Academia Nut

Academia Nut

starts near a cedar tree in a right-facing dihedral with a short hand crack. Relatively easy climbing protected by gear leads up the hand crack followed by a left-leaning incipient crack to another corner with a bolt, the first on the route, maybe 35 feet up. Getting past the first bolt is the crux (a "brain-teaser" according to the Ruckmans' 1998 guide), followed by some wild climbing and great position. Expect some minor looseness.

Walk up the switchbacks for about 10 minutes until you get to a relatively large flat area under a cedar tree with a few bolted lines just to the right (

Pop Quiz

and

Basic Aeronautics

). Look for the hand crack mentioned in the description -- it's the only vertical hand crack starting off the ground in Higher Education Gully.

A small rack is needed to get to the first bolt; draws thereafter (3 lead bolts total). Include a set of brass or steel nuts (off-sets useful), some mid-sized stoppers, a set of cams to 1 inch, and a 2-3 inch cam (No. 3 Camalot) for the opening hand crack. Rap from chains (shared with

Trail of Tiers

).