Directissima 

It's an outstanding route from start to finish!

I would recommend doing it in 4 pitches unless your team is solid.

words can't express how much i love this route... do it in 4 pitches, it's quick, saves rope drag and it's a fun short 5.9 pitch.

i usually link the first two pitches and dont have that much a problem with rope drag.. just keep long runners on everything. saves a bit of time

that being said, this is the BEST way to do high E as it makes for 3 or 4 pitches of spectacular climbing. the arete pitch is stellar.

For the variation, bring some small gear! Definitely recommend this, makes the Directissima even more directissima-ey.

You can def. do the the second and third pitch as one with little to no rope drag. Just add long runner to the traverse and the pin at the end and it is smooth running. Good climb.

The section above the lower crux can be tackled by using the weaknesses 10' left of the arête, or by climbing more difficult terrain very close to it.

For the last pitch, one can keep the difficulty level up by tackling the High Ex pitch via starting on top of a boulder beneath the small left-facing corner that leads to the jutting boulder at the crux. This is hard 5.8 (maybe 9?), PG13 (needs small RPs), and significantly ups the ante for the last pitch. Joining the crux route after this eases things back down - which may be desired by then - or continuing up rightward keeps things hard (very hard) and a bit dicey on pro.

We had major rope drag going around that first corner making it difficult for the leader on the face portion. He ended up belaying at the ledge at the top of the face before the arete portion. Nice climb with some pumpy moves. Would have been better for him without the rope drag. Nice link up to High E.

If you want a great Gunks photo opp, have your friends climb Modern Times at the same time and take a photo of you on the arete of Directissima from the Modern Times GT ledge.

Linked Directissima and High E - A classic Line!

from the ground to the GT ledge can be linked with doubles but I don't particularly recommend it. My main comment is to ensure that you climb right up the arete rather than farther left on the second pitch (which is what I did the first time I climbed this). So much more exposed and classic.

It's totally reasonable to link the entire thing in one pitch if you have doubles, especially if you do the 5.10b/c variation (which is sick). I would recommend if you are doing the harder variation to bring even your smallest micro cams on it, though -- they help.

When climbing this we were under the impression that the move up through the pin was 5.10+, so we traversed around the arete on the Pitch II traverse to the left of the pin. Excellent & easy blind move around the corner, then cruised up the left face to join the arete.
As someone already mentioned you can climb the face, but MAKE SURE you slide over to the right to climb the arete, beautiful exposed and easy climbing leads you to the GT ledge @ High E. A bit of rope drag but seemed worth it to remove the 5.9 mini-pitch.

We started right of P1 start and linked back up with Directissima for the second pitch. The crack traverse is entertaining, definitely a great bolder problem that requires a solid amount of strength.

Did it in 3 pitches and didn't have any rope drag issues. Thought the crux for P1 was the layback off the ground and then the awkward moves to gain the roof traverse. Although short and sweet, P2 was a bit of a pump fest by the time I got up to clip the pin and make the long reach move, which I thought was 5.9+. Once I found the correct hand holds, it was definitely at least a V3 bouldery move. Definitely worth giving this route a twirl.

I loved this route. Just a perfect line with perfect stone.

That reachy 5.9 move really got my goat. I pulled on my draw on the piton. My partner who is shorter than me made the move look easy though. Traverse is easy but pumpy. Finished on the last pitch of High E in the dark with one headlamp. Classic outing.