JasonG

That is some of the most beautiful looking rock I have ever seen.....and hardest, stout work!

That is so cool! Strong work, both of you! I am looking forward to having Casey ropegun me up something this fall...

If you haven't been in that way before, you may find that it isn't very easy to get around the south side of Katsuk. That, and your timeline is a pretty aggressive. But, you are probably fitter than I am.

With a name like "The Disappearing Floor", I can't say I'm too surprised. But, wow, stout work!

You can't make that stuff up. The darkness is already upon us! ::

It would be great if these films were transferred to digital and preserved. I know it sounds like a movie I would like to see.

Not a pleasant night out, hopefully they are OK.

At birth, maybe. After that, I've certainly been bitten by some bad dogs. I don't really care what made them that way.

Yes.

Excellent! This has been on my list for some time, but I need to brush off the OW skills first. Thanks for the report.

Yep, I think the way to do this route is from the Dorado Needle/Eldo col (pretty reasonable 2.5 day RT). While the Triad approach looks good on paper, I've found it to be longer, though very beautiful. That said, you did it! I really enjoyed the route and it sounds like you guys did as well. Thanks for showing us the way Lowell!

Ask and ye shall receive (there is a link to the ruling in the article): http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/29/local/la-me-forest-fee-20120229 I don't think the author in the original link overreached in her conclusions. Although we are under the 9th here in WA, I haven't heard a peep about how the local FS districts are going to comply with this ruling. I don't think I will be buying a forest pass when mine expires next year though.

Nice work Casey and Curt! Sounds like a link up I need to do this fall....

Well played Pat, I should have just asked if you did any FISHING.

Thanks for posting that Chris. If my memory serves me, almost none of the TH's I frequent have all six amenities. And I just bought my stinkin' forest pass....... I would feel a lot better if the monies generated went directly to trail work rather than enhanced parking areas and enforcement. Then again, I'm pretty sure my time is worth $30, and I imagine that is what the FS is betting on.

Here is a photo that shows the route pretty well. We got on the prominent rib near the bottom, along the lower part of the long snow patch. A better point to access it was the higher ramp, but it was blocked by a crevasse this year:

I'm glad you don't hate us after telling you about the East ledges descent. You were able to figure that out without too much hassle? And be sure to shoot me a PM. I have photos of you and Brian on the NR!

5th for a pitch, then it eases to 3rd/4th to the notch.

Trip: Forbidden - Northwest Face Date: 8/26/2012 Trip Report: When I first started climbing in the late 90's, one of my mentors used to regale me with stories of his favorite routes. As I remember it, the NW face of Forbidden was at the top of his list, and he talked up the position, rock quality, approach, and bivy as one of the all time Cascade Classics. Fast forward through the intervening years, and every single person I talked to that had climbed the route (admittedly not too many), raved about it. It was on the list! And there it stayed, for years. The approach had me a bit intimidated, and there were other excellent routes on Forbidden to distract me. By about 2010, however, I had climbed several of Forbidden's routes (WR, NR, TFT, ERD) and had run out of excuses. The NW face could no longer be avoided. But how to do the climb? I knew that you could either approach via the Boston, or rap in from the WR notch. Each had its advantages/disadvantages and I was on the fence. I got the kick off of it when Kurt emailed me earlier this summer excited about the carry over of the NW face that he did. He provided some excellent beta that I forwarded to Trent and a plan was hatched for the last weekend in August. We arrived in Marblemount to a crowd of folks that were treating the ranger station like a travel agency (What is that like? Is there water? What would you recommend? Where is the nearest store that carries that?). Entertaining for a few minutes, but it got old after a half hour. Armed with a permit for the Boston Gl. XC zone, we evetually left and skedaddled to the BB TH. I think we were hiking by about 0930. I had done the approach to the NR a few years ago so that part was familiar- up, up, up and over the alternate col just east of Sharkfin (lots of good beta out there). On the way up to the col we met Brian and his partner who were headed to the NR. They kindly paused in the gully and let us pass and show the way to the notch. A 30M rappel and some moat scrambling brings you to the Boston and the start of the long traverse to the NR notch. The Boston is still in great shape for this time of year and should be passable until the snow flies. Now which notch to use? Kurt had tried to describe where he crossed the ridge and we went back and forth on the Boston trying to match up his description to what we were looking at. There are several notches to choose from! In the end, we just went up to the notch that you use for the NR (south of the prominent gendarmes on the NR) and threw our stuff down on a couple nice sites. It had taken us about 6 hours to get to the notch so we had plenty of time to melt snow, watch folks on the TFT, and get to know Brian and his partner a bit (they arrived shortly after us). After a comfortable night (no snaffles!), we got rolling about 0600 and begin to figure out how to get down to the Forbidden Gl. We ended up doing 2 single raps and some scrambling to get onto the glacier. We found a couple old stations to use and backed them up. I'm guessing that Kurt used the next notch to the north where you probably don't have to rap. But, it looked like it may have been harder than 3rd class to reach it?? Regardless, from the glacier it only takes about an hour (easy traveling) to get to the base of the rib. This is where things got interesting. The glacier near the toe is very broken and we had a hard time finding a reasonable way onto the rock. The ramp higher up looked like the best (there are two ramps that come in from the west side), but it was blocked by a full spanning crevasse. As it was, we ending up rapping off a bollard into a shattered mess of seracs and scrambling like hell to get onto the rib as quickly as possible. Good times! And Darin soloed this!!?? Impressive. Anyway, once we got on the rib proper, the fun began. Everything that you have heard about the route is true- great climbing, solid rock, amazing position- this route has it all. It is mostly low fifth with a few harder moves and we were able to comfortably simul with rock shoes and full packs (and I am not a good climber). I think we only belayed one short pitch (the chimney Beckey describes), and it took us about 5 hours to reach the summit from the glacier. We had the summit all to ourselves and could admire one of my favorite views for a good while. I doesn't get much better than that! We rapped down the East ledges descent and scrambled over the the notch at the start of the ERD. While fast, this was a bit less secure than I had remembered from the last few times I had done it (must be getting old). You certainly wouldn't want to slip. Five raps before traversing is just about right, but you should feel comfortable on loose 3rd and 4th class rock with big exposure (i.e. not for the faint of heart). We were back in BB about 2.5 hours from the summit, and at the cars around 13 hours from the bivy. I think of the routes I've climbed in NCNP, this is certainly one of the best and most satisfying. Like the TFT, it demands a wide range of skills, yet none at a level above that of the motivated weekend warrior. But while the NW face of Forbidden is a classic, it will probably will never see a lot of traffic due to the high price of admission. But...... maybe you are already putting it on your list? Pics: Scrambling to the col to access the Boston. Team NR ahead of us. Trent on the Boston, with Logan and Buckner behind. Team NR on the Boston. That's some glacier! Trent @ the NR notch bivy. The Torment-Forbidden ridgeline from the bivy Torment Sunset. Sunrise Trent in the first moat of the day below the bivy notch. Eldorado from the base of the route. Bollards= Good times! Ummmmmmmmm. We have to go this way?? Yes, it is as good as it looks. Looking down the NW face from about halfway up. On the summit! Looking back along the TFT Trent finishing up the East Ledges descent. Kloke terrain if I ever saw it. Lest I get cocky, looking at J'Berg always takes me down a couple notches. There are few views as nice as evening light gracing the Cascade river valley. Gear Notes: Half rope, Al. Crampons, single axe (second tool would have been nice in late season), medium rack to 2". Energy. Approach Notes: There is probably a better way.

Mr. Duke- You climb the "cat scratches" just west of the gully. The same way that Eric and Co. descended.

Nope that was Brian and his partner (forgot his name), we were right under your nose on the NW rib. We could hear everyone talking on the west ridge and summit, but folks were gone when we topped out at 1415 or so. I will get a TR up soon I hope!

It was fun watching all the teams cross the snow from the North Ridge bivy, and meet you guys on the way down! I will hopefully get a TR up from our NW face adventure in the next couple of days. Did you have to snap any pictures of us from your descent down the west ridge?

I didn't see a rod in your boat, say it ain't so!

Yep, you were right on. I started to the right, backed off, and went up the left side of the weakness. It is steep for about 8' and then backs off as you climb the left side of the weakness. From the top of the first pitch you really can't miss the route, just follow your nose.

We started calling the trip the "Succ Hell" traverse. We wore crampons on several of those steep greenery traverses!