Classic Alpine Rock Climb: The Tooth

Let's go climb a Washington classic: The Tooth in Snoqualmie Pass!

The Tooth is a great beginner alpine rock climb and one of the oldest and classic rock climbs in Washington history. We will aim to go up South Face which is a trad 5.4 climb with four pitches and a class 4 scramble. South Face climb follows juggy features, ledges and flakes up the relatively narrow south face of the Tooth, accessed from Pineapple Pass. At the summit, you will be rewarded with an excellent panorama of the Stuart Range, nearby peaks like Snoqualmie and Chair, and Mount Rainier to the south.

The approach will take about 3 hours or so at a moderate pace. Trailhead is at 3100′, leave trail at ~4100′ and follow climber's trail, rope up at 5280′, summit at 5604′. It's a very popular climb so it will be crowded given it is July 4th. Depending on the bottleneck conditions and group's comfort, I may switch to The Tooth Fairy route which is a sports 5.9 with six pitches with scrambling for P7. But, we will try our very best to stay the course. I will have my standard trad rack, alpine draws, sports quick draws, webbing, and 70m rope.

https://www.mountainproject.com/route/106378880/south-face
https://www.mountainproject.com/route/119074107/the-tooth-fairy

• Length: 5.0 mi
• Elevation Gain: 2,500 ft
• High Point: 5,600 ft
• Parking Permit Required: Northwest Forest Pass

Itinerary

1. 6:00AM Meet at Ash Way P&R for carpool and divvy up group gear
2. 7:15AM Arrive at Snow Lake Trailhead
3. 7:30AM Start approach
4. 11:00AM Get ready to climb at Pineapple Pass
5. 4:00PM Hike back to cars (this will vary on group's strength)
6. 6:30/7:00PM Drive back to Seattle just in time for fireworks

Items to bring

1. Ten Essentials
2. Bring your typical hiking gear and poles if needed
3. Microspikes (we should not need them but just in case)
4. Water (2L+)
5. Snacks/Lunch
6. Harness w/ PAS
7. ATC/Grigri/Pilot (we will need ATC to rappel)
8. 6 locking carabiners
9. Helmet
10. Hollowblock
11. 2 Runner sling
12. Rock shoes

Pre-requisites:
If there's enough interest and we have a team of four, I will need a confident climber who has led or is willing to lead pinkpoint on the trad route. If there's not enough interest, I will re-schedule for another weekend.

• Know how to lead belay
• Know how to soft catch lead falls
• Know how to belay follower from top (if you do not, do not worry, I will teach you)
• Know how to rappel
• Stoked to do a multi-pitch climb and comfortable lead belaying from a tight space
• Confident to climb 5.9s on Tooth Fairy, if need be

If you'd like to join, please message me with your climbing experience and/or Mountain Project profile. I am more than happy to get out sometime after work this week to help refresh some of the skills we will need at the exits.