Sandia Mountains, 1972

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Happy Idiot

Trad climber

Santa Fe

Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 7, 2011 - 10:21am PT

Here's kind of a neat historical find:
In the May, 1972 issue of New Mexico magazine is an article about the Sandias titled "The Matchless Mountains" by Tom Smylie with Ruth Armstrong (pp. 17-32).

Although climbing is not specifically mentioned in the article, on page 22 is a picture of an unnamed climber, pounding out some iron.

The patch on his sleeve is clearly that of the New Mexico Mountain Club.
http://pages.swcp.com/~nmmc/

The photo is credited to Jack Kutz. In the mid to late 1960's, Jack and LaDonna Kutz were among those who were putting up first ascents.
Does anyone know if this is a picture of Jack himself? Or maybe it's his partner. Can anyone ID the route?

BillL

Trad climber

Dec 9, 2011 - 01:08am PT

Good eye spotting that NMMC patch!

There aren't all that many places in the Sandia's where there are low-laying tree-covered hills in the background like that without face-on cliffs behind them. I don't know the route but I can certainly string together a darn good-sounding story behind the photo ... :-)

First thing that came to mind was The Shield:
http://www.mountainproject.com/v/shield/106042308

The shadows are right for a late-afternoon sun on The Shield. The tree-covered hills without cliffs behind them make sense as well.

So I checked Mike Hill's guide. It indicates Jack and Ladonna Kutz are listed in the FA party on "Route 2" of The Shield in 1966. Bob Kyrlach, another NMMC member of the time, was also in that party. And then just three years prior to the article (1969), Jack and Ladonna Kutz also put up "Route 3" on The Shield.

Anyway, as said, those FA's were not long before the article. And The Shield was certainly a proud objective. A camera would have been carried.

Perhaps someone approached NMMC for their article on the Sandia's. And as a result, Jack Kutz dredged up the photo from past dalliances on The Shield.

I know a veteran in the NMMC. I sent him a link to this page. Perhaps he'll post something.

Bill L

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Dec 9, 2011 - 01:23am PT

I'm thinking it looks like low down on the west side of the Thumb. Nowhere
high on the Shield are you gonna have a view to the west like that. Plus,
I don't think anybody was messin' with the Shield bake then.

BillL

Trad climber

Dec 9, 2011 - 09:17am PT

I don't think anybody was messin' with the Shield bake then.

Not only was Jack messin' with The Shield back then, he was recording first assents in the decade prior to this article in "New Mexico" mag. Maybe you are think of the steeper, more south-easterly half of The Shield?

Bill L

BillL

Trad climber

Dec 15, 2011 - 09:25am PT

Heard back about this from long-time local climber, Jim Linn. He suggested this could be somewhere on Jawbone. That would put Reilly's guess closer to the correct location than mine.

Mike Hill's guide shows that FA's on Jawbone are dated after the magazine article (i.e., FA's are mid- to late-70's). Still, one way to know for sure is to hike / bushwhack out to Jawbone and climb. Any takers?

Bill L

Sierra Ledge Rat

Social climber

Retired to Appalachia

Dec 15, 2011 - 09:36am PT

I don't think anybody was messin' with the Shield bake then.

Really?

Here I am high on the Shield during an autumn attempt sometime around 1974-1975-1976. We got stuck about 200 feet from the summit and had to rap off.

survival

Big Wall climber

A Token of My Extreme

Dec 15, 2011 - 10:17am PT

The Sandias clearly ROCK a lot harder than most climbers realize.

Thanks Jeremy, for all the great adventures up there. Even though I had to catch you whipping, and I was as slow as a turtle on some leads, I loved every minute of it.

HuecoRat

Trad climber

Dec 15, 2011 - 12:25pm PT

I climbed in the Sandias a lot while doing a masters at UNM from 85-87. What a fantastic place!! Warpy Moople on the Muralla Grande still ranks as one of my all time favorite climbs. Did a direct finish to routes 2 and 3 on the Shield (straight up from the top of the pillar), topping out in an October snowstorm. Epic night. Got home just in time to get changed and get to my job. Another favorite memory was a solo day in February when I rapped the CC couloir, did the Candle, the Chimney, and the Sentinel. The Sandias are just plain awesome!

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Dec 15, 2011 - 12:51pm PT

I happily stand corrected. Nice shot, Rat! I should have gotten my copy
of Hikers and Climbers Guide to the Sandias out before shooting my big
mouth off. :-)

It's funny, the two years I lived in ABQ ('86-'88) I never met but a few climbers.

Sierra Ledge Rat

Social climber

Retired to Appalachia

Dec 15, 2011 - 01:35pm PT

SLR, what's with the jumars? And the ray bans! and the joe brown? And the flannel!

Those are Pendleton wool shirts, it was cold!
And those are glacier glasses, not Ray Bans!
The jumars were for following the aid pitches.

We got to within 200 feet on the top. I free-climbed 40 feet up from the belay with no pro. I needed to make 2 hook moves to get into a crack to take us to the summit. But I didn't have the huevos to make such moves.
So we bailed.