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Javier Gets a Melenoma at The Sunny Side

Hard Stuff at The Tunnel

Javier Gets a Melenoma at The Sunny Side

Javier Manrique cranks up "Melenoma" (5.12d) on the Sunny Side Wall at The Tunnel near Alamogordo.

Photograph © Stewart M. Green
The Tunnel is a collection of scruffy limestone cliffs that line a high desert canyon in the mountains east of Alamogordo. The cliffs, divided into The Sunny Side on the north slope of the canyon and The Shady Side on the south flank, offer lots of routes that range from 5.7 to 5.14a. The majority, however, are hard and technical climbs in the 5.12 and 5.13 range. The Tunnel, with more than a dozen routes that are 5.13 or harder, has the most hard climbing in New Mexico. The prolific John Hymer is responsible for most of the route development at The Tunnel.

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