September 2010
Dancing with Rock
by Chris Eboch
Phil Miller is standing 15 feet up a rock cliff, one foot on a four-inch ledge, the other pressed against a sloped face. He wedges the fingertips of his left hand in a tiny crack, and leans to the right. In one smooth move, he straightens his left arm, pushes against the sloping rock with his left foot, and reaches high with his right hand. His right foot floats in space until he tucks it up on a rocky protrusion. He is at the crux—the hardest move on the climb called Nasty Sally. Miller grunts, pushes off, stretches high. His hand brushes the next hold, barely within his reach. His fingers tighten. His grip slips. He falls.
A moment later he is hanging in his climbing harness, groaning, then laughing. His belayer smiles up at him and says, “Nice try.” Nasty Sally has won again. But there’s always next time. Nasty Sally is Miller’s “love to hate” climb, the best kind. “I know I can do them, but they are going to be a challenge the whole way through,” he explains. He has already made Nasty Sally “clean”—without falling or hanging on the rope—but can’t yet do it every time.
Miller started climbing as a student at New Mexico Tech. Many students take advantage of climbing classes to get out of the classroom and into the sun. Others learn informally, from friends. Either way, the stress relief of climbing is welcome.
Biology student Tammy Arguello tried climbing after watching friends. “Everybody’s friendly,” she says, “You may have never seen them before, but everyone’s welcome.” Her favorite part is being able to accomplish something new. “Rather than being competitive, if you get to the top it’s because you did it.”
Climbing comes in many varieties. Top-roping is the safest. The rope hangs from an anchor, so a climber can’t fall more than a few feet.
In lead climbing, a climber clips a rope to bolts drilled into the rock every 5 to 15 feet on the way up.
If a rock face has no permanent bolts, a trad climber can wedge special equipment into cracks and pockets to provide protection.
All these are forms of rope climbing, which require a few hundred dollars worth of equipment, and a partner for the belay—someone to anchor the other end of the rope and control falls, aided by braking equipment.
Some climbers prefer bouldering, which can be done solo with no more than a pair of climbing shoes. A bouldering “problem” involves a short sequence of moves up a boulder or across a rock wall. Because they stay close to the ground, boulderers don’t need ropes, though most like a bouldering pad to cushion falls.
A Haven for Climbers
Socorro is a haven for climbers of all types, with around 100 set climbing routes and over 700 boulder problems within 10 miles of town. Most of these are in Box Canyon and Spook Canyon, which lie side-by-side off Route 60, about seven miles west of Socorro. The Box and Spook Canyon areas are Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, specially designated for climbing and bouldering. Local climbers have a long and friendly history with the BLM. “Climbers are often BLM’s eyes and ears by reporting problems,” says Kevin Carson, BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner. “As volunteers they clean up the area and help with projects.”
The canyons’ rocks provide interesting variety for all abilities: fine-grained, smooth planes with tiny cracks and ledges for fingers and toes; rough surfaces perfect for smearing (pressing a foot against flat rock to create friction); or big bulges and huecos (pockets) for easy holds.
The warm, dry Socorro weather allows climbing year-round. Winter sees many day visitors from Albuquerque and Santa Fe. School breaks bring vans of young people from as far as Canada to camp at Box Canyon.
Despite these far-flung visitors, the area is rarely crowded. Waterfall Wall, just off the parking lot, is sometimes strewn with colorful ropes over many of the 16 climbs. This is a favorite spot because climbers can hike around the cliff and drop ropes from bolted anchors, for safe and easy setup.
Nearby, Dirt Wall and Hueco Wall are also popular with climbs ranging from very easy to nearly impossible, and the added winter advantage of direct sun all afternoon.
But walk north down the streambed a few hundred feet, and you’ll find other climbing areas and fewer people. Or take the easternmost dirt road south a mile, to more climbing walls, plus a large boulder field. Spook Canyon’s two east facing walls are lesser known, not even listed in most climbing guides. With so many choices, you’ll always find great climbs open.
Heat and bugs make summer less ideal. Devoted climbers head out early in the morning, or after dark—VLA employee Bob Broilo frequently sponsors “night missions” for boulderers, with battery-powered lights. Another option is The Enchanted Tower, just 75 minutes east on I-60 and cooler at over 7,000 feet elevation. This spectacular climbing area was developed by Socorro climbers in the 1980s and remains a favorite escape from summer heat.
Spandex Leggings
People have climbed this area since the mid-1970s, and possibly since the 1950s. Phil Simon, who recently returned to Socorro, started climbing here about 1980, when trad climbing was the only option. Climbers had to wedge specially designed tools into holes and cracks in the rock—if they could find a suitable place. “We’d tie ourselves on a rope and climb some climb, and find there wasn’t any [place for] protection,” Simon says. “I’d use up my strength and think, I better finish this climb, or climb down.”
In 1983, the late Bertrand Gramont, “a climbing fanatic” famous for his strength and colorful spandex leggings, arrived from France. He started setting climbs by drilling permanent metal bolts into the rock, adding safety. By the mid-1980s, Box Canyon had dozens of established climbing routes, and climbers were exploring surrounding areas.
Alan Erickson took the rock climbing class from Gramont in 1986. “He had too many students for his taste,” Erickson says. “So one of our first exercises was to rappel down from the highest and most exposed peak in Box Canyon, then climb back up on one rope while dragging another, while traversing over a cave. Three-quarters of the class never showed up again. I, on the other hand, ended up dedicating my early would-be-academic career to climbing!”
Broilo discovered bouldering when he took the rock climbing class in 1989. “The instructor noticed my impatience while I was waiting for a turn at either climbing or belaying. He sent me and some of the more adventurous students over to the Ultimate Boulder. The rock was so solid, the moves so powerful, and the convenience so seductive that I started bouldering at Box in earnest.”
Dancing with Rock
The lure of the rock now draws in today’s young climbers. “I fell in love with rock climbing,” Tech student David Patterson says. “It is such a great rush, but not a super fast sport. Plus, the rock out here is super amazing.”
Despite the large number of college students climbing around Socorro, climbing isn’t just a young man’s sport. You may meet families with young children, middle-aged mothers, and weekend warriors going gray. Regardless of age, the main goal is to have fun.
“My favorite climbing achievements have always been those in which I feel like I’m flowing up the rock like syrup dripping over pancakes,” Erickson says. “Each motion flowing from the last, each movement slow and controlled. Getting to the top? Very hard climbs? Not priorities for me. I like to dance with rock.”
For many climbers, part of the fun is learning to do something different and challenging. “Even if it’s an easy problem, I know that not everyone can do that, or wants to,” Miller says. “I also like the puzzle—setting up and cleaning [removing gear], any of the technical parts of the climb. No one can just tell me how to do it. I have to figure it out, then convince my body to do it.”
Zeb Westrom, a Tech graduate, notes, “You don’t just normally walk up the side of a rock. It takes skill, and you have to learn.” Climbs are given a number rating for difficulty, which appeals to goal-oriented climbers. “It’s sort of like leveling up [in gaming],” Westrom says, “improving yourself.”
For Miller, the best part of climbing is that, “the world falls away.” A boulder problem may last only 45 seconds, but “for those 45 seconds, nothing else is in my mind. The stresses of daily life all go away.”
Other popular climbing areas are scattered across New Mexico, but Socorro remains a favorite for the number of good climbs and ease of access. Westrom, now an electrical engineer for Honeywell, still comes back to Socorro to climb. He says, “I could go to the gym [in Albuquerque], but it isn’t the same.” Nothing beats the thrill of the outdoors, or the feel of dancing with rock.
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