El Chancero, Northwest Face, Sierra Juárez On April 30 Steve Eddy, Mark Meng and I climbed E1 Chancero’s dome-like northwest face. The name, meaning “The Jester,” reflects the agony and frustration of reconnaissance by more than one party. In direct sight from the summit ridge off E1 Gran Trono Blanco, the prominent inviting formation has been noted for some years, but plotting its location and approach “roads” has been vexing. Rough wood-cutter roads were the reason for one car being towed out of the area. Two hiking reconnaissances located the dome. The route finally climbed was much shorter than anticipated, but of marvelous bubbly rock. (NCCS II, F7.) There are other opportunities in the nearby canyons, but approach problems magnify as one descends from the pinewoods plateau. On one search for E1 Chancero, Greg Bender and I found time to make the first ascent of a noteworthy tower northeast of Laguna Hanson, about midway between the lake and the dome.

Fred Beckey