Climb: Forbidden Peak-East Ledges
Date of Climb: 8/27/2006
Trip Report: Synopsis: I soloed Forbidden Peak via the northeast ledges route, ascending in 2 hours and 30 minutes from the car. The round trip was just under 6 hours including a 45 minute break on the summit. The descent was actually a little slower than the ascent due to careful downclimbing and plenty of photography. Thanks to some great beta I didn’t bring an axe or crampons because the route is basically snow-free.
Photos and details: I set out from the car at 8:40 am after a smooth drive and reached Boston Basin in 45 minutes.
I continued up to the upper Basin and ascended slabs and then the gully toward the solitary gendarme at the base of the East Ridge. I was trying to move fast, but when I saw several Ptarmigans just below the gendarme, I stopped for a photography session.
I got some sweet shots and then made it to the gendarme about 2 hours into the climb. From here, I did the traverse over the ledges, but started ascending a little too soon costing me a few minutes when I had to continue the traverse higher up. The climb still went smoothly and I reached the summit at 11:10 am.
There were surprisingly few climbers on Forbidden. I heard a couple climbers on the West Ridge route as I was ascending upper Boston Basin in the morning, but they reached the summit after I had departed. Another pair of climbers was finishing the North Ridge route as I was topping out on the summit.
As a result of onshore flow, the wall of smoke from the numerous wildfires stayed well to the east resulting in some excellent clarity, especially for the end of August. This was actually the first time I could clearly see Rainier from the North Cascades since mid-July. I enjoyed the gorgeous weather and views until just before noon.
Cascade River Valley and Torment-Forbidden Ridge bottom right.
Some zoomed in shots:
When the North Ridge climbers arrived, one kindly took my photo – the quintessential summit shot on Forbidden!
We chatted for awhile and then as they rappelled, I downclimbed the Northeast face. Downclimbing wasn't as slow as I thought it would be, especially after the first rappel length.
The immense Boston Glacier:
I stopped for photographs numerous times on the descent through the glacial slabs and Boston Basin.
This is what is left of the Forbidden Glacier! There won’t be anything in a couple years at this rate.
This is a similar panorama as the second photo, but with afternoon lighting instead. I can’t decide which one is better!
I arrived back at the car just before 2:40 pm. An awesome day in the North Cascades!
Gear Notes: None!
Approach Notes: Good shape.
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