During a short visit to the states to climb with some friends,
I had the pleasure to experience some great weather and climbing in the Boston Basin
area.
In general conditions are in transition with crevasses and
moat/bergshrunds changing rapidly and without these, access to certain routes
and or route options (such as the north sides of the Forbidden Torment traverse)
will become very difficult or impassable. There was an unfortunate moat
fatality in nearby Klawatti Pk. in July underlining the need approach these
features with caution and anticipate that the snow at near the edge could be
quite thin and unsupported.
The rock sections of the route were in dry condition but
there appears to be more residual snow than usual. We used crampons and ice
axes and 1 snow picket on our trip and it seemed that we could find endless
placements for our purple 0.5 Camalot (so take 2 ).
The other thing of note were several large slabs of snow gliding
on the rockslabs above and climbers left of the higher bivy sites.
If it is your first visit to the Park, please take note that
this is a National Park and that you are required to register at the Parks
office in Marblemount, WA – sites are limited – please check
with them regarding booking policies.
Scott Davis
Mountain Guide