Sendero Luminoso (aka Mountaineer's Route)

This mixed gear/sport route is a great outing if you want an intro climb to the Sandias formation and want a nice view of Ouray as you ascend. We climbed the first 6 pitches and stopped due to rain. The 8th pitch as described in Jason Nelson's book seemed more like the beginning of the walk off and not worth it.

Every pitch was well bolted, and fixed anchors for rappel stations were intelligently placed for both ascent and decent. A little bit of all types of climbing is strewn throughout. Short pitches are great for communication. The cruxes were short as well. There is a 5.9 move here and there, nothing greatly committing nor exposed. Just watch out for loose rock at the tops and between pitches. I recommend rapping off as we did...in the rain.

Ascend the left side of the Sandias Wall. It's essentially the ridge line. This is fun route to take someone up, minus the loose rock at the belays that is common. The ledges break up the climbing into super easily manageable pitches. We used the Jason Nelson guide and found it adequate. Just remember to go around the corner to the Grey Matter Wall which faces South. The route is on the right side of this wall. We didn't do the 7th or 8th pitch due to rain. The 7th appeared to be the crux pitch.

Medium stoppers plus a Light rack up to #3 Camalot. A few quickdraws and extendable slings ideal.