The Tooth - South Face - 10.18.08

With the days shortening and the temps dropping, Julie and I were thinking of at least one more alpine summit this season. The original plan of the East Ridge of Ingall's Peak seemed a bit snowy and cold, so we opted for the South Face of The Tooth. It is only an hour drive, and we had both done the route, and we could see how much snow there was higher up. Plus the partly/mostly sunny forecast and south facing nature, meant relatively warm temps.

So we headed out Saturday morning at a leisurely pace to The Tooth. We were the second car in the parking lot that wasn't related to some type of Alpental Ski Patrol meeting. We left the parking lot in clouds and heavy dampness. The closer we got to The Tooth, the better the skies appeared. When we got to Pineapple Pass, it was quite cold, but at least the rock was dry.

Julie started up the first pitch with gloves on while I belayed with my poofy and gloves. I followed the first pitch with the gloves on and the poofy, and took them both off before starting off the lead on the second pitch. (We were now in the sun.) The next two pitches went off without a hitch, and then we were sitting on top of The Tooth by ourselves.

Four rappels later, and we were greeted by a soloist at Pineapple Pass who was looking to get a decent time for a car to car trip. The hike out was under clearer skies, and beautiful fall colors. Even though it was mid October, the weather was nice enough that we would have expected to see more people climbing. We're glad we didn't as it made for a really pleasant experience, and an 8 hour car to car climb.

My pics are located here.