Summer Locke travelling through Boston Basin, as Johannesburg rears its beautiful face, behind.
With a seemingly good weather forecast and a weekend off, Summer Locke, Dan Smith and I set out to try the fabled Torment- Forbidden Traverse, armed with secret beta from a reliable source who had ticked it the summer before.
We set off at dawn from Cascade Pass and motored up into Boston Basin. While there were a number of cars in the parking lot, we didnt see anyone else anywhere in Boston Basin, pretty wierd. We made steady progress to the edge of the Taboo Glacier, where we took a break and tanked up on glacial meltwater. The day was already heating up, but a nice breeze came off the glacier and made things pleasant.
Summer Locke travelling through Boston Basin, as Johannesburg rears its beautiful face, behind.
Reading the beta, we traversed over to the col into Torment Basin and then up a long and strenuous snowslope to the notch on the S Ridge of Torment, where the route would begin. So far so good.
I lead the first pitch, which stated off with hard moves off the belay, to some more moves with no pro 100 ft up, to some final loose blocks before a belay. Dan led the second pitch, with hard moves off the belay to 4th and low 5th to a nice belay at a grey wall with quartz intrusions. Awesome exposure here, with the climb traversing up above the sheer SW face of Torment. Summer tackled the third pitch traverses a little, and climbs up a short gully to a steep wall with airy moves (mid 5th) to another belay. The afternoon was dragging on, and it was brutally hot, but huge thunderheads were building to the South. I lead another pitch of 4th to yet another rap/belay station slung with old slings. Thunder rolled in the distance as I set up the anchor and the two seconds came up.
As Dan was working out the next pitch, the skies opened and it started to drizzle, at first. Huge fat raindrops. Then some thunder in the distance. As Dan retraced back to the belay, rain turned to hard hail. I hadnt put on a jacket yet, but did now. The air temperature plummetted 30 degrees. Looking towards Joburg and Spider, it was a nice solid black cloud, with lightning arcing through the sky and hitting Joburg.
The steady hail only got harder, and we huddled on our packs, with a bivy bag draped over us for protection. We were getting soaked...Dan had not brought a rainproof jacket, or bivy bag for the night. We sat for 2+ hours in the hail and rain and lighting, while the storm rolled over Cascade Pass. The closest strike was 1/4 mile, but we watched Joburg repeatedly get struck over and over.
Dan Smith eyeing the skies as the storm consolidates and moves over Cascade Pass.
When the storms passed, we were all too cold and wet to want to immediately get moving. But we tried. The rock dried quickly, since it had been baked all day in the sun. We got up, and in less than a minute were all shivering uncontrollably. So we got back under the bivy and Dan whipped out his Pocket Rocket and brewed hot drinks with what little remained of our water.
A while later, it was 7 oclock and we really needed to get the show in the road. We made it to the next notch on the ridge in 2 leads of 4th, which we could have easily soloed but just didnt know. We were hoping to find a nice bivy at the notch, and expected easy low angle climbing on the SE Face over to the start of the Traverse, but neither of these things were true. No big bivy, no easy climbing.
A short downclimb led to the grassy dike that traverses the face to the start of Torment-Forbidden Traverse, and in the waning light we went down and hoped for the best: nice bivy ledge somewhere. Instead, we found sloping ledges and terrain, with not only no bivy ledges, but no place to put an anchor. Dan went off in search of a better site, while Summer and I left a rope on a rappel horn 80 ft up, and tied into that.
Summer Locke contemplates Johannesburg as she patiently waits for the sun to set at the bivy.
Dan found something workabout about 100 feet above us, and we hung out on butt ledges in our bivy bags, enjoying the cloudless, full-moon night. Despite the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements, we were all having alot of fun, and we all got some sleep. During the night, the mysterious Snaffelhunden visited us!
Dawn, and we all conferred and decided to bail down the SE Face of Torment. Beckey says "A good route down" . We rappelled into the large central gully, and continued down for a total of 4 full double rope raps to the glacier. The rock on the lower SE Face is similar to Vesper: clean, solid, awesome stuff. The terrain is 4th and low 5th, similar to the S Ridge, but perhaps a little more solid?
Summer Locke waiting easily to rappel into the clouds at the final rap station to the Torment glacier below.
Getting to the glacier was easy, and we found fresh tracks...someone had been on the SE face or S Ridge that weekend (we had heard shouts earlier on Sat - did they bail during the storm?) Hanging from one one the established rap anchors on the face was a 10.5 mil rope.
The cloud cover was now complete, and the Traverse was engulfed. I was glad we retreated!
We descended down the Taboo easily unroped, and took a long break before traversing Boston Basin again and down. SE Face of Torment looks like a great route, a bit more than the 3rd and 4th than Beckey suggests maybe, but I will be back!
Summer and Dan working down Boston Basin into the mist.