El Gran Trono Blanco, Cañón del Tajo, Sierra de Juárez, Baja California, 1988-90. Dan Curley and I established two new routes on the south face of El Trono Blanco. La Joya (IV, 5.11+) was completed in November, 1988. Ten pitches of face climbing with steep friction and edging are well protected by 60 bolts. El Paseo Blanco (IV, 5.11) was done in April, 1990. The first two pitches follow a right-facing dihedral, nailed by Fred Beckey in the early 1970s. From Beckey’s “dead-end” crack system, our route continues straight up with superb face climbing for another ten pitches. The upper half of the route follows crystalline dikes which offer small square-cut holds, an alluring ladder to the summit. Baile del Sol (5.10), a variation of the 1975 South Wall Crack Route, was climbed in 1989 by Curley and Chuck Berry, who placed 30 bolts. A pitch above Hotel Ledge, this ascends up and right for four pitches of excellent face climbing. While these climbs are the only significant new development on El Gran Trono Blanco in the past decade, there continues to be sporadic activity on the granite domes of the Cañón del Tajo area. There are perhaps 300 routes from 50 to 300 feet high.

John Smallwood, Unajfiliated