Roy: A Sojourn

When I first saw this picture on John Kuphal's excellent blog, Zero-friction I knew I had to see the sandstone around Roy, New Mexico:

John Kuphal on "Carpet Bagger" V10. FA Tom Ellis.  five star line. seriously.  I did the second ascent of the stand at v9 and will go back soon for the sit!  Amazing line at the World Wide Wall.

Here's a video of the best stuff I saw/climbed on:



Roy is not an established, crowded area. It may never be... There is no guidebook, a lot of hiking and adventure, and no real amenities of a close by town. Roy is not Joe's, Hueco or Bishop. In fact, only full-time lifer's and lovers of our craft will appreciate Roy. There is choss and good rock, like anywhere else. This place is good, but no Mecca. There are 4 star lines, occasionally, but Roy is about hanging out and developing a good local area in a pristine and unusual natural setting. Before I get into the trip report and stories/photos/video, let me state the ground rules for Roy and the local ethic:

1. NEVER cross barbwire fences. All areas are accessible by foot although many hikes are extensive. The area around Roy is a mix of public and private land and if you cross a fenced area, you threaten everyone's continued access and your own life. Local landowners can shoot you. Seriously. Furthermore, there is a ranger that has loyalties to the land, the law, and homeowners.

2. All Access rules apply: leave no trace, cut no trails, no chipping. Take photos, leave footprints, etc.

3. Be respectful of others and the environment. Roy is just as much about being "out there" as it is about climbing.

In terms of the rock climbing, Roy is pretty diverse. You will find every type of hold and angle of climbing, from roofs, to bandering, to slabs to everything else. The lines are generally not quite as striking as South Africa, but the rock is generally good and occasionally exceptional bullet hard Dakota Sandstone. If you are a world traveler, you will love Roy. If you mostly make the circuit from Joe's/Bishop/Hueco, you may find that Roy is a waste of your time. There are no truly difficult lines yet. There does seem to be potential for harder lines, but currently grades are up to about V9. There are many sectors to explore, but no guidebook--purposefully. Locals will gladly show newcomers around, but most people begin their adventuring around Mills Canyon Road, North of Roy Proper, and West of Hwy 39 by about 4 miles. Without many trees to obscure boulders, Google Earth is a valuable tool to locate potential areas. Occasionally, these areas yield sub-par rock, but the best areas are super fun for sure.  Here are some pics: Click to enlarge.

Noah Kaufman, "Wild Goose Chase" V5 FA

Siemay Lee on a junky V5

Masumi Shibata on "Tear Drops of Cum" V7. Second Ascent

sweet little warm-up zone

features...

texture...

a new boulder we developed with Tom

send!  John Kuphal post "Robin" V7

The amazing "Squid Jerky" V7 Tom Ellis sending

Jeff Sutton Trying Hard

This is an actual roof hold in Roy.

Sutton on "McCaw Man" V7

I am an adventurer. period. I love to travel to new areas and see new things. I also love to meet new people. Developing hundreds of boulders in Tahoe, I have learned the ropes of successful area development. Tahoe is a Mecca, and unlike Roy has high quality granite and hard, hard lines. Even so, there is very little traffic in Tahoe since the areas are so spread out through the basin. Traveling to Roy, I knew I would at least have adventure even if I never found the "Mecca."

So, I took 2 weeks and cruised to New Mexico with my wife, Siemay and close friend, Rich. The first week, I had some leads and found the boulders of the wash in Mills Canyon. The best problem here, by far, is John Kuphal's world class "Giant Prostitutes in Space" V8 Highball.

Here is Jason Kehl doing the 2nd ascent (I did the 3rd (first ground up) right after Jason):

This wash and surrounding areas is a decent "local's" area, but except for this problem and a few others, like Jason Kehl's new V10 thug-fest "Nobody" The area is not really worth traveling to. It is like the Eden area at Joe's. Maybe a little bigger, but many small problems that range from sandy to immaculate stone.

"Nobody" V10 FA Jason Kehl

We also found some new climbs and cleaned and did some new classic first ascents at another zone (the Tahoe zone) "Leaping Tarantula" V9 (pic right, Noah Kaufman, FA) and "Wild Goose Chase" V5 (pic left, Rich Meredick) were standouts.  During this exploratory first week, I drove many a dirt road and tracked down many a Google Earth lead mostly without finding anything worthy... I really wanted to see the wall from the Zero-friction photo, and I was determined to find it!

I also went to Roy because of the Climbing Magazine web feature: "No, so don't even ask... This crew of New Mexico climbers has the perfect spot, blah blah blah ...bullet stone, perfect access, etc..." I felt teased. I love sandstone. Why dangle a secret in front of my nose? I'm 35 and my strong days are numbered. I love climbing more than anything, and have for 20 years now. I took the bait.

...So, my old friend Jason Kehl, fresh from an epic bouldering trip to the Himalayas decided to join me on my sans beta adventuring of the canyons of Roy. Jason showed up just as Siemay and Rich were leaving. By this point, I had hiked a lot and found some stuff that was... ehhh... okay... Jason and I talked old times and hung out with Chilly in the truck camper. We climbed in the wash and had a fun time, knowing that we were missing out on the best areas these locals were hiding. We did the best (and tallest lines... with Jason there, you know what you're getting into!)

Jason left for Hueco after a few days and my trip was coming to an end. I took a break from the lonely canyons of Roy to visit Rich and go to Enchanted Tower for a day. During this break Rich sent his first 12a and had an epic fall at the chains: half victory whip half complete forearm failure. it was awesome. Anyhow, I got in touch with another old friend, Nick Duttle who gave me some beta and some contact info for the area's main developer: Tom Ellis. Tom is amazing. He called me right back and was psyched. In fact, if you have climbed with me, you know I yell a lot and that I am psyched. Tom is that and more... Unafraid to "monkey-fuck" his friends, Tom is a total lifer and free spirit. Together with a rowdy crew of fellow developers: William Penner, Masumi Shibata, Grady "Sausageman" Ball, et alia I was given a tour of the gems of Roy canyon.

The best lines I did/tried were "Kin no Kanoke" (The Golden Casket) V9, "Carpet Bagger" (stand) v9 sit v10 highball, "Mammajamma" V6 Highball (see video), "Tear Drops of Cum" V7, "Batman" V7 30 foot roof jug-haul...

"TDC" V7 FA Tom Ellis 4 star

 "Kin no Kanoke" (The Golden Casket) V9 Grady Ball working the line.  FA Masumi Shibata. 4 star

Noah Kaufman, "Squid Jerky" V7 four star.  FA John Kuphal

 Tom Ellis "Squid Jerky"

 Jeff Sutton on "Mammajamma" V6 5 star?

 Jeff Sutton working "Batman" V7

 Texture

 "Ergonomicon" V7 on the Ergernomic boulder.  First Asecnt William Penner.  4-star line. Wow.

 Jeff Sutton working this classic.  Grady and JC cranked out wicked sends during our trip.  Sick.  Some of the best rock I saw in Roy and one of the coolest lines established so far.

 New V9 project. Hard first move to V4.  Jeff Sutton works this pretty line.

 uhhh... bolted lines appearing on the cliffbands, Massive "BFRB"s below.  Some are perfect.

Left: Tom Ellis, project.

These lines are classics. We also tried many projects.

The adventure and camaraderie was the focus it seemed. In a world of haters, where all my youtube videos have negative comments because of all the cheer-leading, it was nice to be hanging out with a bunch of lovers, a bunch of monkey-fucking yellers.

Roy may not be for everyone. The hikes are long with many spiked objects, there is no guidebook, there are a million pieces of rock, the locale is desolate and lonely. There are no restaurants/hotels/shops and the small town of Roy is dying a sad and lonely death.

That being said, and maybe it's because I'm getting older, I'm going back to Roy.

For solid sandstone, good friends, and adventure.

One last time: If you do go to Roy go to Mills Canyon campground, explore and follow these simple guidelines:

1. NEVER cross barbwire fences. All areas are accessible by foot although many hikes are extensive. The area around Roy is a mix of public and private land and if you cross a fenced area, you threaten everyone's continued access and your own life. Local landowners can shoot you. Seriously. Furthermore, there is a ranger that has loyalties to the land, the law, and homeowners.

2. All Access rules apply: leave no trace, cut no trails, no chipping. Take photos, leave footprints, etc.

3. Be respectful of others and the environment. Roy is just as much about being "out there" as it is about climbing.

*To the best of my knowledge, no monkeys were actually fucked or hurt during my trip to Roy.


Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual