From mid-May through October, the hillside below the left side of Boulder Slips is covered in poison ivy. It is difficult to avoid no matter how you approach the climbs. Better to climb somewhere else during this time. Routes on the center and right side of Boulder Slips are not affected.
From November to early May, the poison ivy is dormant, but watch out for the plants with little light-green berries -- these are poison ivy bushes. Avoid them and you should be OK to climb on the left side of Boulder Slips at those times.
A fine route which packs in a burly crux and a thought-provoking upper section. Either struggle through the small-but-scratchy pine tree (which used not to exist) up a small, left-facing dihedral, or start further left and traverse right, above the small tree, until you are situated under the hand-crack. Place gear in the finger crack just left. Muscle up into the crack. Teeter onto easier terrain above, and get established on a rest ledge on the arete itself. From here, work elegantly upwards with discontinuous cracks.
I first led this 20 years ago. I dimly remember the fun struggle over the crux; I don't recall anything of the upper 5.8/5.9 section. I do recall enjoying the route. Followed it again yesterday.
From the arete rest-ledge, the most obvious option (in the trad-gear-only days) would be to step up and very slightly right to an alluring finger crack in black rock that is about one foot long, place fingers and gear in this, then angle up and left (but only about four feet left) into the obvious arete lieback cracks. The description for the upper part of "My Way" follows the same terrain.
Location
This climb basically follows the arete just left of the big roof. The crux is the short left-angling hand crack immediately left of the arete.
Start ten feet from the car, partway up the dirty ramp that goes up and right to the area under the big roof. Descend by rapping or lowering 100 feet from the anchor chains.
Protection
Good wire before crux. The crux hand crack takes a perfect hand-size cam or two, but it sure is strenuous to place. Once on the upper section, who knows? I don't remember from 20 years ago, and all I did this time around was unclip bolts. There are wires and small cams to be placed.
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