The Tooth – An Easy Alpine Classic

looking up at pitch 1

Move to Washington as an alpine climber, and someone will ask you to climb The Tooth. It’s a showy pinnacle on a ridge above Denny Creek near Snoqualmie Pass, and sports an easy approach and a fun three-pitch summit of solid 5.4-ish rock. Early season the approach has a great snow climb, or later on, a somewhat gnarly talus hike. Being that it’s so close to the highway, it’s a nice training day for sussing out a new partner for bigger climbs, or just getting on something technical that feels remote but is close to home.

I’ve been up there twice this year. On solstice day, I was hiking in to check out Chair Peak on the same ridge, and decided not to do it solo. Solstice day is one of my favorite times to climb in the mountains – longest day, celebrating the light, making the best of it!

Cathy and Dave on the summit

hiking in – late June

So my Chair Peak mission had been delayed, and I’m sitting forlorn in the valley below the peaks, wondering what to do with the day, when a couple walked by and I asked them where they were headed. The Tooth! I had no harness or rock climbing shoes with me, but had my helmet and ice axe. I don’t make a habit of climbing in the backcountry with someone I’ve never climbed with at the crags first, but when they invited me to go with, I thought … why not? I have an hour’s more approach to get a sense of them, and I could get all the way to the base of the rock route and bail out safely without affecting their climb.

Mount Rainer from the north

By the time we got the base of the rock climb, I was comfortable with Cathy and Dave. All we talked about on the way up was climbing. So I tied a sit harness out of a 20 foot piece of 6 mil nylon cord and climbed the route in my mountain boots. Yeah, the rappels were a reeeeal joy in that thin little harness! Oy.

Cathy, Dave, and I had a great time, and the sky was bluebird with Mount Rainier flirting from close by. What a great surprise, an unexpected ascent of The Tooth on solstice day! Stoked.

the hike in – early July

A couple weeks later, another friend of mine asked if I wanted to go do it. Why not! When I did it with Cathy and Dave, I didn’t lead any of it, and I thought the lead would be great fun. So I set out with my friend Helen on a sunny Monday. It was a totally different experience – the snow had melted down a lot, we had to avoid some scary snow bridges over creeks, and there was some creative navigation of the “moat” between the snow and the warm rock (for newbies: a giant gap forms there, and it can be tricky to make the transition from snow to rock). I picked a slightly different route on the second pitch, which led to some committing moves over a rock-strewn ledge (ie: just. don’t. fall.), and it helped remind me how in the mountains, you have to keep your head together. Period.

Helen on pitch 1

Another bluebird sky day with an awesome climbing partner in the Cascades! We had the peak to ourselves until the last pitch (this climb is frequently very crowded due to its ease and access), and Helen, being a long-time local, gave me a visual tour of the entire mountain range. We were thankful on the way down that we’d found a way up without using snow bridges, because it was a really warm day, and navigating warm, dangerous, melted-out snow bridges over creeks in the twilight on the way down would have been… I don’t even want to think about it!

An easy alpine classic, The Tooth has quality rock, great views, and easy climbing on lower fifth-class terrain (tho I accidentally managed to choose a harder route than the typical 5.4…). It can be said that it’s best done early season, when there is lots of snow in the basin for the approach. Super fun!

Part of what’s so special to me about doing this peak is that it’s the first alpine rock climb I’ve done since my recovery. A year ago, I couldn’t have handled the hike on the trail that simply leads to the bottom of the basin, much less the following snow trudge up to the peak, 3 pitches of vertical rock and the hike out. Never mind carrying a rope and rack in my pack. The whole day, I was anxiously awaiting my body’s hard crash, and it never came. Knowing my options have opened up so much, my tick list just got a whole lot bigger!

Summit of The Tooth. This time I’m wearing a real harness 😉