This is one of the best moderate crack climbs I've done in Boulder Canyon: steep, sustained, and elegant. The broken rock at the start, and the vibrating flake near the top keep it from 4-star status, but it is still a very good climb.

Walk west on the gravel pullout to the left side of the Boulder Slips formation.  Hike up a path to the base of a broken slab. The striking hand crack of Minutia can be seen about 40' above.

Climb up easy broken rock to the base of the crack.  The fun starts here and doesn't end until you're at the belay.  Jam and stem up the beautiful, steep hand crack to a ledge. Step right, and climb a short dihedral. Watch out for a vibrating flake near the top of the route; best to avoid using the tempting jug at its top.

Clip the lowering hooks and lower 100' from a 2-bolt anchor at the top of the dihedral.  It's also possible to belay from the top if you wish.

Minutia

Useless One

Brand New Bosch

Minutia Arete

Giggity-Giggity

Pumpkin Corner

Where's Bob?

Edges and Ledges

Same As It  Ever Was

Colorado Senior Open

Threshold Variation

The Ride

Family Guy

My Way

BS One

Sunlight Arete

The Threshold

The Throttle

La Lune

Party Time!

Haiku

Boulder Slips

Nine climbers and two dogs at Boulder Slips on Sunday 10/15/06; it was Party Time!

This route has a nice mix of climbing: corner, arete, finger crack, and hand/fist crack.  It lies halfway between Brand New Bosch and Minutia on the left side of Boulder Slips.

Start at the base of the slab where Edges and Ledges, Brand New Bosch, and Minutia also start.  Climb up broken rock to a right-facing corner between Brand New Bosch and Minutia. Climb the corner past two bolts to a nice ledge (shared with Brand New Bosch). Step right and continue up a right-facing corner and arete past three more bolts to a finger crack. Place a medium wired nut, move up, and place a red Alien or #0.5 purple Camalot.  Climb the finger crack to a ledge, then climb a short hand and fist crack in a right-facing corner to the anchors (#2, #3 Camalots, optional #4 Camalot).

Clip the lowering hooks out on the face to the right, and lower 95' back down.

The route can be a little easier (8) or a little harder (9+/10a) depending on how soon you commit to the finger cracks and face midway up.

This is a fun short crack which is mostly finger-sized.  You use both finger locks and layback moves.  You can top rope it after climbing

Sunlight Arete

if you did not bring gear.  I only gave it one star because of its location.  It is difficult to get to and not worth doing as a destination climb.

The first route with my new drill.  Brand New Bosch climbs the corner to the right of Edges and Ledges and ends at the same ledge.

Start up the slab as for Edges and Ledges, and climb broken rock to the base of a right-facing corner 15' right of Edges and Ledges.  Climb up the corner, and traverse right to a good ledge midway up. Stem up and work back left.  Continue up and turn a small overhang at the top.

A decent top-rope after you've done Minutia.  The climbing up the arete is fun, but the line is a little contrived: you can step right off the arete, into a dihedral, at just about any point.

Climb up the arete about 15' right of the Minutia hand crack.  Stay on the arete all the way to the top, then step left to the Minutia anchor.

This is a fun route but not one of the best at the wall. The crux is just above the first bolt moving from a lieback flake to higher rock above. The second bolt is hard to clip, and the whole route may be a bit harder now than the rating as a small foot hold, used by the leader, broke under the weight of the second. Above, the route goes up a shallow crack. We placed a piece near the top.

It is a good idea to build a belay anchor at the start which can be done with medium-sized cams.

Pumpkin Corner climbs the big corner right of Minutia Arete.

Start in the same place as Edges and Ledges and Minutia, at the base of a broken slab on the left side of the crag.  Work up the broken slab to the start of the Minutia hand crack.  Go right up a slabby ramp to the arete.  Get gear in a finger crack and continue into the corner. Work up the corner to a steep section with a hand crack.  Pass this section with some big stems.  Continue up, past a hollow-sounding flake, to a 2-bolt anchor.  Lower back down.

The difficulty of the crux is height dependent. Taller people might think it's 5.8+, shorter people might think it's 5.10.

"Where's Bob?" climbs the face and roof about 20' right of Boulder Slips.  Fun, varied face climbing with a burly finish.

Climb the face past four bolts (9). Sidepulls, underclings, and a quartz dike keep the climbing interesting.  Place a green Camalot in a crack and continue up to the roof.  Place another green Camalot on the left side of the roof, then work up to a good hold and clip the fifth bolt above the roof.  Crank the roof (10) and continue a short distance to the anchors.

Edges and Ledges is a fun new sport route on the left side of Boulder Slips.  It climbs a steep face about 30' left of Minutia.  It's well-bolted, and a great lead for someone breaking into 5.8 sport.

Start at the same place as for Minutia, at the base of a slab on the left side of Boulder Slips, about 100' above the road.

Climb an easy slab up to the steep face.

Stay away from the gully on the left, which has some loose rock.

Clip the first bolt, and work up the face, with many good edges and ledges, past 8 bolts to a nice ledge at the top.  Lower 80' back to the start.

Avoid the loose gully on the left when lowering -- stay on the slab to the right.

Getting past the first bolt is the crux. Great climbing up the scoop/corner. Great rock and cool moves. Should be popular.

This is a really good route with cool moves and good protection.

This is a variation to the route "The Threshold" that avoids the difficult and poorly-protected 5.11 start.  The pro on this variation isn't that great, so it's best top-roped from the anchors on

My Way

.

Start about 15' left of

My Way

/

Boulder Slips

at a left-facing dihedral behind a small pine tree.  Climb the corner (or come in from the left) and move up right to a stance at the top of a pillar.  "The Threshold" climbs out left from here, with some poorly-protected 5.11 face moves to gain an angling hand crack.  Instead, step up on the right side of the arete (same as My Way) and then traverse left onto the arete as soon as possible.  Move left to a small ledge below a steep face.  Climb up the face (5.9 or 9+, poor pro). Move left and continue up the face and intermittent cracks about 10' left of

My Way

. At the top, angle right to the anchor on

My Way

.  Rappel or lower 85' back down.

Begin with a boulder problem undercling to the crux at the first bolt. At the 2nd bolt, move slightly right to good holds and another shelf. Place the #3 Friend in a pod crack and a red Alien which leads to moderate face climbing past 3 bolts. Other gear can supplement between the first and third bolts.

Several crux sections and a cool hand crack makes this a good outing.

My Way climbs the arete left of the Boulder Slips route. Nice face and crack climbing in an airy position.

Start in the huge right-facing corner of Boulder Slips.  After 15', move left to left-slanting slot. Clip a bolt and face climb past the slot to the top of a pillar.  (You can also grovel up the slot, face up or face down, if you like that sort of thing).  From the top of the pillar, move up and right on face holds to a stance just right of the arete.  Place a 3/4" cam (green Camalot) in a crack around to the left and pull onto the arete.

Contine up cracks to a headwall.  Step left and climb the face past two bolts.  Move right and climb another crack.  When it ends, move up a slab, clip a final bolt, and continue straight up to the bolt anchor just above.

Belay from here or lower 85' back down.

This is a 125 foot moderate trad route that is clean and fun for the first 70 feet or so and then becomes low angle and grungy. It is best climbed to an anchor at around 60 feet, and then make a simple single-rope rap. There is plenty of room and pro opportunities for variations. Starts with a 15 foot scramble up to an inset.

This is a cool arete climb that catches the last rays of the afternoon sun.

Hike up the path on the left side of Boulder Slips to the staging area where

Edges and Ledges

and

Minutia

start.  Scramble up ledges and steeper rock to the right; be careful of loose rock.  Continue up to a sloping area at the base of a 50'-tall face with a thin crack in its center.  The route climbs the arete on the left side of this face. There is a belay bolt at the start of the route, and a rappel anchor about 20' to the left.

Work up the face and arete past 5 bolts to the anchor.  Fun moves all the way up.  Lower 50' back down.

To get back to the staging area by the start of

Edges and Ledges

and

Minutia

, rappel from an anchor about 20' left of the route.  Rap 95' down a gully; watch for loose rock.  It's also possible to downclimb, but the rappel is easier.

This is 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. I 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.

"The Throttle" climbs a water streak up the steep face left of the arete of The Threshold and

My Way

. It's harder than the guidebook rating of 5.10 and the protection is very poor.  Another route to top-rope from the anchor on

My Way

(with a directional piece or two near the top of the pitch).

Start about 30' down and left of the

My Way

arete below a black water streak.  There is a bowl about 30' up that you're shooting for.  Climb up to a ramp left of the water streak.  Ascend a yellow pillar (5.10 layback and stem) to a stance at its top.  Step onto a spike of rock and work right to a little bowl and a black water streak.  This move is very difficult; at least 5.11 with no pro.  The spike of rock has a broken top; maybe the move was easier 20 years ago.  Continue up the water streak and veer right at the top to the anchor on

My Way

. Lower or rappel 95' back down.

La Lune combines beauty, position, and pain to create a route that beckons and repels at the same time.

The striking black and tan overhang is slashed with numerous discontinuous cracks and seams, creating a gorgeous effect and a very unique style of climbing.  With cars racing through the canyon, the river raging below, and the steep terrain above, the exposure is unavoidable as you clip the first bolt 100 feet above the canyon floor.

Trending slightly left along the most generous, and amazingly excuciating features, this route builds in difficulty and pain as you approach the top of the overhang.  After pulling the lip continue up a dirty, unprotected 5.8 crack  for 15 feet to the poorly placed anchors.

It's worth noting that the first ascentionist redpointed this route using preplaced traditional gear.  So if anyone is looking for a hard, painful project that is still waiting for a lead while placing the gear- here it is!

If not for a some glue and the huge gobies on my fingers, this route would easily get four stars.

A power-endurance test, this short, fierce route follows cracks and seams up the steep wall just right of

La Lune

. Clip the first bolt of

La Lune

, and continue with easy climbing to the first bolts of Haiku. Stem left to engage the overhang, which offers 17 moves (at least the way it was first climbed) to the lip. Finish up a dihedral, then step left to the anchor.

This was done in memory of Hayden Kennedy, whose life was brief yet powerful.

Boulder Slips is an old trad route that is seldom climbed these days because of a few spots of poor protection.  However, the climbing is good, the crux has decent pro, and the route can be top-roped from the anchor on

My Way

.

From the parking pullout, walk up to the shoulder on the right side of crag.  The route starts in a big right-facing dihedral with a roof about 40' up.

Climb up the dihedral, past several thin sections, to the roof. Protection is generally good in this area, with small cams and wires. Face climb left just below the roof to a stance on the arete. There is a thin crack under the roof where you can place two black (smallest) Aliens to protect this crux traverse.  Above the roof, step right and  climb a short slab to a crack (5.6 or 5.7 runout), and continue up the crack and slabs to the 2-bolt anchor on

My Way

.  The last slab section is also a bit runout, but no harder than 5.7.

Stop at the 2-bolt anchor on

My Way

. From here, it's 85' back down. If you continue up to a pine tree at the top, there is no anchor and it's 110' back down (a 60m rope won't quite make it).

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Boulder Slips