 150 feet through a low-angle left-facing hand-crack corner (possibly the lieback Ingraham describes). From here, we continued for another long pitch of low-fifth class terrain along the ridge proper until we encountered a steep headwall.

Dick Ingraham describes four different variations here: the first being a reachy face sequence of the north side of the ridge. The second option is to tackle the fist to off-fist roof directly (Ingraham recommends asking your partner for a shoulder stand to surmount this obstacle), but for the modern climber, expect a 5.10 pull over the roof. Ingraham describes the "most elegant" option being to climb the face to the right of the fist-crack roof via "extremely small holds." We opted with the fourth option, being a dramatically exposed step right to the south side of the ridge into a steep tight-hands and fingers crack (in the 5.9 range).

After this crux section, the difficulty of the climbing backs off to lower fifth-class for another 400 feet to the summit, generally following good rock with adequate protection. One chossy section is encountered before the spectacular Razor, the namesake of the peak, a section of ridgeline merely inches wide, easily hand traversed across on the northside with virtually no options for protection. The summit is a quick scramble from the Razor.

Razorback is easily seen from the west, identified by the massive rock cornice to the northeast of the summit. The West Ridge is the striking ridge swooping down from the summit in an elegant sinusoid.

There are two options for the approach. Dick Ingraham reccomends approaching from the west, from Topp Hutt. This option is complicated by dense swaths of catclaw and a convoluted series of cliffs and gullys. We recommend instead approaching from the east, from Pine Tree trail. Follow the Pine Tree trail to the bottom of the gully that runs from the notch between the Spire and the 6th Low Horn. This gully is steep and towards the top, rather loose and overgrown, but luckily it goes quick. It's a good idea to rack up in this notch, otherwise, racking up at the start of the route is another option.

From the ridge line, descend to the west, contouring along the Spire towards the south, towards Razorback. There is a lovely Aspen grove between the Spire and Razorback. Start scrambling up the gully from here, generally staying close to the west ridge (south side of the gully) watching for an awesome fissure in the ridgeline, with hundreds of feet of exposure to the south. Begin climbing the ridge here, either roped or not.

Three rappels from adequate two-bolt anchors descends to the north, to the saddle between the Spire and Razorback. The upper anchor is about 30 feet west of the summit proper, on the north side of the ridge, a 105 foot rappel treading toward the right will access a two-bolt anchor directly below a shallow (three inch) roof/overlap. The second rappel is 65 feet to a two-bolt anchor below a one foot deep roof. The third rappel is about 85 feet to the notch saddle. From the saddle, descend the gully to the west or climb the South Face of the Spire to add some extra adventure to the day.

A single rack from small to #3 camalot should be adequate for most parties. The numerous ledges encountered along the way will allow climbers to belay once running low on gear. Double up on the mid-size to increase options. A dozen shoulder length slings is sufficient. Our 60 meter rope came up a little short on the first rappel, so make sure to have a full 60 meter cord, preferably a little longer.