KaskadskyjKozak Posted June 12, 2015 Posted June 12, 2015 Trip: Forbidden - Weset Ridge Date: 6/10/2015 Trip Report: Forbidden has thwarted me for years. The first time I attempted the peak I could not even get a permit and had to climb Torment instead. Another time, we got permits but ended up on the ridge with 11 climbers ahead of us and after two hours of motionlessness on the ridge - bailed. Yet another time I attempted the TFT, got destroyed by soul-crushing sun and heat on the approach, and pussed out of climbing the 4th class gully out of the Taboo glacier onto the S ridge of Torment. This time I opted for doing the climb in one push as midweek as possible - Wednesday. No permits, few people, motivated - success. :-) My buddy NH and I headed up at 4 am from the TH. The first half of the trail is quite brushy - more so than I have ever remembered it. It's also showing signs of being unmaintained more and more. Nevertheless we got up it and arrived at the stream crossing in under two hours. The water level was high with the warm temps and melting snow. Alpenglow illuminates the TFT from the Boston Basin trail: We pumped water and roped up for the unnamed glacier/snowfield. It is broken up now and requires numerous end runs around cracks. We had almost a full 60m rope between us and the rope drag was annoying. There are some shenanigans at the large rock blocking the entrance to the W Ridge Couloir as well (crack forming, soft snow). The couloir itself is in great shape but melting fast. Lots of evidence of recent rock fall, and there is a well-established boot path. Some cracks are forming in the couloir - not sure how long it will be in. Broken, dirty snowfield on approach: We simulclimbed the gully and reset leads once. It was really cruiser and probably as good as it gets, with a staircase bootpath to follow. NH belaying the final section of the couloir: At the moat we did a gear adjustment, losing crampons and got out our rock rack. NH lead up the dirty gully immediately to climber's left, but only put a piece or two in. We did another gear adjustment and headed up. View up the route from the notch: We simulclimbed for a bit but noticed a party of two rappelling from the lowest rappel station, so we stopped and setup a belay. When they caught up to us, we figured out a way to coordinate their downclimb with our ascent. I then led the first steep pitch (with the piton), where I ran into a second party descending. They let me bring up my partner and he led the final pitch. We rappelled into the notch and scrambled the true summit. All in all it took us about 3 hours to get to the summit from the notch. I'm sure others cruise this much faster but we thought it went well. Summit pan0 p0rn: We reverse led to the top-most rappel station and linked two rappels. We did a short lead to the third rappel station, rappelled, then simulclimbed in one go all the way to the notch. There were no more parties ascending and it took us about 3.5 hours to get back to the notch. We then downclimbed the 4th class gully, did one rappel into the couloir and simulclimbed down from there in one long pitch back to the unnamed glacier. View towards third and final rappel along the West Ridge: Unfortunately with all the end runs we could not get down as fast as we'd hoped. We ran out of daylight at the 6100' camp area. We got water and continued in the dark At the stream crossing we found the water level way too fast and high to pass. And we were tired and mentally drained. We worked our way upstream looking for a better crossing but none were obvious. I have crossed high before (above a waterfall over slabs) but 18+ hours into our day we opted to rest a bit. We did an open bivy for about 3 hours, then found the high route out of there and walked to the cars, arriving at the TH at dawn. Gear Notes: Ice axe, 'pons, light alpine rack with several double runners. Approach Notes: Boston Basin trail is very brushy for the first half. Almost no snow until 6100' for so. High water level in the stream at Boston Basin. Snow gully on Forbidden in but not for long. Quote
waterproof Posted June 12, 2015 Posted June 12, 2015 Thanks for the report! Any chance we could get a higher-res version of that sweet panorama, or at least the section with Mount Buckner in it? My group is headed over there this weekend. Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted June 12, 2015 Author Posted June 12, 2015 Thanks for the report! Any chance we could get a higher-res version of that sweet panorama, or at least the section with Mount Buckner in it? My group is headed over there this weekend. The N Face of Buckner actually looked really good. PM me your email and I'll send you something Quote
YocumRidge Posted June 12, 2015 Posted June 12, 2015 Nice work and TR, S! A day on WR of Forbidden is always a long day. Dealing with hordes of people simultaneously ascending and descending is a slow part of the game on this route. Glad to see the snow couloir to the notch still goes. The "cat scratches" bypass to the left is where people get killed and bloodshed. Quote
dougd Posted June 12, 2015 Posted June 12, 2015 Congrats on your successful climb, and thanks for sharing the story here. Beautiful pics. d Quote
BootsandPants Posted June 12, 2015 Posted June 12, 2015 Does the side of your helmet say "HTFU"? Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted June 12, 2015 Author Posted June 12, 2015 Does the side of your helmet say "HTFU"? Yes, it does. It is a reminder to myself :-) Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.