It doesn't get any better than this!

Karen Natzel, Tim Welch, Victor Galotti and I combined the appetizer of Sharkfin Tower on approach day, with the dessert-for-a-meal East Ridge Direct of Forbidden. A perfect weekend - except the rappel from hell down a waterfall, where Tim's clear head narrowly avoided an epic stuck rope that would have required climbing back up the waterfall to retrieve. Then the final rap deposited us 18 feet down into a deep dark moat, requiring vertical two-tooling to escape back to the surface of the glacier. The hike down the glacier by moonlight almost made up for it though.

(Next time: stick to the ridge on the descent, down the margin of the glacier after the short 4th class section.)

East Ridge was everything the beta said: super-fun 5th class, half simulclimbed, with a short 5.8 crux and an au-cheval scoot to spice things up. I was totally in my element when the ridge narrowed - I kid you not - to 1/4" wide - the barest of contact between two adjaent pillars!

Happy Birthday again to me, 12 years to the day plus 1 after climbing the West Ridge!