Trip Report
No rain on the Tooth!
After having a big Washington Pass weekend cancel, Rob and I took 3 Intense Basic students on their graduation climb of the Tooth on Labor Day. We kept a quick pace, hoping to beat any rain that came. Harley Sandoval, Den Locke, and Nick Anthony did a fantastic job!
Sherrie Trecker
- Tue, Sep 6, 2016
- The Tooth/South Face
- Climbing
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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no snow, no real obstacles.
Left the TH at 8 AM, back to cars at 3:50 PM. There were others on the route, but there was never a wait to climb or rappel.
One thing worth noting: a father/son duo was behind us, and ended up catching up to us on our last rappel. We all packed up and were about to scramble the third class terrain to get to the further notch, rather than take the double rope rappel directly into Great Scott Basin from the base of the climb to the first notch. I have done it both ways, and the double rope rappel always seems to take significantly more time, especially with 5-6 people. Plus, the rockfall danger is higher, and what if you get your rope stuck?
The man behind us had climbed the Tooth at least 50 times, and sort of questioned my sanity, but thanked us for the opportunity they had to jump on the double rope rappel and get ahead of us on the descent.
They started the rappel at the same time we started descending the scramble terrain. We were well below them in the basin by the time that they finally got off rappel and started to pack the ropes up. It was great to finally have a toe to toe comparison of the two descent options; it is now clear which one is faster.