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Nuts and Knuckles

5.10c, Trad, 85 ft (26 m),  Avg: 2.7 from 3 votes
FA: Jay Foley, Penny Rogers circa 2005
New Mexico > Taos Area > Tres Piedras > Beastie Alley
Warning Access Issue: Some rocks in this area are on private property. Seasonal Raptor Nesting. DetailsDrop down

Description

A fun route starting up a steep section through beautiful featured rock that takes better gear than it first appears from the ground. After the steep start follow incipient small cracks angling right then pass two bolts up a steep slab and more cracks leading right then straight up to bolted anchor. The FA of this route was on lead, on sight, ground up.

Location

At the West entrance to Beastie Alley look for the steep, featured, and colorful plated wall almost immediately on the left as you enter the "alley" just before you reach Unnatural Attraction on the opposite side of the "alley". No bolts are visible from the ground but you can clearly see the anchors and the upper half of the route from the anchors of Unnatural Attraction and Pony Express.
as you enter from the west this is the first route on left north side of alley, the wall faces south but gets some shade.

Protection

A standard rack, two protection bolts on slab, bolted anchor.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Start of Nuts and Nuckles. Take the obvious steep crack up and keep following obvious protection.
[Hide Photo] Start of Nuts and Nuckles. Take the obvious steep crack up and keep following obvious protection.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Jay Foley
  5.10
[Hide Comment] Has anybody repeated this route? Grade suggestions? Apr 22, 2020
Jay Foley
  5.10
[Hide Comment] George, I added to the "location", hope that helps, thanks. Trolling for ascents with those three stars ;) but i would imagine it may still be a bit "raw" since i did no cleaning and it has apparently seen no traffic. May 19, 2020
Caleb Hills
Pittsburgh, PA
  5.10d
[Hide Comment] Jay, a mutual friend mentioned your name so especially after your comments I figured I should give this route a shot. I really enjoyed the route as it has a good mix of things going on. The initial crack felt somewhere around 10a but the crux to me was the first bolt. I couldn't find any way to clip it from a semi secure stance as it was small hands and smearing on a lichen covered face. I ended up using a CT tricky to clip it from well below.

Moving through the first bolt was definitely the crux for me and felt like mid 11 climbing. Maybe it was the lichen and my lack of experience smearing on this rock.

Also, I ended up going straight right from the second bolt. I'd recommend extending that for anyone who tries this route. Definitely recommended! Jun 14, 2023
George Perkins
The Dungeon, NM
  5.10c
[Hide Comment] Respectfully, I'd give it mid-10. At the 2nd bolt, I climbed it straight up, just to the left of the bolt; this was about the same difficulty as the move at the first bolt. The crack at the start might not be the crux, but seemed the spookiest to me because a small nut was the only gear above me for a 5.10 move; I had a good cam below but still would have been gross if the nut failed- but it was also my first climb of the day so who knows. It's a good climb (I'm just stingy with star ratings and give lots of good climbs 2 stars). Jun 1, 2025