Gaucho Argentino Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Trip: Torment-Forbidden Traverse / TFT - Date: 8/24/2011 Trip Report: TFT – 8/24/11 We took off with Matt last Wed with the ambitious idea of tackling the TFT via Boston Basin on Th/Fri, Sharkfin on Sat on the way to Buckner, and the N Face of Buckner on Sun, coming out via Horseshoe Basin with two cars for shuttle… cool plan … although that a typical permit problem first and an instinct for survival later complotted not to let us fully fulfill it As mentioned, there were no permits for the Boston Basin on Wed night, but we got them for Th and Friday nights. The only option left was to camp on Wed on the Sahale Arm, cross next morning to Boston, leave our food for Sat/Sun and extra gear on the way to Torment, and climb the TFT. Boston Basin panoramic from the Sahale approach Although weather was supposed to be pristine, we got worried there for a minute when we saw quite a few clouds rolling in in the late afternoon from our bivy on Sahale Clouds over J-berg… Luckily nothing happened, and after an early start, we were traversing towards Torment at about 7 am, and were at the base of the notch by 11 am (it was already really hot)… Matt really enjoys climbing loose rock , so the Torment part went by pretty easy and fast, and by 4pm we were on the summit Now, the descent and traverse from the top to the notch to gain the glacier on the N side of the ridge, that stuff is loose like hell, not enjoyable by any means, maybe we were out of route there? In any case, we made it to the notch, and after an airy awesome rappel into the moat, we practiced some “steep-snowsoloing” to get out of it Then we traversed some snow to gain the rock on the other side, continuing pretty much straight on the N side of the ridge until a corner from where you can see the steep snow-ice traverse in full… Ideally we should have done the traverse this day, to be able to finish the climb the next, but with the permits issue and the traversing from Sahale, it was getting late, so we made camp in the rock. Luckily I have a Z-pad that folded perfectly to the Z-Z-Z shape of the rock in my bivy spot (at 38 y/o, my back was not thankful) Next morning we went around the corner on and up the rock, and followed the snow (red spots), but clearly an snow bridge has collapsed (yellow arrow) because there was no way to follow the steps we were seeing going on this side of the ridge. We went instead right and up the rock (green arrow), rappelled on the other side to a gully, and Matt lead over and down the steeeeep snow to regain the traverse below. For this section we used our four pickets, no ice screw were needed, temps we high and although early, snow was fairly soft. I believe that from the gully you can also climb up the rock, but Matt was looking forward for this section (I would have climbed the rock, screw the steeeeeep snow) Matt leading... Me following this part... From there you can traverse on the south side until regaining the ridge AFTER the gendarme (according to some reports), but I went up just following a ramp that puts you exactly before the gendarme, what made us traverse a beautifully exposed pitch on the left (N) side of it (yellow arrow) After the little traverse From there on there were not any more weird things like: route finding – sandy loose ledges - boots on – crampons on – boots off – crampons off – rock shoes on – pickets off, and all this time consuming crap, only beautiful easy rock climbing on exposed terrain with solid rock Matt on the knife edge section… And we made it to the notch on the W Ridge of Forbidden by 5pm. Time to think. On the "staying-put" side… 1) We would have three more hours to the top of Forbidden, so descent on the E Ledges would be in the dark… hmmm… 2) There are no bivy sites on Forbidden, and there are some beautiful ones on the base of the W Ridge… hmmm-2 On the "keep going" side 1) We did not have food for another day… 2) We give up daylight hours that we can pay later if weather comes in by any chance... Well, better hungry than going the ledges in the dark … so dinner consisted of 6 slices of salami and a handful of trail mix that Matt had left and was very cool to share, and a cup of plain hot water to warm ourselves up (pretty chili when the sun goes down) that happened to be tastier than what I thought… Forbidden under the last sun rays of the day from the bivy. Funny how short the route looks from this perspective Next morning, after sharing my only and last Via Coffee (time to share and pay back for the food), I took off first and simul-climbed the lower part of the W ridge. We did split the 5.6 part in two so we both had fun, and Matt lead the second simul-c part to the top. It took us about three hours Perfect views of J-berg, Glacier, Rainier and an ocean of other peaks, damn the Cascades are beautiful… Not bad to have one of the Fifty Classics completely for ourselves, NO ONE on the route (even on the whole two mountains, where are all the people on the permits? Here is where the instinct of survival kicked in, and a close view of the N Face of Buckner convinced me that the very little snow on the face indicated the climb is not “in” any more (although it might totally go), and that the TFT together with a cold I had since last Sat when trying to climb the CNR of Stuart (that got me losing my lungs for the last 5 days) had me completely wasted. We decided to go down via the E Ledges (the descent still brought some interesting moments in again loose stuff down the gully), eat as much as we could, and go back to civilization. After some Search and Rescue operation to locate our buried-under-rocks food “right next to that bush, remember?” (now all the bushes looked the same), we found our trekking poles chewed by the freaking marmots, and then our food. Food was safe, and after oysters, bread, cheese, chocolates and soup (gosh, that was good!!), we retraced our steps all the way to the Sahale Arm and the three trillion switchbacks… A cool IPA waiting under ice in my cooler and some spicy jalapenos chips was the best reception, ending quite a sweet climb. NOTE ABOUT PERMITS: knowing from other previous report the Rangers DO READ this TRs, I would like to mention the following: We talked with the Rangers for a while when we found we could not camp in Boston Basin, they were very cool, helped us reorganize the climb, etc, but it clearly does not make sense how the permits are organized. There are six permits per night, and the party can be from 2 to 12. So AS THE RANGER SAID: “There can be from 12 to 70 people in the basin”… that does not make ANY sense… -It does not avoid overuse (70 people per day, really !!??) -It does not provide for a “wild experience” (70 people there, really-again?) No climbing party is normally more than 4 people. So the “12 people party” thing is clearly for the guided tours. In our case, we could have bivy-ed right on snow next to the notch on Torment, making our trip safer by cutting one day, cero impact by camping on the snow, and cero impact on other people because we would have been out of anyone’s sight. The permits should address where people is going to climb (E of Forbidden, W of Forbidden, S of Torment, TFT, etc), allowing may be two/three parties of two (four/six people total/day/route), and guides with clients should not be allowed to reserve permits IN ANY CASE (I’m surprised this is allowed at all over other people that pay taxes as much as they do). I do not know if this is the best idea, but I bet there has to be a better way of handling things, mine is just one more idea, I hope the Rangers and the Superintendent organize at some point some kind of survey where climbers with experience can give some ideas and we can find the best possible way to avoid having to be always in fear of not “getting a permit to camp in Boston Basin”. This plus TRUE FIRST COME-FIRST SERVE basis for the permits, I think it would do at least the most fair game for all, even reducing the impact of this “mega-10/12-people parties” and making the basin may be even less crowded. The Ranger said that the way they can improve things is if they see it on writing and they can show it to the Superintendent… well, Buddy, here it is on “paper” now (well, you can print it, right?). Peace… Back to the climb, the TFT is simply awesome, highly recommended to whoever wants to have a sweet mountaineering experience… Gear Notes: 4 pickets 2 Alpine Ice Tools each 1 set of C4s, #0.3 to #3, double on #.75 to #2 (could left the doubles behind) 1 set of 10 Metolius nuts Crampons Approach Notes: Loooong via Sahale Arm, and crossing Boston Basin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rad Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Nice trip. Maybe start a thread on suggestions for North Cascades rangers and permits - try to include both good things to keep and things that need to be changed. I or someone else can steer this to the attention of the powers there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 sweet! well done. I've tried to complete this traverse 3 times! one of these days..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaucho Argentino Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 Nice trip. Maybe start a thread on suggestions for North Cascades rangers and permits - try to include both good things to keep and things that need to be changed. I or someone else can steer this to the attention of the powers there. Thanks, Buddy... Thread started in the discussions forum, hoping for people to give their ideas and see if this can be improved (or be left as it is if it happen to be the best possible system), but at least is worth discussing it, I believe... Cheers, GA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurthicks Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Looks like a fun trip. Agreed that the permit system is frustrating. the group size of 12 is not for "guided tours," but is the legal maximum group size (regardless of chosen activity) as laid out in the 1964 Wilderness Act--the management directive for public lands including Boston Basin and many (though not all) of the popular backcountry climbing areas across the nation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougd Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Such a cool looking climb... Might just have to do that one someday... d Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riley81 Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Sounds like you've been busy lately. Way to get it buddy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Nicely done, Nelson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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