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March 7-9, 2015, The Forbidden Traverse

3/7/15
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Posted by Shred on 3/11/15 3:40am
With a nice weather window for last weekend and low snow coverage at the lower elevations, the only answer was to get higher. The Forbidden Tour had all the elements to be a good time.
The Traslin brothers were keen to take this trip steady eddy and enjoy the views, as the last time they were on this traverse, they thought they were in some spandex cladded Rondo race, and did it in a day... and Jason Hummel... who of course has been pretty much every where in the N. Cascades... had never dropped down to Moraine Lake. The answer was obvious. A walk around Forbidden Peak was in order.

Coverage was much thinner than when Jim Dockery and I did the circuit in 2009. Which made it a bit more spicy and just as much fun! Boston Glacier is pretty broken up, and we roped up for a fairly direct line to the Forbidden col. Forbidden Glacier skied great. Jason and I usually are on the same page, as we like to get the most fall line ski descent possible. So, we opted to ski just skiers right of the Forbidden Glacier Ice Fall, to a trending ramp that spits you out to the nice lower angled slopes down to Moraine Lake. From a photo that we had acquired from Theresa S., a week prior, we knew that there was an escape option to the right, if the ramp was glacier ice. Well... the ramp was glacier ice. To the right we go.
One 20m rappel was required to clear the Glacier polished head wall slab, and we were free to roam the confines of the magnificent Moraine Lake Cirque. Great camping at the outlet was had.

Climbing up and out of the cirque and up onto the Inspiration Glacier was a bit more snow free from my last trip, and added a little more 3rd class chossery climbing.
I will let the video do the rest of the talking...
https://vimeo.com/121905850

(Glad I didn't loose my pack in the Shrund  ??? )


I can't decide which trip was harder. Being sick for three days on this one or suffering on the 1 day epic. Either way, epic trip in the awesome North Cascades. Probably one of the most scenic and aesthetic trips I've experienced so close to home.

Great video, fun vibes!

Andy, great to see you guys in the parking lot. I blame the fatigue on those XXL Hummelpacks you guys were carrying. ;) I'd love to ski with Jason more often, but I don't think he knows what a day trip is!  ;D

Yea Andy.  The Forbidden is one of my favs as well.  Way to grind it out despite being sick.  Great video Jeff!  You used a classic by the Talking Heads.  Good to see gen X using some of their elder's music.

Thanks for the TR; it's one of my favorite tours too.  FYI, technically I believe this is the Forbidden TOUR (as you said in your first sentence, but not in your title or in the video).  The [Torment-] Forbidden Traverse is the rock climbing route from Torment to Forbidden.

Awesome jeff ..... thanks for sharing. Great trip, into a beautiful mountain zone. Feeling fortunate to be part of  your video, well done. The clear days, in the cascades....does not get much better than that.

Nice work Jeff, love the sunset shots, and some of my favorite music!

Thanks for the great post,wonderful video as well.

From tabski's post on eldorado to this one and many others it is clear this is a sacred and holy place. Awesome to share in the glory!

No doubt the Pacific Northwest has a beautiful backyard.

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march-7-9-2015-the-forbidden-traverse
Shred
2015-03-11 10:40:05