Rave- Forbidden Pk W Ridge

[Kyle]

Did it last Sat (6/30) in a long day- my first time up there. Awesome super-classic climb... I can't believe it took me so long to get around to doing it. The route is in as perfect condition right now as I could imagine: the glacier's barely starting to open up, the couloir is still full of snow & easy going up to the notch, and the ridge itself is snow-free & dry. Great day- 100% fun!!

[hakioawa]

I'm thinking about going up there next weekend. I've read about the route in the "Cascade Alpine Guide". How technical is is? What kind of rack am I going to need to haul up there? Any suggestions/hints are more than welcome.

[Kyle]

My partner on this climb, though a strong mountaineer in general, is basically a newbie on technical rock, so we belayed the entire ridge up & rapped most of the way down, & it took us several hours longer than I'd hoped (not that it diminished the climb for us at all- it was sweet even if we were slow). A pair of experienced rock climbers could easily simul-climb most (if not all) of the route to save a lot of time. The exposure's outrageous & the views unforgettable, climbing's easy, rock amazingly solid, pro plentiful & great. The 5.6 "crux" pitch is short & easy (check out the old bent piton there- looks like it has a story to tell).

Pack a very light hardware rack, but take a lot of long slings, as there are good horns _everywhere_.

My suggested rack (note- I suspect a lot of folks carry way more gear up this route than they really need... bear in mind that I'm not some kind of hardcore climber, just another weekend-wanker that likes to lace up routes, and this here is still plenty of rack for the climb):

8 Wire Stoppers: BD #3-10

3 Slung Hexes: #5-7

3 Camalots: .75, 1, 2

8 sewn runners

8 tied runners (1" tubular, cut 6' long)

2 long slings (1" tubular, cut 12' long)

2 ropes (but doable with one)

1 axe, crampons, helmet

Gear we carried but didn't use:

2 larger stoppers

2 larger hexes

2 pickets

1 ice screw

~8 too many biners

Start super-early to get up the glacier & couloir before it softens, pound the calories & H2O nonstop to avoid the bonk. Watch out for late-afternoon storms (it rained on us for about 15 minutes as we walked down the glacier). Have the time of your life!

[This message has been edited by Kyle (edited 07-03-2001).]

[Trevor]

An excellent route indeed! The piton was probably placed by the legendary Fred Beckey. One of the best views on a cascade summit.

[MtnHigh]

hakioawa,

Here is some recent beta on Forbidden's West Rigde. I climbed it Monday 7/2.

Due to the warm weather you'll want to start while the snow is hard. Ascending the couloir after 9am would be a slush swim. We ascended the couloir at 6am on hard snow. The berg at the bottom of the coulior is opening up, but easily passable to the left.

Unless you place running picket belays, there is no need to carry a pickets, flukes, etc.

The gully just above the couloir is broken/loose rock, but the climbing is easy.

Rock on the ridge is solid. The first 2-3 pitches are class 3-4 scrambles, followed by 4-5 pitches of moderately difficult climbing. There are slings every 80-120' along the ridge providing good protection. Above the gully we roped up with a 100' spacing between me and my partner, simu-climbing all but two pitches.

Unless you are scarded schmitless on alpine rock, leave the big rack at camp. We placed less than 5 pieces of pro and slung only a few horns the entire route. The rock is solid, the climbing is moderately difficult, and there are bomber sling anchors all along the route.

We rapped from the top 3 pitches, using existing slings, then downclimbed the rest of the route.

There are rap slings every 100-130' down the couloir. They are handy once the snow turns to mush. Bring two ropes. Leave one at the top of the couloir for the raps down it.

The sharpness of the ridge provides great exposure, giving the feeling of high alpine adventure. Yet the abundance of ledges and holds, and the blockly features of the rock provide all the security necessary. Forbidden W ridge is a good one.

Pete