Forbidden Peak - West Ridge 04/26/2026

Text: Ruslan Khasbulatov
Pictures: Ruslan Khasbulatov, Alexander Gorobets

Last weekend, Alexander Gorobets and I climbed this classic piece in winter conditions. We started on Saturday morning from the Eldorado Peak trailhead parking lot; the gate was closed beyond that point. We rode our bikes to the start of the trail and began our approach to basecamp at 9:00 AM.

We periodically had to detour around fallen trees. At one point we lost the trail and ended up breaking a new path — first across an avalanche debris field, then across snowfields into the forest and finally up the slopes toward our objective. We found a suitable campsite directly beneath the glacier and pitched our tent afternoon at 6,700 feet.

Forbidden Peak West Ridge

Boston Peak, Sahale Peak

Peak Johannesberg

We started ascent at 5:00 AM on Sunday. We began by traversing avalanche debris field at the upper edge of the glacier directly beneath Forbidden Peak’s South Face; we then turned into a couloir and ascended toward the saddle unroped. Along the way, we encountered two interesting mixed-climbing pitches rated M2. Upon reaching the saddle, we stowed our avalanche gear, roped up, and began climbing the ridge proper.

I took the lead, traversing the slope just beneath the crest. The snow was deep, making for strenuous trail-breaking. Alex climbed the second pitch and topped out onto the ridge. Swapping leads, we continued until we reached the crux.

Pitch 1

Pitch 2

Pitch 3

Pitch 3

Sasha took the lead again. After belaying me up, Sasha stepped aside to let me pass, and at 12:00 PM, I stood atop the false summit — which appeared to be just a couple of meters lower than the true summit.

Pitch 4

There was no anchor point on the true summit. We decided not to overcomplicate things, so we snapped a selfie with the main summit before beginning our descent. We occasionally encountered established rappel anchors, but we also frequently had to make our own using cordage and rappel rings. We also did belayed downclimbing. After descending to the saddle at the start of the West Ridge, we executed one final rappel—leaving our anchor behind and then continued our descent unroped. We reached our tent camp at 5:00 PM. At 6:00 PM, we set out for the trail. We managed to make it back to our bicycles just before dark, without needing headlamps.

True summit

Peak Eldorado

Our tent below

Gear notes:

• Rope: 60 m
• Ice tools: 2 per person
• Pitons: 3 (we placed one)
• Ice screw: 1 (not used)
• Nuts (small and medium): 10
• Cams (up to #1): 7
• Slings/Quickdraws: 10
• Webbings: 4 pcs (all deployed at the rappel stations)
• Rappel rings: 3 pcs (all deployed at the rappel stations)