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Trip Report    

Basic Rock Climb - The Tooth/South Face

Great weather for a day on the Tooth. Winter approach route is still fully in.

  • Road suitable for all vehicles
  • The winter approach staying south of the river to Source Lake is in excellent condition. There was snow all the way from the upper Alpental lot to the top of the approach gully. There are still a couple snow patches on the climbing route.

Started walking at 6:10am. After a clear night the snow was firm. One student wore microspikes and was glad to have them, but the rest of us got by without. A small chance of thunderstorms was forecast for the afternoon, so we kept an eye on conditions. We were able to kick steps to the top of the approach gully. The riskiest part was the steep snow down and back up to the start of the climb. The climbing was excellent. We wore boots on the route, which was good because there were still a couple snow patches. We noticed cumulus clouds forming in the distance, but we stayed in sunshine. We rappelled back to the base, then retraced our steps to the pass. The very top of the gully will melt out soon.  Returned to the cars about 4:00 just as the sky south of us darkened with clouds. Beautiful day out for the first alpine climb for all three students.