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The Tooth, South Face

August 12, 2001

Day two of the www.mtncommunity.org party was a climb of the south face of the Tooth. Along for the day were Jeff, James (out from Arkansas!), Brett, Loren, Carolyn, and Rebecca.

We were all running late. Jeff, James, Brett, and Me because we'd been up so late the night before. Carolyn called to say she'd forgotten something in Tacoma and had to go get it. Well, Rebecca was on time, now that I think about it.

The East Face of the Tooth. The blue arrow points indicates the top of the approach gully. The red arrow indicates the base of the route, which generally follows the left skyline. The East Face route is in green.

Carolyn, Rebecca, James, Jeff, and Brett on the approach.

Chris wins the award for the most late, though. He caught us as we finished the traverse above Source Lake. We were surprised and glad to have him join us.

Jeff in the approach gully, Rebecca below.

Carolyn scrambling up to the base of the climb.

At the base of the route we divided into two teams of two and one team of three. Our chosen route is very popular, and we wanted to move quickly and stay together in order to minimize the disruption to other groups on the route.

Brett and Carolyn were the first team to start, with Brett leading. Jeff led up next to Carolyn, leading the second rope, with Rebecca following. I led the third rope, climbing alongside Rebecca.

Brett taking advantage of some natural pro on the first pitch.

Carolyn starts up the first pitch. This was Carolyn's first trad route and her first multi-pitch route.

There were many people at the first belay when I arrived. Brett was just finishing the second pitch, which left Carolyn, Jeff, Rebecca, and I, as well as a couple people from another group who were rapping the route. Chris and James arrived shortly after me, making for a very crowded belay. But everyone was quite friendly, and we made the best of the crowded situation. One woman on with the other group had a very cool pink helmet, which seemed to be the envy of everyone in our group, including the guys.

Rebecca and Jeff with matching helmets at the first belay. The other person was with a descending party.

The rest of the climb was less crowded. We made good time, belaying all four pitches, including the short last one. While Brett led the classic Catwalk finish, Jeff led the 5.4 crack variation. This put Brett and Jeff on top at nearly the same time. Chris led the Catwalk for the last rope, and James and I took advantage of the top rope to climb the direct, but unprotectable, 5.5 face finish.

Chris on the classic Catwalk of the last pitch.

Jeff leading the 5.4 variation on the last pitch.

James at the top of the last pitch, with the Denny Creek valley far below.

Brett and Carolyn on the summit.

We made double rope rappels down the route, and only got the ropes stuck on the last pitch. A nice person on another team freed them for us. Then we rapped down the gully directly below the route and got the ropes stuck again. I climbed back up the gully, not five minutes after mentioning to Jeff how loose and nasty it was, and freed them.

Rebecca rapping down the gully at the base of the route.

The walk out was quick, even with a couple stops to drink from drips along the way. Brett and I drank from the same one, though he was unfortunate and picked up a nasty little bug.

Beer was consumed in the parking lot, including a Guinness for Clover, who wasn't able to join us.

This page was last edited on Thursday, January 01, 2004
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