Standard S (Winter)

Conditions

I acknowledge that a lot of the route description will overlap with the summer route; however, the justification for the Standard S having a winter page is that its one of a few routes in the Sandias conducive to winter mountaineering. Surprisingly, it allows for sections of ice to form with some regularity due to the southwestern aspect of the upper shield for melt runoff and the shelter from the sun that the winding gully system offers in order for freeze-thaw cycles to take place. While the Standard S only gets 2 stars as a summer route, snow and ice makes it even more interesting and a surprising amount of snow will pile up and stick around long after a storm despite how it looks from town. The truth is we have good winter alpine climbing potential in the Sandias and I'm just hoping this post starts the conversation.

If you wait for winter snow and a couple days of overcast weather afterward, you'll likely be torquing your tools into ice-choked cracks and delicately placing the front points of your crampons onto verglas covered footholds while showers of wind-swept rime ice cascade down the route, making you question if you're really in New Mexico anymore.

Route Description

There are several variations that would be overlooked in otherwise dry weather but hold ice for at least a handful of days each winter. Pitch 1: Accessing the first snow ramp is typically done from a 40ft left facing corner that leads to a second step of low angle unprotectable slab. However, further right from this start is a P1 variation that ends at a red sling approximately 150 feet up the wall. It had about 60 feet of ice on the upper bit because of its aspect and being a natural funnel for the moisture coming off the snow ramps above. The Ramps: Snow ramps lead up East for a couple hundred yards passing an early turn off back west (for Route 4, 5.6) that you’ll skip and take the second Westward trending ramp to reach the base of Pitch 2. The standard Pitch 2 starts off the end of this westward ramp around a corner at a large pine tree. A ~50ft left facing dihedral (M4) finishes at a white sling on a medium sized tree. Pitch 3 will start off this tree anchor and climb up through a shallow right facing corner for another 50 feet. If the route is dry, you could try traversing directly left off the P2 belay across easy but exposed and unprotectable ledges to reach the second tree island. A much easier traverse pitch awaits from the after the aforementioned Pitch 3. Either of these two ways will land you at the bottom of the second tree island where you’ll encounter a new looking bail anchor around a large tree (green 7mm cord) that will likely land you back on the lowest snow ramp above P1 with one long double rope rappel. P4 starts off the highest point on the snow island at the base of the “hidden couloir”. Again there are a couple ways to climb this. We took the right facing corner though a short ~M4 pitch where we actually needed both ice tools. Was able to swing on a 6 inch deep runnel of ice for a couple body lengths and make a couple balancey moves to another tree belay. About 150 feet up the hidden couloir on your left is the start of Pitch 5, Line U (55m), which climbs about M5 if there’s ice inside the upper chimney (all day shade). This felt like the crux.

(Winter Variations): Further right from the normal start is a P1 variation that ends at a red sling approximately 150 feet up the wall. It had about 60 feet of ice on the upper bit because of its aspect and being a natural funnel for the moisture coming off the snow ramps above. A P2&P3 variation exists about 20 feet left (west) of the start of the pitch 2 dihedral on a loose pillar of rock that could be climbed in the obvious right facing dihedral (this corner was a ~30-foot ice pitch with lower angle scrambling above when we were there in February 2023 and I plan to go back and check it out this winter).

Approach 

In winter, we found it easiest to start from the Piedra Lisa South Trailhead and follow the Fletcher Trail until breaking off north at the second prominent gully encountered near the end of Fletcher. The snowline often lands about a half mile up the Fletcher trail. In particularly snowy conditions, your best bet is following the high ground of the ridge you encounter almost immediately after passing fallen trees leaving the arroyo A cave at the very top of this ridge marks the traditional start of the route (up and left is a ~40ft chimney, ending at a single piton).

The route starts up that left facing corner just west of a small cave. Note: the pitch 2 dihedral starts about 10 feet further left from the end of the snow ramps extending up from the first tree island,  down and around a corner off a large pine tree.

Walk-Off Descent: With new snow, the post holing up and over North Peak can be pretty brutal but it gets better once you pick up the North Crest Trail. Cross country skiers and snowshoers will typically pack North Crest down enough that even after heavy snow it is possible to avoid too much post holing. That said, getting up and over North Peak may feel like a second crux. The knife edge could be a potential descent in winter, but I can’t imagine reversing that short steep section between the mini squeeze chimney and the W with snow on it would be any faster than hiking off to the cell towers or tram. 

Rappel Descent: If you think you'll want to rap the route, consider bringing two ropes or a 60m and tagline. One double rope rappel off a medium sized tree atop Line U will get you from the top of the route back down into the hidden couloir. A second short rappel (~50ft) will get you out of the couloir and back onto the second tree island. You can either try to rappel P2&P3 with a double rope rappel back to just above the first tree island, or rap from the new green cord on a tree low on the second tree island and a very long double rope rappel off of it should reach the snow ramp skipping past the first tree island. (Note: haven't tested this theory but it looks likely, would love to hear from anyone who has). Note: Anna Brown mentioned the Cathedral of Western Fire’s descent (9 clean raps with a single 70m rope), you'll just have to navigate the snowy scree field ramp that Procrastination and Chicken Chop Suey start at below. Same goes for using the fixed lines descent at the east end of the shield.