Matt Lemke - Mar 16, 2021 4:01 am Date Climbed: Mar 11, 2021
Forbes Route via East approach
Excellent route. Trail was in awesome condition, despite what other reports had said. Route was 5.2 at the hardest, of which the first pitch I thought was the crux crawling through the chockstone.
mstender - Nov 13, 2017 2:06 pm Date Climbed: Nov 12, 2017
Awesome Climb!
Climbed with Paul McClellan and Michael Berry. We did the west side approach and standard route. I really enjoyed this climb! Awesome views from the summit. Probably my favorite climb so far in AZ.
rtgomez90 - May 4, 2017 9:57 pm Date Climbed: Mar 26, 2017
Babo
Forbes route west approach. Ladder pitch bolts are showing their age. Long day.
jdmorehouse - Mar 14, 2017 9:50 am Date Climbed: May 11, 2017
2nd Time Around
Cerro del Pinacate the day before. Very warm for this early in March.
Fairweather - Oct 17, 2015 8:33 pm Date Climbed: May 11, 1996
SE Arete
Fun route, and great summit in the remote Southern AZ desert.
With Scott.
Deb - Apr 12, 2015 8:10 pm Date Climbed: Apr 10, 2015
SE Arete
Stellar climb with Kim. Exposure made the 5.6 feel a bit more tense. Perfect weather and no issues with approach, route or descent finding. Helluva climb!
jdmorehouse - Apr 6, 2015 5:05 pm Date Climbed: Mar 31, 2015
Solo Hike
Via the DPS A route. The Class 4 wall was easily climbed. I took 200' of 9mm rope for the rappel back down. It was a very nice peak, and I'll likely go back again this fall.
seano - Dec 16, 2014 10:39 am Date Climbed: Dec 12, 2014
Thomas Canyon/Forbes
My low-clearance 2WD got me 5 miles short of the ranch gate, so I had a bit of a jog. Thanks to some crappy directions from another site, I took the wrong road and had a bit of a bushwhack to get back on-route. I was planning to go up the SE ridge, but ended up doing the standard Forbes route instead, which was also fun and maybe 5.2-ish. Trip report.
gimpilator - Dec 6, 2013 6:44 pm Date Climbed: Nov 11, 2014
It took two attempts
This is one the most awesome peaks I've climbed! We came back nearly a year later. Greg Slayden soloed the low fifth section and belayed us up. The route is complex and has amazing ledges. We had a little bit of snow falling on us on the summit and descended in a lightning and rain storm. Awesome! Trip report and photos
December 5, 2013 attempt:
Our group made it to within 350 vertical feet of the summit. We were slammed with a blizzard and much of the scramble route was covered in verglass and wet snow.
surgent - Nov 11, 2013 1:08 pm Date Climbed: Nov 9, 2013
Wonderful summit!
With Scott Kelley and Scott Peavy. Followed west approach. Kelley led the ladder pitch. Exhilarating climb, serene, peaceful summit. Can't say enough kind things about this peak!
leftfield - May 5, 2012 12:45 am Date Climbed: Apr 21, 2012
Thomas Canyon
A long way from home (Portland, Oregon) climbing with members of the Arizona Mountaineering Club. Peerless weather. Smooth climbing all three pitches. Bottleneck with two other groups of six at Ladder Pitch. Saw a rattlesnake on the way out.
MoapaPk - Mar 18, 2012 4:25 am Date Climbed: Mar 17, 2012
West-side trail to Ladder Pitch
Luck of the Irish! With CP (who led the Ladder Pitch) and EK. What a neat experience. The Tohono O’odham Nation campground on the west side was great. 6.75h RT, with a healthy stay on summit; DPS estimate (9 h) may be reasonable with a large group. We found the trail all the way -- but the trail becomes Hobbit-high about 200' vertical above the top of ladder pitch.
Daria - Oct 22, 2011 9:14 pm Date Climbed: Oct 7, 2011
via Born of Water 5.10
Was aiming for SE Arete, but ended up on SW face. Iffy climb, some memorable moves, amazing peak and area.
Sirena - Nov 2, 2010 10:43 pm Date Climbed: Mar 15, 2009
Forbes Route from Thomas Canyon
My very first technical climb- what an amazing place! Trip log at http://www.aztrail4fms.org/trailjournalblog.htm?blogentryid=4489035
Bob Bolton - Sep 18, 2010 12:20 am Date Climbed: Oct 31, 2009
West route
Duane and I did this one on a trip to AZ for working on the Lower 48 4000-foot+ prominences. Duane led the rock pitch and dropped me a belay. Fun peak!
Sarah Simon - Oct 26, 2009 9:03 pm Date Climbed: Oct 25, 2009
Forbes Route
Ahh, persistence pays off. What a beautiful day on this mountain. The bushwacking, if you ask me, makes for the most difficult going on the Forbes Route. I rejoiced to reach this special summit and take in the views of the desert below. However, I am covered in bruises and scrapes from the bushwack segments and scrambles. Interesting, a previous summit visitor left some "medicinal herbs" on the summit, complete with pipe and lighter. Nope, I did not partake.
Frist time using a rope... and I had to have that rappel.. would not have been able to climb down! that fear of heights thing...
Bob Burd - May 11, 2009 6:36 pm Date Climbed: Apr 14, 2009
Forbes Route from the west
An enjoyable day with Rick and Matthew. Trip Report
sbkelley - Apr 6, 2009 11:40 am Date Climbed: Apr 5, 2009
Forbes Route
Unbelievably fun route on great rock, with sweeping views the entire day. That trudge up Thomas Canyon to the saddle was well worth the effort. Babo's a long day no matter how you do it, but my favorite Arizona peak so far.
Sarah Simon - Feb 19, 2009 5:25 pm Date Climbed: Feb 16, 2009
Forbes Route
Nope,I sure was not successful, but it wasn't for lack of trying.
Soon after leaving the saddle, we were post-holing up to our knees and even thighs. After ascending a snow-filled couloir (which is, I'm told, usually a delightful little scamper) we reached the first pitch. Due to ice, we had to do trickier climbing than anticipated and squeeze under a chockstone toward the back of the big crack. The slab pitch - what can I say, water takes the path of least resistance. With all the standard routes slick with ice, the climbing was over my head skill-set wise. After getting stuck in a grotto behind a rock bulge I couldn't surmount, we lowered down the slab pitch, then rapped down the first pitch as well as our slick little desert couloir.
I had a blast that day and this was a great way to spend my 35th birthday. I only wish I could have made the summit.
Matt Lemke - Mar 16, 2021 4:01 am Date Climbed: Mar 11, 2021
Forbes Route via East approachExcellent route. Trail was in awesome condition, despite what other reports had said. Route was 5.2 at the hardest, of which the first pitch I thought was the crux crawling through the chockstone.
mstender - Nov 13, 2017 2:06 pm Date Climbed: Nov 12, 2017
Awesome Climb!Climbed with Paul McClellan and Michael Berry. We did the west side approach and standard route. I really enjoyed this climb! Awesome views from the summit. Probably my favorite climb so far in AZ.
rtgomez90 - May 4, 2017 9:57 pm Date Climbed: Mar 26, 2017
BaboForbes route west approach. Ladder pitch bolts are showing their age. Long day.
jdmorehouse - Mar 14, 2017 9:50 am Date Climbed: May 11, 2017
2nd Time AroundCerro del Pinacate the day before. Very warm for this early in March.
Fairweather - Oct 17, 2015 8:33 pm Date Climbed: May 11, 1996
SE AreteFun route, and great summit in the remote Southern AZ desert.
With Scott.
Deb - Apr 12, 2015 8:10 pm Date Climbed: Apr 10, 2015
SE AreteStellar climb with Kim. Exposure made the 5.6 feel a bit more tense. Perfect weather and no issues with approach, route or descent finding. Helluva climb!
jdmorehouse - Apr 6, 2015 5:05 pm Date Climbed: Mar 31, 2015
Solo HikeVia the DPS A route. The Class 4 wall was easily climbed. I took 200' of 9mm rope for the rappel back down. It was a very nice peak, and I'll likely go back again this fall.
seano - Dec 16, 2014 10:39 am Date Climbed: Dec 12, 2014
Thomas Canyon/ForbesMy low-clearance 2WD got me 5 miles short of the ranch gate, so I had a bit of a jog. Thanks to some crappy directions from another site, I took the wrong road and had a bit of a bushwhack to get back on-route. I was planning to go up the SE ridge, but ended up doing the standard Forbes route instead, which was also fun and maybe 5.2-ish. Trip report.
gimpilator - Dec 6, 2013 6:44 pm Date Climbed: Nov 11, 2014
It took two attemptsThis is one the most awesome peaks I've climbed! We came back nearly a year later. Greg Slayden soloed the low fifth section and belayed us up. The route is complex and has amazing ledges. We had a little bit of snow falling on us on the summit and descended in a lightning and rain storm. Awesome! Trip report and photos
December 5, 2013 attempt:
Our group made it to within 350 vertical feet of the summit. We were slammed with a blizzard and much of the scramble route was covered in verglass and wet snow.
surgent - Nov 11, 2013 1:08 pm Date Climbed: Nov 9, 2013
Wonderful summit!With Scott Kelley and Scott Peavy. Followed west approach. Kelley led the ladder pitch. Exhilarating climb, serene, peaceful summit. Can't say enough kind things about this peak!
Want to see the old ladder?
Old Ladder
leftfield - May 5, 2012 12:45 am Date Climbed: Apr 21, 2012
Thomas CanyonA long way from home (Portland, Oregon) climbing with members of the Arizona Mountaineering Club. Peerless weather. Smooth climbing all three pitches. Bottleneck with two other groups of six at Ladder Pitch. Saw a rattlesnake on the way out.
MoapaPk - Mar 18, 2012 4:25 am Date Climbed: Mar 17, 2012
West-side trail to Ladder PitchLuck of the Irish! With CP (who led the Ladder Pitch) and EK. What a neat experience. The Tohono O’odham Nation campground on the west side was great. 6.75h RT, with a healthy stay on summit; DPS estimate (9 h) may be reasonable with a large group. We found the trail all the way -- but the trail becomes Hobbit-high about 200' vertical above the top of ladder pitch.
Daria - Oct 22, 2011 9:14 pm Date Climbed: Oct 7, 2011
via Born of Water 5.10Was aiming for SE Arete, but ended up on SW face. Iffy climb, some memorable moves, amazing peak and area.
Sirena - Nov 2, 2010 10:43 pm Date Climbed: Mar 15, 2009
Forbes Route from Thomas CanyonMy very first technical climb- what an amazing place! Trip log at http://www.aztrail4fms.org/trailjournalblog.htm?blogentryid=4489035
Bob Bolton - Sep 18, 2010 12:20 am Date Climbed: Oct 31, 2009
West routeDuane and I did this one on a trip to AZ for working on the Lower 48 4000-foot+ prominences. Duane led the rock pitch and dropped me a belay. Fun peak!
Sarah Simon - Oct 26, 2009 9:03 pm Date Climbed: Oct 25, 2009
Forbes RouteAhh, persistence pays off. What a beautiful day on this mountain. The bushwacking, if you ask me, makes for the most difficult going on the Forbes Route. I rejoiced to reach this special summit and take in the views of the desert below. However, I am covered in bruises and scrapes from the bushwack segments and scrambles. Interesting, a previous summit visitor left some "medicinal herbs" on the summit, complete with pipe and lighter. Nope, I did not partake.
imike - May 14, 2009 12:58 pm
My firstFrist time using a rope... and I had to have that rappel.. would not have been able to climb down! that fear of heights thing...
Bob Burd - May 11, 2009 6:36 pm Date Climbed: Apr 14, 2009
Forbes Route from the westAn enjoyable day with Rick and Matthew. Trip Report
sbkelley - Apr 6, 2009 11:40 am Date Climbed: Apr 5, 2009
Forbes RouteUnbelievably fun route on great rock, with sweeping views the entire day. That trudge up Thomas Canyon to the saddle was well worth the effort. Babo's a long day no matter how you do it, but my favorite Arizona peak so far.
Sarah Simon - Feb 19, 2009 5:25 pm Date Climbed: Feb 16, 2009
Forbes RouteNope,I sure was not successful, but it wasn't for lack of trying.
Soon after leaving the saddle, we were post-holing up to our knees and even thighs. After ascending a snow-filled couloir (which is, I'm told, usually a delightful little scamper) we reached the first pitch. Due to ice, we had to do trickier climbing than anticipated and squeeze under a chockstone toward the back of the big crack. The slab pitch - what can I say, water takes the path of least resistance. With all the standard routes slick with ice, the climbing was over my head skill-set wise. After getting stuck in a grotto behind a rock bulge I couldn't surmount, we lowered down the slab pitch, then rapped down the first pitch as well as our slick little desert couloir.
I had a blast that day and this was a great way to spend my 35th birthday. I only wish I could have made the summit.
I WILL be back!