PRINT: Rock Climb Solo Man (aka Homo Erectus Soloensis), Santa Fe Area

Solo Man (aka Homo Erectus Soloensis)

5.12b, Sport, 60 ft (18 m),

Avg: 3.2 from 43 votes
FA: A. Miller
New Mexico > Santa Fe Area > Diablo Canyon > Solar Cave

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.

Access Issue: Access Issue for Areas in BLM Taos Field Office Lands Details

Description

According to anthropological sources, Soloensis (or Solo Man) was a subspecies of the Homo Erectus, and thought to be from a more advanced culture than Erectus and sported a larger cranial capacity (big head).

Start as for Clovis Hunter in the open book right side of Solar Cave. Follow bolt line left over steep continuous terrain with mostly good holds. Technical and endurance cruxes await you.

Last bolt is great for projecting but when you redpoint this route you might skip it if you were as pumped as I was. This route will be very popular in the Cave as it is rare at this grade for such an accessible style of climbing.

Location

Just left of Clovis Hunter.

Protection

9 bolts. 2 draws are needed for the start. The rest are fixed.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Solo Man action - November 2023

03/19/2019

Milking the rest before the crux moves

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Jason Halladay
Los Alamos, NM

5.12b

Really fun route! Steep with great holds low to a surprisingly pumpy and more-awkward-than-it-appears last move over the bulge. As Aaron mentions in the description, skipping the last clip is a good strategy. My wife and I both skipped it on the send and I've watched a few people fall from there (super clean fall) after spending time trying to clip while pumped. Dec 12, 2017

Jason Halladay
Los Alamos, NM

5.12b

Sometime this winter, someone added a few more fixed chain draws to the upper part of the route. The screwlink on the second-to-last bolt was installed upside down (threads up which allows the screw link to unscrew with gravity). Someone apparently took a whip on it with it unscrewed and bent the screwlink so that it's open a bit but not enough that it can't be removed from the hanger. We removed the carabiner from the chain to prevent folks from clipping it in this condition. For the time being, bring your own draw and clip it to the hanger behind the bent screwlink. My recommendation to correct this is to remove the hanger, with bent screwlink/chain attached, and put on a new hanger.
I didn't check the other screw links on the other chains to see if they were installed in the proper orientation (threads down so gravity doesn't unscrew it.) Feb 28, 2022