The Tooth - South Face - 02.20.10

2600' Elevation Gain
4 miles RT
Left Car: ~8 am
Summit: approx 3pm
Return to car: 7:30pm
<12 hours car to car

Ken wanted to knock out one of his winter goals of climbing The Tooth. He was recovering from a tweaked ankle and felt that his ankle was up to it. I warned him it may not be as easy as he thinks while trying to paint a picture of the conditions Julie and I climbed in last February. This time I packed steel crampons in case I felt I needed to climb in them.

We got off to a casual start and saw a few guys in the parking lot with plastic boots. (One was in Randonee boots, but no skis.) Since they had a rope, but no ice tools we figured they were headed for the same destination. We knew due to trip reports, that the North Face of Chair would be a zoo as everyone in the state would be descending upon it. So we would have one other party to work with. No big deal.

Three of us donned snowshoes from the start although they were not needed on the groomed road, it was nice to have their crampons when we left the road and the "trail" got icy. At which point, Jack who does not own snowshoes donned crampons for the ice (after prompted by a slip and fall.) We made time to the hanging valley although the path up was arduous and not very tracked snow. We were happy we made the decision to go with snowshoes, and I was especially happy I now had snowshoes with a riser bar. (And better still, that I could operate the riser bar with my trekking poles which have a notch in the handle for such tasks. Once in the hanging valley we took a break in the sun and donned a layer as it was colder and more windy higher up and we would be in the shade until getting on the rock. At this time we could see the party ahead of us and knew they were headed for the same destination.

We originally contemplated caching our snowshoes at the big boulder in the basin, but opted not to as they were helping more than ever near the head of the valley. We took them off near the entrance to the notch gully where we had to do a sketchy traverse over the cornice. (Which seemed safer than attempting to go through it on the right.) After that, Ken set a hand line for us to make the high traverse on the other side. Then we scurried up to Pineapple Pass.

The other party was still on the first pitch, so we geared up while they moved on. It turned out the guy hiking in ski boots had brought rock shoes, but the other guy was going to climb in his plastics. The original idea was I would combine the first two pitches, and Ken would have the second two. Jack and Dylan would climb together and decide who led what pitch. I led the first pitch, but due to rope drag, and an abundance of pro placement I opted to stop at the top of the first pitch and bring Ken up. That would also give Jack and Dylan the ability to get on the rock sooner. While definitely more attention grabbing than in summer, the first pitch was not nearly as scary as last February where virtually all holds had snow or ice on them. Many of the larger ledges did have snow and ice on them, but the smaller holds did not. And at no time was I wishing to have crampons on. In full sun the rock was warmer too. This meant I got to climb in bare hands and not in gloves which may have reduced the spiciness. While Ken climbed the pitch, the sun went behind clouds and with his wet gloves on struggled to maintain warm hands.

When Ken came up I offered him the pitch two lead and he set about climbing it. There was a funky two piton anchor part way up that he was glad to clip into. Then he placed a nut and a cam to protect an awkward mantle into snow from rock. The rest of the pitch he danced around the snow up the slab to the belay tree. I took the next pitch.

Although the party ahead of us had kicked nice steps into the snow on the third pitch, the sun was back out and it felt pretty sketchy on the soft snow and I opted to take the ice ax with me. (We had brought it up in case we felt we wanted it.) While it added security, it was better for keeping my hand out of the snow and getting cold for the rock bits. I brought Ken up and we contemplated the final pitch. Normally Ken likes to take the ramp, but the right side is supposed to be easier up to the rappel tree. So he decided on it and was on his way.

Since there was a traverse to the right on snow under the wall, Ken set a nut before heading out that way. Neither of us had climbed this section before and Ken did not know where to start. So he set about trying to place pro. After a cam and a slung horn, he tried to chop some ice to get at the stuck cam that had been there for years. (It was now joined by another BD .3 Camalot.) Since they were encased in ice he opted to place his own cam and had a web of rope around him. He removed the first cam he placed and straightened out the rope to reduce drag. Then he started upward. We did not realize until rapping off the summit that this was not the easy way. Ken likened it to 5.7, and when I got there I would say it was not 5.4, but hard to tell. Ken led a touchy lead up the left of the three or so small corners. It had awkward moves with not so go foot placements in between nice ledges. At one point Ken was doing the Fred Flintstone up. When we saw the two fixed cams on the right side corner, we knew that was supposed to be the easy way. Oh well, it was fun and interesting.

I led out the last bit to the summit from the rappel tree which consisted of steep snow. I was able to find a one foot square block to belay Ken up from. We hung out on the snow dome and noticed the paw prints of something that could have been a fox, coyote or bob cat. Wild. We watched as we saw people reaching the summit of Chair. As it was getting late, I belayed Ken back to the tree and took the ax so I could follow down. The last step before the rap tree alcove was tricky, but then I was back into the relative safety of the alcove. Ken had stopped Dylan and Jack from continuing up and they were setting a rappel from the top of the third pitch tree. Ken rapped to their anchor and I followed. It was nice to be in the sun again after hanging out at the windy and shady top rap station.

Our second rappel got us to the top of the second pitch and we set a double rope rappel to the base. Jack, Ken and Dylan all rapped on single strands before I tore out the extra anchoring and rapped last to the packs. It was starting to get dark and we were quickly getting ready to go. After the long period of time it took to get up and over the notch and to Pineapple Pass, we decided to rappel from Pineapple Pass down into the basin. Ken went first, as I was hesitant about cutting through the cornice. I followed and Dylan and Jack came behind. There was an issue and then we were back on snowshoes hiking out.

Once we hit the steep part exiting the hanging valley it was time for headlamps. We also removed snowshoes for this part as it seemed easier to descend without them. Although I will state having my new shorter snowshoes made it much easier to go down steep hills with them. There were plenty of times during the day where I stated aloud "I would not have felt comfortable doing that in my old snowshoes." Once back at the trail, we put the snowshoes on for the slog out.

This was a great trip, and it was fun to get out in the mountains on a climb with Ken. The route was in much easier shape than last year when Julie and I attempted it. Or perhaps the bluebird sunny day just made it feel easier. I looked at last years pics, and it did seem like there was more snow then. The climbing was enjoyable and Ken and I had a great time. Ken also got to take one of his 2010 goals off the tick list and that always feels nice. I'm pretty happy about this trip and hopefully I will remember that at the end of the year when I am reminiscing.

My pics are here.

The Tooth SW Face - 05.17.09

2600' Elevation Gain
4 miles RT
Left Car: 7:45am
Summit: approx 4pm
Return to car: 10:30pm
15 hour car to car

It was time for me to revisit the Southwest Face of the Tooth. Last year Julie and I had a great time with great weather on this climb. I had fond memories of it and decided I would share them with some friends (and a stranger.)

So I finally saw a coyote in Washington. Not in the desert where I expected. Not even in the wilderness. When we picked up Steve at the Eastgate P&R, there was a coyote pouncing around the tall grass on the north side of the lot.

We arrived a touch later than expected at the Alpental lot and geared up deciding to bring snowshoes, but leave the crampons in the car. The snow was already soft as there was no refreeze during the night. We started hiking up the trail behind a Washington Alpine Club party of about nine. Bare boots seemed to work well as there were nine people ahead of us stomping in tracks. When the trail started to head for the gully near Source Lake, we donned snowshoes for the softer less consolidated snow. Shortly after the gully got steep we went back to bare boots as the WAC was making some nice steps up the gully. We passed the WAC group in the basin as they geared up and we made our way to the base of the climb after stashing snowshoes and trekking poles at the notch.

We got the to base of the climb in a little over two hours, and noticed that about half the first pitch was still under snow. I proceeded to find a spot where the moat could be filled in and we could access the rock for the first pitch. After some snow engineering and gearing up, we were finally starting the route around 10:45am. Lori led off in boots on some spicy wet moves to gain the flaring off width. After some slow progress and minimal gear options she gained the ridge a bit. Then back across the top of the off width to easier ground and the tree at the top of the first pitch. I followed up, and Matt led behind wearing rock shoes.

I led out on the second pitch with minimal gear options and got to the point I believe we belayed from the previous year. (Having looked at last years photos, I attempted to belay from a much higher point this year.) I searched for a while for adequate anchors before building an anchor with blue and green aliens, and a slung horn. I brought Lori up and we discussed the next pitch.

Lori headed up the money pitch which starts on some slabby moves and gains a wide dirty crack before transitioning right into more blocky terrain. Now with rock shoes on, Lori sailed up the pitch. Steve and Matt had wisely set up a belay below me and Matt proceed to lead the pitch above me. He was well past me by the time I got my rock shoes on and headed up. I got to the next belay and had some water and a snack before reracking the gear, and heading out.

Once I turned the corner, there were people everywhere, as well as ropes. I climbed through/past a WAC group anchor, and then went to the final wall. I put a piece in and attempted to head out on the catwalk. There was no gear above my last piece and the rope drag was horrible. After a bit of attempting to make the moves go, I down climbed to the ledge and set up a belay to bring Lori up. By the time she arrived, the WAC were pulling their ropes, and we would have the summit to ourselves. She led off on the ramp variation as she did not like the description (not good pro) of the catwalk that I had given her. She reached the summit with some hooting and hollering, and then brought me up. As it was late, I left the gear in for Steve to clip to save us time.

We spent a brief amount of time on the summit, and prepared our raps. While I know many people do double rope raps off the South Face, I usually prefer single rope raps. However, the last rap station is somewhat dubious, and it also is a little higher than 30m from Pineapple Pass. So after two single rope raps we decide to do a double to the pass. This reminded me why I favor single rope raps. The ropes were blown in the wind and got tangled. Being the first to rap down, I had to stop at least three times to clean and rethrow the ropes. It seemed like an eternity. Once back at the pass, I waited for Lori, and we went to retrieve Steve's and my packs from the base of the climb.

After some time, we were joined by Steve. Shortly afterward, Matt yells that he is having trouble pulling the ropes. I put my harness back on and ran up the snow to help him. We pulled at the ropes, and it almost felt like there were knots on both sides of the anchor. I told him it looked like the ropes were twisted and perhaps we should set about getting that in order. Once untwisted the rope pull acted the same way. At this time Steve came up to help and mentioned that the knot may be catching on the lip. With a strong flick of the rope, it cleared the lip and we were pulling the rope. After that, it was time to hike out.

The snow out was super soft. Ken had told me waist deep mashed potatoes, and he was correct. Once out of the steeper sections near the notch, we donned snowshoes and proceeded to the gully. With headlamps on, and back in boots, we plunged or glissaded down the gully where we put the snowshoes on again and hiked out.

Overall a nice fun trip. Although it was long, it was not an epic, and other than pulling the ropes, we did not experience any issues. I think when the weather is nice and we are exploring the route, time just got away from us. Sure there were time wasters. It took a fair amount of time to make a safe starting belay at the base. Lori took a while on the first pitch. I took a while finding a suitable anchor on the second and even the fourth. But there was no negative impact other than we all missed dinner. It was really great on the hike out to see the stars start coming out and it was my first time up in the Source Lake Basin at night. It was also my first night hiking in a while, and I do miss it.

I will say too, that I remembered enjoying this climb more last year. This year, I felt like the route had worse rock, and less pro. Not sure if that is a symptom of this being my first alpine rock climb of the year, or how my memory softened the edges. I do remember thinking when I first climbed it why it wasn't done more often. I now have a better understanding of why it is not done too often, but I think it is still worthy of doing.

My pics are here.
Lori's pics are here.

The Tooth - South Face - 02.28.09

Julie and I decided to make a ski attempt on The Tooth this Saturday. Avalanche conditions were cooperating, and a recent dump of new snow meant that the skiing would be more enjoyable than the hard crust which had been persisting.

We figured the climbing may be a bit more time consuming, but that we would make up time on the ski descent. This was of course, not computing that we were both less than stellar skiers. We left the Alpental parking lot at 7:45am under sunny, mostly clear skies. We followed the cat track until it became a skin track and continued on that for a bit. There were multiple skin tracks, which were also return tracks, and we wasted a bit of time in the woods trying to keep on decent track. We finally reached the gully to ascend to the hanging valley, and started skinning up in the trees between the two chutes. This lost us lots of time. Off of any track, the snow was deep. Floatation was required. Julie took a ski off, and was waist deep in snow. The slope was steep and treed, so not easy to make switchbacks on. Direct ascent usually resulted in sliding backward down slope. We struggled up this section until it leveled out at the top. That is when I realized the easier way to ascend it is to switch back under Chair Peak, and then take a rising traverse over to the basin. Oh well.

After the fiasco of getting to the basin, the skinning was fairly straightforward from there to The Tooth. Only thing was the skin track reaching the top of the basin proved a little too steep for me, and I had to blaze my own track. This was difficult, as the snow was deep, and we had heavy packs. Skinning under The Tooth we noticed a party on the first pitch of the NE Slabs route. The NE Slabs looks to be in right now, and almost made me wish we were going to attempt that route. We also noticed a party climbing the South Face as well.

When we arrived below the notch, we took our skis off and booted up consolidated steps up the gully. We stashed our skis and poles at the notch. I took this break to switch into climbing boots. We both took out ice axes for the travel over to Pineapple Pass. Snow down and over to Pineapple Pass was deep and unconsolidated. We post-holed down, across and up to the pass. Once there, we put on all our layers, and geared up. Julie and I debated about her wearing of ski boots or the approach shoes she brought to climb in. If she chose ski boots, I would be saddled with the leading on all pitches but the third.

I took first lead and started to climb. I wasted a bit of time deciding on which way to start. A party ahead of us had gone far left. I did not like this option, as it involved pulling on a boulder that I thought I could dislodge. After the boulder, was a snowy, icy, wet slab which was also not appealing. So I went to the right and got onto a ramp there which had about 2' of snow on it. Once through the ramp I climbed gingerly on the wet and snowy holds up the rest of the pitch.

I arrived at the top of the first pitch to a climber waiting to climb the second pitch. The party of three ahead of us was not making good time on the route. It was about 12:30pm. Julie was freezing down at the notch, and we decided we did not want to wait behind this other party all day and have a 4pm summit. I rapped back down to the pass and cleaned my gear along the way. We also rapped from Pineapple Pass to get by some sketchy wet snowy rock on the down climb. Once done rappelling, we were post-holing through the snow back to the notch.

At the notch, I finally ate something and we prepared to climb back out into the bowl. For me, this meant changing back into my ski boots, and putting my skis on my pack. I have to say, in winter conditions, is the easiest way up and down the notch. No 3rd class loose rock. No hard spring snow. Once at the bottom of the consolidated steps, we put our skis back on. A party of resort skiers was bare booting up our skin track in snow up to their thighs. They were attempting to do a run from the top of the basin. Julie got her skis on and proceeded to make long traverses of the slope with step turns at the ends. I made some long traverses as well in the upper steep section of the bowl. When we hit the flatter section, I noticed I forgot to put my boots in downhill mode, and had left the upper buckles unbuckled. No wonder I didn't feel too good on the steeps.

We started to make some good turns toward the bottom of the basin. Then it was time to pick our way down the chute. We descended the western chute, which is normally a small creek in the summer. Near the top it was somewhat steep, but it also had numerous holes. We made our way down. Julie sidestepping and traversing, while I would make a few turns then stop. We eventually made it back down to the correct skin/descent traverse and followed that. Since it was used a lot, it was hard packed and fast. This made for a few crashes by Julie and myself. Once we saw the lower cat track, we skied a powdered slope to it and made nice time back to the car.

Overall, it was an interesting trip. I accomplished one of my goals for this year which was a ski approach for The Tooth. Even though it did not result in a summit, it was good for the learning experience. It made me realize too, that skiing is not inherently faster than walking or snow shoeing. If I was a better skier, this may be true, but as of February 28, 2009, it may have taken equal or more time to ski. It was also interesting to see the south face in winter conditions. The recent dump of snow had more snow on the route than other parties probably experienced earlier this winter. The second pitch looked to have less snow on it than the first, but, of course, I did not climb it.

My pics are here.

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.

The Tooth - SW Face 07.19.08

Julie and I decided on the Tooth as we didn't have the ability to bivy at the trail head on Friday, and wanted to be back in town on Saturday evening. The Southwest Face is moderately harder than the more common South Face route, and less crowded. The 'summer' approach is being used now, but there is still enough snow that the talus field is not an issue. We had little difficulty finding the route (Thanks Scott) but did have some route finding issues while on route. The route basically climbs a series of corners to then join the South Face. Judging from another party on the route with us, there are different options/variations that can be taken. (They did different variations on pitches 1 and 4.) Climbing was nice, although there was an uncomfortable squeeze chimney on the first pitch, and there were some areas where protection was scarce. We rapped the South Face after chatting with a party of four on the summit. Overall a great climb on a great day.

Pictures are here.