New Mexico · Rock climbing · Santa Fe

The Other Side

Other Side, The in New Mexico has 7 climbing routes with sport and trad styles.

7 routes
5.9 – 5.11c/d
Sport · Trad

Best time to visit The Other Side

Best months: April–May and September–October. Best months have typical highs of 55–85 °F, lows of 30 °F or warmer (32 °F where the station doesn't record snow), at most one snowy day and no more than 12 wet days.

  1. Jan

    48° / 16°

  2. Feb

    55° / 21°

  3. Mar

    63° / 26°

  4. Apr

    70° / 33°

  5. May

    78° / 40°

  6. Jun

    89° / 49°

  7. Jul

    91° / 57°

  8. Aug

    88° / 54°

  9. Sep

    82° / 46°

  10. Oct

    70° / 34°

  11. Nov

    59° / 23°

  12. Dec

    47° / 16°

Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Espanola, NM, 14.1 mi away at 5,620 ft. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.

The Other Side is a climbing area in northern New Mexico, on Bureau of Land Management land within the Taos Field Office. It sits among a cluster of other climbing areas, with Twin Towers Sector, Poultrygeist Area and Winter Wall all within about a tenth of a mile. The climbing here is sport and trad, with seven routes ranging from 5.9 to 5.11c/d. The most notable are The Other Side, a 5.10b sport route, and Funky Chicken, a 5.11+ sport route. Chicken on the Wing at the Gates of Evening, Oh! How Glorious is Thy Flight is the area's only trad route, at 5.10a. Spring Chicken is the hardest, at 5.11c/d. The area is at a higher elevation than the Espanola weather station, which sits about 200 feet lower, so temperatures on the rock may run slightly cooler. Typical averages from that station put May highs near 78°F and September highs near 82°F, while July and August average in the low 90s. For a walk away from the rock, the El Camino Real Historic Route Trail starts about 0.2 miles away. Soda Springs and Otowi Peak Trail lie roughly 1.7 and 2.5 miles off.

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