Trips to peaks accessible via Boston Basin make for risky planning. Boston Basin is one of the more popular destinations, permits are in short supply and it is a long drive. One doesn't want to burn the gas and time to head out there only to be thwarted by lack of available permits. On weekends with good weather in the middle of climbing season, it is almost required to send someone out the day before to try to score a permit. That way at most one person will have wasted a trip out. Spring and I wanted to climb the West Ridge of Forbidden and had been mulling the idea of heading out early on Saturday knowing that our chances of getting a permit were slim. We were considering trying it anyway and having an alternate destination not requiring a permit as a backup when we learned that Eileen Kutscha was heading out with a party to climb on Friday and Saturday. She generously agreed to try to score a permit for Spring and I and leave it for us. She left a message on Friday afternoon saying that she had been successful. That night I spoke on the phone with Brad Henshaw who gave me excellent route beta.
We drove out on Cascade River Road to the washout at the Eldorado trailhead and started hiking along the road in hot sunny weather. The climbers trail was fairly steep and brushy. We stopped at one point to fill up water bottles at a stream and I discovered that my water filter was non-functional. It simply wouldn't pump any water. A couple of day-hikers saw our plight and took pity on us and gave us a small bottle of water purification drops. There were a couple of stream crossings where there was no way across without dunking one's feet in the water. In the interest of saving weight we had left behind the sandals and instead carefully stepped across in bare feet.
We reached the flats below the glacier in the late afternoon and found a couple of adequate bivy sites on rocks. Later that day, Rod Sawyer and his party passed through having climbed the West Ridge. They were going to camp at the lower part of Boston Basin and then climb Sahale the following day. Later, Eileen and her party came by. We thanked Eileen for helping us get a permit and wished her well on the descent. Both Rod and Eileen reported that the couloir leading to the West Ridge was in reasonable condition and that the actual climb along the ridge had been long but enjoyable.
Spring and I woke up early the next morning and hiked up the snow to the couloir. There was a nice boot track and steps kicked in the snow leading up the couloir. We crossed a couple of snow bridges that were exposed but solid. We crossed into a moat at the top of the couloir and followed it to a gully. At the advice of those we had spoken with we went further left to a different gully. This gully was steep and filled with loose rock. It was pretty ugly climbing but we eventually made our way up to the notch.
Unfortunately, the clear weather from the day before had been replaced by thick low-lying cloud cover. We had hoped that we were seeing a marine layer that would burn off. The cloud cover made for chilly conditions and no visibility. We were concerned about not being able to see the route as well as the possibility that the clouds might be the precursor to thundershowers so we decided to sit tight and wait. Two other climbers, Chris and Chad, came by and hung out at the notch in the same predicament. After a couple of hours it seemed that the cloud cover was going to stay but conditions appeared to be stable. Of course, given how long we would be on the route, there was no way to know if conditions would deteriorate several hours later.
We decided to go for it so we changed into our rock shoes, stashed ice axes, boots and other extra gear and tied in to the rope. The plan was to try to use running belays where possible. In places we did climb using running belays but we ended up using fixed belays for most of the route. The rock was clean and solid and largely followed the ridge line. We found plenty of features for placing pro as well as natural chockstones and blocks for slinging. Most of the time the cloud cover prevented us from seeing very far. I suppose that it may have shielded us from seeing just how exposed the route was. There were several places involving traversing while gripping the sharp edge of the top of a block with the feet on a steep slab. There were some awkward steps requiring short down-climbing. The 5.7 crux of the route turned out to be reasonably secure. It was just a matter of taking a moment to find the features for the hands.
Chad and Chris were on the route ahead of us. We saw two other parties. A threesome moved quickly past us. They had started from the trailhead that morning and used running belays on the entire climbing route. At the summit we saw a party of two who had climbed the East Ridge. We didn't spend much time on the summit as the cloud cover did not allow us to see much and it was getting to be late in the day. For the descent we used a series of rappells from established rappel stations.
After some downclimbing and traversing we finally made it back to the notch. Chris and Chad were there and we agreed to team up and tie our two 60-meter ropes together to have double-rope rappels down the couloir. The descent down the gully to the top of the couloir was exposed and awful. At one point I slung my cordelette over a block while descending a short chossy step and then flipped the cordelette off. In hindsight, we ought to have left our rock shoes on or rappelled.
At the top of the gully we put on our crampons. There was an established rappel anchor and the ropes took us to within a short traverse of a second anchor on the east side of the gully. Rappelling was definitely the way to go. The second rappel took us over two deep bergschrunds where the snow bridges over them were of questionable solidity. We faced into the slope and down-climbed the remaining steep snow and finally we were on more moderate terrain.
Our time spent waiting at the notch and more conservative climbing style with respect to belaying had made for a long day. It was almost 8pm when we were back at camp and we realized that it was not practical to try to make it out that day. Even if we could get packed up and be moving by 8:30, we would have only about 45 minutes of daylight and descending the climbers trail and crossing the streams in the dark would be no fun. So we decided to spend another evening in Boston Basin (by now the cloud cover had finally lifted) and head home at first light the following day.
It was a bummer to miss most of the workday on Monday but I had been considering missing a day anyway to try to get a permit. It was also nice to drive home without fighting sleep and to be able to stop for lunch. We stopped at Cascade Pizza in Sedro Woolley and had a nice spinach and mushroom pie.
I would like to return to climb Forbidden some day in better weather. It is oneof the best alpine climbing routes I have been on. It is like a longer, more exposed version of the West Ridge of Prusik Peak.
