This peak lies within the White Sands Missile Range
and is off-limits to climbing.
This little peak is situated just to the north of San Agust�n Pass, over which Route 70 passes from the Jornada del Muerto into the Tularosa Basin. So unimpressive looking from almost any view in comparison to its higher and more jagged neighbors to the south, San Agust�n nevertheless has more climbing routes on it than any other Organ peak, including some of the most virtuoso routes in the Organs. Its great fascination is its unexpected N Face, a sheer wall some 500 feet high at its highest; hidden from the casual gaze of the tourist except from the stretch of Route 70 due east of the peak. From there one can glimpse part of this N Face in profile. One great advantage of San Agust�n for the Las Cruces-based climber is its accessibility. One can reach the foot of any climb on it in less than an hour from the highway, and most climbs can be done in half a day.
| Principal Routes |
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21a. W Gully |
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Class: easy 4 |
1 hour |
First ascent: (?) | |
Leave car at the turnoff to the telephone relay station road about 1/2 mile short of Six Agust�n Pass on the West Side. Strike northeast and gain the long gentle S Ridge just above the relay station. Then walk up the S Ridge to the rock. Just behind (north) the SW Ridge lies the W Gully. Climb the easily inclined slabs to a small saddle, then go up a 10 foot steep section with good but small holds to the summit. Descend by climbing back down this gully. Or, descend a few feet westward from the summit, where a rappel piton is discovered, and make a short rappel into the lower part of the Gully.
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21b. SW Ridge |
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Class: easy 4 |
1 hour |
First ascent: (?) | |
Approach as in Route 21a to the base of the SW (rock) Ridge. Climb straight up this ridge over excellent rock. After the traverse of an easy knife-edge you rejoin Route 21a at the small saddle.
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21c. S Face |
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Class: 3 - easy 5 |
1� - 2 hours |
First ascent: (?) | |
Approach as in Route 21a. The S Face, slabby and sloping in its lower part, steeper but very fragmented in the upper, offers many pleasant easy climbs, with good route-finding practice. Take to the rock either at the western extremity of a sloping platform low on the Face, or at the base of a large crack just right of center. Both routes lead up onto easy slabs, from which a profusion of ways lead to the summit through the- heavily fissured upper portion of the Face.
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21d. E Ridge |
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Class: 3 |
1� hours |
First ascent: (?) | |
Drive over the Pass on Route 70 and park near the base of the E Ridge on the East Side. Slog up this ridge to the rock (marvellous scree glissading coming down!). Proceed up the tumbled boulders of the (rock) E Ridge to the summit. Most tourists who attain San Agust�n's pleasant democratic summit arrive by this route.
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21e. NE Face, Short Crack |
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Class: low 5 |
2 hours |
First ascent: spring 1958; R. Ingraham, P. Wohlt | |
Approach as for Route 21d, then pass to the NE Face. The "north face" of San Agust�n is really divided into a true N Face and a NE Face. They come together in a narrow region of confused blocks and flakes which, for treacherous looseness, is hardly surpassed in the Organs. (The author once took a 150 foot fall without touching any rock while attempting an ill-advised ascent along this line, which says something about the steepnees of this face.) The Short Crack is a prominent deep chimney which scores the center of the NE Face and emerges on the E Ridge toward the top. Climb up 3rd Class rock for 100 feet to a shelving platform at the base of the chimney. Get started by facing out and using small and shelving holds on its left (east) side. Continue up to a belay spot in a cramped recess. The beginning of the next pitch requires a long step from the recess onto small holds on the left side of the chimney. Continue up to a comfortable platform. One more pitch up fairly easy rock on the left side of the Crack places you on the E Ridge.
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Variation |
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Class: medium 5 |
2 hours |
First ascent: Fall, 1958(?) R. Ingraham, R. Hahn | |
This variation has virtually supplanted the original route. For a beautiful short sharp climb with a little bit of everything this route is hard to beat in the Organs. Proceed as in Route 21e to the "comfortable ledge". Then head out onto the Face to the right. The first short pitch leads to a tiny aery ledge (the Eagle's Nest) with an unobstructed view of the ground 200 feet below. Then climb directly up over steep solid slabs, then up a small chimney, and finally over easier rock to the top of a monstrous overhanging block. Walk to the summit along the E Ridge.
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21f. NE Face, Big Crack |
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Class: hard 5 |
4 - 5 hours |
First ascent: Fall, 1958; R. Ingraham, H. Davis, D. Boyer | |
This is one of the severe routes of the Organs, unrepeated as of the date of this writing. A gigantic open book about 250 feet high, it lies near the right hand edge of the NE Face. Approach as for Route 21e. Arrived at the "shelving platform" at the base of the Short Crack, walk to its right-hand end. Climb directly up the great open book, using chockstones or whatever scanty holds the smooth walls on either side provide. Several bulges necessitate 6th Class slings or acrobatic manuevers. At the last, and hardest, pitch, which begins about 30 feet below the top of the Crack, a shoulder stand from the belayer, perched on a miniacule ledge allows the leader to surmount a nasty bulge. Jam upwards or use small holds on the right wall for about 15 feet. Then look for two completely atypical Thank God holds for the right hand, which successively reveal themselves. A few feet above this you reach a spacious balcony a few feet below the E Ridge, where the Big Crack terminates.
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21g. N Face Direct |
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Class: medium 5 |
3 - 4 hours |
First ascent: Fall, 1958; R. Ingraham, D. Boyer) | |
This is a popular route because of its comparative shortness, accessibility, and spectacular nature. Approach either by the S or E Ridges (see Route 21a or Route 21d) and walk to an unprominent dirt nose below the N Face just east of a prominent rock-ribbed arroyo which runs all the way down to the plain. Climb up easily inclined rock for about two pitches to a narrow brushy ledge below an overhanging bit. Caution: the rocks here are typically surrounded and imbedded in dirt and moss, and some holds are loose. Follow this ledge to the right until you emerge onto a broad platform rather near the NW Ridge. Then climb the Chute, a 60 foot section of smooth steep rock, by trusting to friction and small holds on the right edge of its upper half. From the top of the Chute traverse east across the Face onto a great sloping ledge, which finally runs out at the Rib, a prominent rock rib which is the key to the vertical upper part of this concave N Face. To climb the Rib most gracefully, get your left foot onto a sloping hold on the side of the Rib and the right foot flat on the face to its right by a modified chimney technique. Then transfer the left foot to the Face and layback up a good crack to a scenic step on the Rib about 10 feet above the sloping ledge. (The exposure here is exhilarating - to mention one possible reaction.) There is a bolt above here for security. Step left and up onto the smooth face and mantle onto a narrow but adequate ledge. Climb about 10 feet to a belay spot at the top of the Rib. Thence, traverse left about 50 feet on a hairline ledge with about 3 feet missing in its central portion (Boyer's Balance) to a spacious ledge. Above this, one easy pitch leads directly to the summit.
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Slab Variation |
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Class: hard 5 |
3 - 4 hours |
First ascent: 1959(?); J. M. Adams, P. Wohlt. | |
From the top of the Rib, go a few feet to the right on an adequate ledge, then up over smooth slabs some 30 feet at the limit of friction to the terminal slabs at the top.
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21h. N Face, Rogowski's Route |
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Class: medium 5 |
3 - 4 hours |
First ascent: 1959(?); P. Rogowski, T. McCalla | |
Approach to the "dirt nose" as in Route 21g. The first two pitches are as there. But then bear left to get out from under the overhanging bit. Continue upward over steep rock with fair holds until you finally end up on the "spacious ledge" of Route 21g. Finish the climb as there.
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21i. NW Ridge |
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Class: easy 4 |
2 hours |
First ascent: (?) | |
Approach via the S Ridge (see Route 21a) and walk down along the bottom of the W Wall to the base of the NW Ridge. Follow this sharp but easy ridge to the summit. One pitch, at the level where the concave N Face rears into its vertical upper portion, requires the rope.
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21j. W Wall, Fissure Route |
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Class: easy 4 |
2 - 2� hours |
First ascent: 1963 (?); R. Ingraham, G. Goedecke, B. Ingraham | |
There is s no better granite in the Organs than that of this fine smooth face. Approach by the S Ridge (see Route 21a), then continue down along the W Wall to the base of a large fissure cutting the left side of the wall to end about half way up the NW Ridge. Two pitches, directly up the right side of the steep fissure, with excellent holds, land you on the NW Ridge. Continue along the Ridge to the summit.
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21k. W Wall, Compromise Direct |
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Class: medium 5 |
2� hours |
First ascent: 1962 (?); J.M, Adams, P. Wohlt, R. Ingraham | |
Approach as in Route 21j, but descend along the W Wall only as far as a point directly below, or slightly left, of its highest point. The first pitch goes up easy rock some 30 feet to a short sloping ledge heading up and to the left. Inch along a narrow crack forming the prolongation of this ledge to its end, then take a long step down with the left foot to a slight and rounded foothold. This delicate maneuver is an acid test of balance and disciplined leg muscles. Alas, there is no piton protection on this (the Boggle Pitch). Continue across this blank place and regain a higher ledge to the north. From here climb straight up for 20 feet or so, then diagonal up leftward on good but small holds to take the NW Ridge very near its upper end.
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21l. W Wall Direct |
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Class: hard 5 |
? hours |
(Partial) First ascent: 1961 (?); J.M. Adams, R. Ingraham, P. Wohlt | |
This route is one of the "three last problems" of the Organs. Although it has never been finished to date, we include it here as a challenge. Although the W Wall is only 250 feet high at the most, the exposure of its clean vertical sweep elevates it to grande classe.
Climb to just beyond the Boggle Pitch as in Route 21k. Then go straight up and right for about 100 feet. At this level an exceedingly narrow ledge begins and runs out onto the Face toward the south; it is invisible from below because the Face overhangs slightly beneath it. Traverse this ledge, dropping into a hand traverse at the end, to where it ends just below a perfectly vertical crack, almost wide enough to accommodate a man's body. The partial first ascent team reached this point. There are some holds on the back and sides of this crack; as it mounts it narrows, and terminates 20 feet above in a broad platform at the top of the Wall.
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21m. W Ramp |
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Class: easy 4 |
1� hours |
First ascent: 1962 (?); R, Ingraham, G. Goedecke | |
Approach as in Route 21a. The W Ramp begins in the wide bowl at the bottom of the W Gully and heads up northward along the right edge of the W Wall. Climb up easy ledges, through an easy chimney, and over a small friction bit at the top. You emerge on the "broad platform" of Route 21l at the top of the W Wall.