Just left of Italian Arete is a face with a pair of cracks splitting it.  Forgotten Ambition climbs this face, continuing upward to a face with 1 bolt and then up to a right-facing fold of rock that doesn't protect too well.  A nice long route with some nice sequences, albeit interspersed with too much bad rock, and easy sequences.  A nice way to kill time if the Slips are too busy, otherwise don't make a special trip for this route.

Forgotten Ambition

Nosferatu

Hippie Chicks

Chalking Dead

Maudlin

Thieving Magpie

Italian Arete

Salem's Lot

Witchhunt

Use-To-Be-Bushy

Abracadabra

Double Tap

Zombieland

High Fructose Corn Syrup

Goth Girls

Senseless Banter

Bones 2nd Pitch

Entre Nous

Roll the Bones

Cornication

Good for a quick fix! Fun climbing.

Pitch #1: Climb thin edges and layback a flake-like feature up to the first, of three, roofs. High quality and compact rock with swirling and syrupy features finishes with a spectacular finale on unique rock. 5.8, 35m.

A short, pumpy warm up climb for the longer routes to the right. The well-protected crux is surmounting the first of two roofs in the middle of the crag.

First off, thanks to James G and crew who put in Goth Girls.  We spotted the juicy looking roof crack while climbing G.G. and the finger crack just called for nuts!

Startup the Abracadabra chimney and climb up to the awesome finger crack on GG.  Sink in some bomber nuts and castoff onto the upper face avoiding going out right onto the arete.

Before the roof, the finger crack will reappear accepting solid gear.   Avoid the temptation to place in the flake (see route photos)  If you're scared you can clip the bolt on GG but the gear is solid and the fall clean.  Do it like the hippies do... all-natural

Upon surmounting the roof enjoy the overhanging splitter roof crack with perfect hand jams.  A #4 sized cam will calm your fluttering heart on the final airy moves to the top.

Descent:  Lower off the GG chains, This route can't be cleaned while lowering, must be followed or repeated.

This bolted, moderate line adds some variety and choice to the few well-protected and very well-traveled routes on this popular wall.

Pitch #1: To the left of the main cleft or dihedral which is to the left of the popular Italian Arete, climb up a slight spur of rock passing two small roofs on mostly big, climber-friendly holds. Continue to the top of the wall to a two-bolt belay. 5.7.

Carefully rappel the route or lower with an 80m rope. Walking off may be safer and recommended. If using a shorter rope than an 80m, Rappel x 2 via the midway ledge atop Italian Arete to the right Which won't leave you hanging.

As far as 5.7's go, this one is pretty sweet.

The crux is above the second bolt and includes the third and fourth bolts.  Pretty slim pickings there, and long arms help.  There is a plate sized bulge in that section that works more as a distraction than anything, but it sure looks good while your on top of it.

Juggy on top.  This climb is clearly rated a 5.7 for the lower half.

Nice climb follows the arete left of Entre Nous to the anchors above the main ledge.  The second pitch continues up and to the right but is not quite as excellent.

This is one tough climb, steep and prolonged, with odd angles.  What makes it worse is that the anchors are hard to clip into.  But, when you get clipped at the top you will feel on top of the world.

A short route but very fun.  The wall is very overhanging and looks super hard at first, but then you realize that there are great holds all the way up.  Crux is clipping the second bolt and then pulling over the roof towards the third.

This climb is on the south-facing overhung wall down and to the left of the main Slips wall.  They are shaded by trees and immediately adjacent to the river.  If you're traversing across the river on the tyrolean, look to the left.Nice flat belay area.

This Is great beginner Trad line that shares anchors with italian arete.  Climb the dihedral just to the left of italian arete, follow the inward corner crack all the way to the two chain anchors.  Good stances, good protection and an abundance of face holds on both sides of the dihedral.

Short little chimney on the right edge of the South face.  It then climbs a finger crack around the corner. Enjoyable as chimneys go, only too short.

Climbs the face bolt to bolt occasionally using the arête down low. Thin hands and feet through the roof to jugs on the face above.

1st pitch. Climb the left facing crack system until it goes right. Continue straight up the face passing a horizontal cam placement and on to a good # 2 where the flake nears the face climbing again. Above this a bolt protects the crux and the moves to the anchor. 85'

2nd pitch climbs shallow left facing corner right above the anchor. Move left around roof at the top. 60'

Shares the anchor with Double Tap and Chalking Dead.

A consistent and sustained 5.10b/c route that will dominate your attention and focus.

A punishing start to pass the first bolt and overhang and trend left to thin face moves to dark overlapping roofs and a foreboding finish on top with a three-bolt belay. 5.10b/c, 25m.

Rappel the pitch.

Long trad lead with adequate protection.  This climbs the left side of the face left of Italian Arete.  Face moves and crack moves.  When I lead this I lost my 1st piece, and got a little nervous so I placed a piece directly under the flake before the face with the bolt.  I didn't put a runner on it and my partner didn't correct me. The rest of the way up the climb it felt like I was pulling an elephant.  Man, was I glad to see the top.

Cruiser 2nd pitch above Roll the Bones. I can't imagine a better introduction to multi-pitch climbing for new folks.

This is the most difficult route on the east face of the slips (there are some .10's around the corner).  Very nice midsection with nice smooth surface and a thin crack to get your fingers into.  Then up to the juggy top section that feels steeper than it really is.  Lots to grab up there.

Once you reach the top there is a ledge to stand on while fixing the anchors, so even if this climb comes at the end of the day (after you've done all four on this wall) you can still wear yourself out going up and not worry about being exhausted when you get there.

The guy in the pic is on Rolling The Bones, 2 climbs over.

This is the right-most route on the main face of the Slips crag, visible from the road.  Fun edge moves up a sloped quartzite face.  There may be a queue to get on this route on nice weekend afternoons.

Judging by the popularity and line ups for the other nearby easy/moderate climbs, this fun new addition may become the favorite first outdoor lead for some beginners. It is still somewhat dirty, despite hours of cleaning, but should improve quickly with traffic. Not sure quite how to rate the difficulty of this climb, but consensus will soon decide:).

The rock is very good, but helmets are still recommended in this area.

This has a pumpy 5.7 start to pleasant 5.5 slab climbing to a two-bolt belay. 5.6, 23m. 7 bolts.

Rappel the route.

Description

Protection

Routes in Salt Lake Slips