In September, New Mexico State University teamed with our section, Climbers of Hueco Tanks Coalition, Organ Mountains Technical Rescue Squad, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, Southwest Environmental Center, Southern New Mexico Trail Alliance, and the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance to put on the first annual Las Cruces Climbing Festival. This ambitious event attracted about 800 people for three days, culminating with a climbing competition at NMSU.

In November, Aaron Miller organized a work day for Diablo Canyon outside Santa Fe. The AAC, NMCRAG, the Stone Age Climbing Gym, and Santa Fe Climbing Center all provided swag, food, and drinks.

In 2014 the Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument was created, and in September I attended an informational meeting with the BLM to represent climbers’ interests in the new monument. The pre-existing status of the Organ Mountains as a BLM wilderness study area is still in effect, and as the rules for wilderness study areas are more restrictive than national monument rules, nothing significant has changed from a climbing perspective. This situation likely also pertains to the Rough and Ready Hills near Las Cruces, which are also in the new national monument.