[TR] Torment & Forbidden- Torment-Forbidden Traverse 7/30/2005

[daylward]

Climb: Torment & Forbidden-Torment-Forbidden Traverse

 

Date of Climb: 7/30/2005

 

Trip Report:

Unfortunately, no lesbian action pics in this T/R.

 

My old ski buddy John Phillips shot me an email a couple weeks ago with the implied complaint of inadequate flow in the rivers he customarily kayaks, so I figured I could provide some alternative alpine entertainment. His climbing experience is somewhat limited, at least if you take in perspective that his dad is Jim Phillips... but he's fit and comfortable in the mountains, so I thought we could do something fairly ambitious. First thought - west ridge of Forbidden (I hadn't done it before, can you believe it?). Then I thumbed back a few pages in Selected Climbs vol. I, and saw the Torment-Forbidden traverse, which reminded me that I'd been wanting to do that for a long long time.

 

 

I also wanted to make it to a BBQ in Mazama on Saturday night, so we definitely were going to have to keep the pedal to the metal.

 

At the trailhead at 3:45 am, we accidentally woke up a guy from Bellingham with the noise from our preparation. He was not annoyed, and instead came over and introduced himself and said he and his partner were planning to do the T-F traverse in 2 days with jackets as bivi gear.

 

In accordance with the information I'd gathered from various sources, the deadfall on the Boston Basin trail is rather prolific, especially in one section where there had obviously been a debris torrent at some point. But the trail was well-traveled enough that it was easily visible through it all, even in the dim light of our LEDs.

 

We traipsed very near many peoples' silent tents as we entered Boston Basin, then began the long off-trail rising traverse through the lush grasslands toward the Taboo glacier and the S ridge of Torment.

 

 

The Taboo Glacier was not impassable, contrary to what some unknoledgable fools on this board seem to have thought (no offense intended to said unknoledgable fools; I mean it in the most flattering possible way). We did have to do a little crevasse spelunking, but nothing my 5/8" running spikes couldn't handle.

 

Though John did fall into one crevasse and managed to snap shis shot between screams of terror before he hit the bottom:

 

 

(just kidding, he wasn't falling)

 

We started up the rock from the S. ridge notch by 8:00, soloed the S ridge route (all but the direct finish, which required one belay) and summited Torment by 9:30. I was very impressed with John's tolerance for exposure! He later said he was a little scared, but he didn't show it.

 

 

As the description indicated, the first part of the traverse was the most difficlt, at least in terms of routefinding. We bypassed most of the gendarmes on the left, but once went around to the right (SE) side. The rock was generally solid, but I found one teetering stack of 3 huge blocks... a hand jam caused it to completely collapse as I yanked my arm away quickly. Wow, what a trundle! It went right down into the bergschrund of the Taboo and clouded me with dust.

 

 

The snow traverse was soft snow. We opted to solo it, for maximum safety. It was not difficult; the steps sunk in deep. Unfortunately, one step did collapse out from under John, and he went for a ride! Fortunately, he was actually able to self-arrest before hitting a steeper section that preceeded some ablated areas that were in front of some crevasses. Freaky! We decided to go "up" more than "across" after that, which made it easier to kick good steps.

 

 

From there it was nothing but fun and joy and happiness, as we simul-climbed along one of the best knife-edge ridges in the Cascades. In places it's like a sidewalk, just with several hundred feet of exposure on both sides!

 

 

We ran in to the Bellingham dude and his partner just as we reached the start of the W. Ridge of Forbidden. The were descending. Apparently one of them had forgotten his bivi jacket, so they changed their plans.

 

You all know the W. ridge of Forbidden. No need to go into detail. It was awesome. As was the summit.

 

 

As we had only one rope, we took the E. Ledges descent. After reaching the exit notch in the E. ridge at about 5:00 pm, we were able to link a couple snowfields with bits of gully-downclimbing for a rapid glissade-enhanced descent. John appeared at the trailhead at just after 8:00 to the sight of me walking in circles swatting flies. Little bastards.

 

We made it to Mazama just in time to have a couple hockey pucks that had been on the grill for 3 hours or so. Mmmm!

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

We took a fairly large number of pieces - 7 aliens thru red & .5, .75 & #1 Camalot, and nuts and 10 draws. We wanted to be able to simul-climb a long way without having to stop & switch gear. It worked out well.

[Juan]

Dan: This one is on the books soon. Would aluminum crampons work? I'm guessing so based on your report. Any need for cams over the 1-inch size?

 

Thanks much, and great TR.

 

John Sharp

[lunger]

great TR and route! we used alum poons 'bout a month ago, and they were sufficient.

 

(beta alert: don't read if you don't want it)

 

while we generally stayed right on the ridge crest for this trip, we did not traverse the steep n-facing snow slope. but at this point (if i correctly recall), we opted for an easier scramble s-side. this is prob. a desirable way for those sketched by steep snow and/or conditions. fwiw. and gear: we brought passive stuff w/ tri-cams for larger cracks. good times in the recollection!

[goatboy]

I actually really liked the steep snow traverse -- added a lot of spice and variety to a classic route -- but I had two tools, which added a lot of security and made it more like exposed "fun" rather than scary.

 

Sounds like the fellow (in the TR) who slipped and managed to self-arrest here was very, very lucky, in my opinion!

 

Great TR that does justice to an excellent route.

[specialed]

We scored 5 biners each and cleaned a ton of brand new tat from that route. Why does everyone in the cascades leave so much garbage everywhere? The biners are ok though

[daylward]

Dan: This one is on the books soon. Would aluminum crampons work? I'm guessing so based on your report. Any need for cams over the 1-inch size?

 

Thanks much, and great TR.

 

John Sharp

 

Oh yeah, aluminum crampons would be plenty fine; I brought mine, but didn't even use them at all... the track spikes were good enough. And definitely no need for anything larger than 1 inch; of course if I'd looked hard enough I could have found places for a #2 or #3... or #4 or #5... or 3' 2x4... but who wants to lug that crap around?

 

Dan

[robertm]

Cool. Der Wanderer, Climbhigh and I followed in your footsteps on Saturday. Thanks for the steps on the steep snow. We got a 10:30 AM start from the TH on Saturday and bivied at the Nelson spot before the snow traverse. I disagree with those that say Torment is BS climb. The rock was solid and the climbing was scenic. A direct finish would make it cooler. The moat crossing on the notch descent sucked but after that it was awesome ridge running. We took small rack of nuts, hexes and 3 cams. Aluminum Crampons were good to have for piece of mind. If you guys lost a Tikka I found it and would be happy to return it.

[goatboy]

Robert M, Did you climb the South Ridge Route on Torment as described in Nelson's guide?

[tyree]

 

nice work guys I was with the dude who forgot his "bivi jacket". He didnt say anything until after we were up past high camp with two days food and bivi gear.

It wsnt a total loss, this was also my first time up in Boston Basin and the W. ridge lived up to its reputation as an alpine classic

Did anybody find a pair of black Smith sunglasses at the last creek crossing? I left them there in a panic to get away from the damn flies If so PLEASE PM me and i will be soooo psyched.

[thelawgoddess]

nice pics - looks like a great climb. great job, guys!

[daylward]

Did anybody find a pair of black Smith sunglasses at the last creek crossing? I left them there in a panic to get away from the damn flies If so PLEASE PM me and i will be soooo psyched.

 

Apparently you haven't yet checked the lost and found forum! Your glasses are right here next to me.

 

Dan

[letsroll]

How far can you drive on cascade river rd. Can't seem to get ahold of Rangers. Is the gate open at the eldorado TH, and you are able to drive to the "small turn off on left at mile 21.7."

 

thanks

[robertm]

you can drive all the way to the TH for BB or to the end of the road at cascade pass.