Type: | Sport, 95 ft (29 m) |
FA: | A. Miller |
Page Views: | 1,630 total · 8/month |
Shared By: | A Miller on Jun 28, 2006 |
Admins: | Shirtless Mike, Jason Halladay, Mike Hoskins, Anna Brown |
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Access Issue: Access Issue for Areas in BLM Taos Field Office Lands
Details
Per the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Taos Field Office's ( blm.gov/office/taos-field-o…) 2012 Taos Resource Management Plan (RMP) ( bit.ly/2Kab3HO), "Installation of new rock climbing routes or hardware will require pre-approval by the BLM." The RMP is the document that guides all the BLM management in a given field office. Climbers are asked to respect this guidance and not install new bolts or fixed hardware on Taos Field Office BLM land without pre-approval from the BLM. NM CRAG ( nmcrag.org/) is currently working with the BLM Taos Field Office to establish specific guidance for new route development in the district and they hope to have a formal process in the near future.
Diablo areas within the BLM Taos Field Office management area are: The Shack, Winter Wall, Solar Cave, Lake Street and Styx.
Diablo areas within the BLM Taos Field Office management area are: The Shack, Winter Wall, Solar Cave, Lake Street and Styx.
Access Issue: Access Issue for Areas in BLM Taos Field Office Lands
Details
Per the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Taos Field Office's ( blm.gov/office/taos-field-o…) 2012 Taos Resource Management Plan (RMP) ( bit.ly/2Kab3HO), "Installation of new rock climbing routes or hardware will require pre-approval by the BLM." The RMP is the document that guides all the BLM management in a given field office. Climbers are asked to respect this guidance and not install new bolts or fixed hardware on Taos Field Office BLM land without pre-approval from the BLM. NM CRAG ( nmcrag.org/) is currently working with the BLM Taos Field Office to establish specific guidance for new route development in the district and they hope to have a formal process in the near future.
Description
A subspecies of Homo sapiens (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis), they had bigger brains than modern day humans and were known for their advanced use of tools and culture.
Starts in center of Cave just to the right of the major corner system as for Lucy. Climb through some powerful and steep movement through the bulge to reach good holds at the break. A tricky move here gains easier ground to the giant roof system. Trend right through the roof with good holds, and easily gain the upper face with an airy ( but generously-bolted) 11+ technical crux. This climb has some of everything. The upper headwall has fantastic and thoughtful movement.
Route History:
The original start to the Neanderthal headwall is a variation called Meanderthal that avoids all the steep power cruxes by climbing the large dihedral to its left as for Cro Magnon and Lucy. A large traverse under the roof using a linkup bolt gets you to the headwall fun. Eventually a slightly more direct start, now referred to as "Neanderthug", used the right-facing dihedral as for Spearhead and then traversed back left at the break. This start was then co-opted by Spearhead and didn't completely solve the rope-drag issues. Besides, many folks are perplexed by the clever movement required to climb through the steep dihedral. And finally, in early 2019, the direct steep bulge start gives the route a plumb, clean line that links right into the upper sections and reduces rope drag.
I suspect that many folks will just climb the lower cruxes and clip the anchors for Spearhead (Asterisk* Redpoint only). Resist this urge and you wont be disappointed.
Starts in center of Cave just to the right of the major corner system as for Lucy. Climb through some powerful and steep movement through the bulge to reach good holds at the break. A tricky move here gains easier ground to the giant roof system. Trend right through the roof with good holds, and easily gain the upper face with an airy ( but generously-bolted) 11+ technical crux. This climb has some of everything. The upper headwall has fantastic and thoughtful movement.
Route History:
The original start to the Neanderthal headwall is a variation called Meanderthal that avoids all the steep power cruxes by climbing the large dihedral to its left as for Cro Magnon and Lucy. A large traverse under the roof using a linkup bolt gets you to the headwall fun. Eventually a slightly more direct start, now referred to as "Neanderthug", used the right-facing dihedral as for Spearhead and then traversed back left at the break. This start was then co-opted by Spearhead and didn't completely solve the rope-drag issues. Besides, many folks are perplexed by the clever movement required to climb through the steep dihedral. And finally, in early 2019, the direct steep bulge start gives the route a plumb, clean line that links right into the upper sections and reduces rope drag.
I suspect that many folks will just climb the lower cruxes and clip the anchors for Spearhead (Asterisk* Redpoint only). Resist this urge and you wont be disappointed.
Location
Between Spearhead and Cro-Magnon. Start as for Lucy/Cro Magnon and at about 15' step right to easily clip a bolt heading straight into the steep bulge. At the base of the bulge, clip another bolt that is hard to see, in a shady horizontal scoop, but easily reachable. Get your feet a little higher, and you can now clip the first fixed draw that protects much of the opening crux sequence.
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