[TR] Torment Forbidden Traverse - TFT 7/13/2013

[AaronB]

Trip: Torment Forbidden Traverse - TFT

 

Date: 7/13/2013

 

Trip Report:

Left the car Saturday morning with perfect weather which continued the entire climb. I did this route 9 years ago and climbed torment via the SE face.. I wish I had done that this time. We chose to climb the gully and spent hours and hours fooling around on the SW face. We climbed way too high and had to rap down to the SE face anyway to access the ledges to the col for the start of the traverse. My recommendation is to just go straight up the SE face.. so much less of a hassle. And route finding is much more straight forward.

 

The route was in great shape and the snow was perfect styrofoam. It was really secure. We bivied on a small ledge just before the 2nd and steep snow traverse as we wasted so much time on Torment (we also skipped bagging the summit).

 

The bivy was beautiful but we had a stove malfunction and ended up not getting a hot dinner and having only 2 liters of water total melted (couldn't find a drip). That and my thermarest popped in the first 5 minutes of sleep. Ouch! The snow the next morning was icy and very secure. We didn't bring pickets but the snow would have been easily protected with them. The ridge was just as exposed and memorable as I remember with great views. We were a little tired and thirsty (no coffee or oatmeal) and only 1 liter of water each for the day. When we got to Forbidden col we counted 13 people on the west ridge and decided to bail as we have both done the W Ridge before and I was cranky thirsty. We rapped the gully in super speed time and raced to the the first water we found and OMG it tasted so good.

 

Great fun and great partner. Did experience some nasty rock fall and took a big hit on my thigh ripping my pants and skin a little.. but mostly just a big bruise. Careful! Snow was perfect and no need to bypass. Overall we just needed to figure out a better system for simul climbing. We experienced too much rope drag. If I did it again, I think I'd just take a 60m half rope and half it so we would have only 30m between us. I'd be interested to hear thoughts on that? We were moving too slow I felt and was a little bummed not to join the clusterf*** of people on the W. Ridge of Forbidden. Oh, and don't count on drips.

 

 

 

 

I don't remember the first traverse being this steep, maybe the camera angle?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

7 cams .4 to #2 with doubles of .75 and 1, 9 nuts (5-12 with a double of lucky 7)

ice axe and extra tool (helpful but not essential)

17 single slings and 5 doubles

only need one rope..

 

Approach Notes:

Boston Basin

[JasonG]

Such a great climb, excellent! Too bad about the stove. I hope it wasn't a forgotten lighter (that happened to me last year).

 

Did you have snaffles at that bivy? That particular ledge is the site of the worst battle I've yet had with those crazy buggers. It started with three coming down the slab above the ledge and the largest one jumping and landing square on my partner's face from several feet up. I saw the whole thing happen in my headlamp beam as I tried to wake him. Talk about a rude awakening! We battled three all night long as they tried to chew into everything we had. Two "moved on", but the last one stayed at it until there was light in the eastern sky.

 

Yep, a 60m half works just fine and is my personal preference for TFT.

[AaronB]

Saw a giant snaffle sitting on my helmet 4 inches from my face. I blew him a kiss goodnight and let him have his way with my stuff. I didn't notice any damage or missing food. Maybe your battle scared the future generations into submission. The stove fiasco involved what I think was screwing on the canister with the valve on and not noticing it. By the time it was noticed, the fuel was desperately low. Just enough for 3 liters of water. Rookie mistake. Climbing sans water while surrounded by snow is pretty annoying. No coffee = depressing.

[goatboy]

Folding a 60 M rope in half is a great way to go on this kind of route.

 

Curious,where did you encounter the rockfall?

 

Good call to bail down the W Ridge Couloir, given your description.

 

It looks to me like you're roped up on that steep snow, but with no protection. Did you consider not roping up to cross that section, since a fall by either part could potentially pull both climbers off?

 

Great trip report and great job on a super classic route.

[OlegV]

Great job, Aaron!

[Bronco]

It started with three coming down the slab above the ledge and the largest one jumping and landing square on my partner's face from several feet up. I saw the whole thing happen in my headlamp beam as I tried to wake him. Talk about a rude awakening!

 

That is awesome!

[AaronB]

Goatboy, I seem to remember running into you on the w ridge of forbidden the last time I did the traverse. (9 years ago?)You had just climbed the e ridge direct.

The rope on the snow was sort of phycological protection. My partner didn't have much experience on steeper snow and wanted to be roped in. It gave her more confidence with the idea she would have a belay for the last 200 feet. Basically seemed worth the risk for her to feel more confident. That and I already had a 60m rope in my pack most of the climb after trying to manage two ropes the first day. Didn't feel like squeezing another in . Also, I feel these pictures make it look steeper than it really is? Good for making us look cool, but bad for beta.

Almost all the rockfall was climber caused including the big guy that nailed me and tore my precious pants. There is a nasty loose section as you are climbing to gain the ridge after the second snow traverse.

[goatboy]

Great memory, Aaron! That seems like a long time ago ...and, it was! LINK Link to some good memories...

[Winter]

That's awesome. I was on the West Ridge that day back in 2004 at the start of a 3 month honeymoon.