South Face of the Tooth

Only an hour from Seattle the Tooth offers some accessible climbing both in location and difficulty. The snow was finally starting to melt out so the Tooth finally became a solid option for a trip. With conflicting trip reports, lack of motivation to do productive work for my employer, and not wanting to get my friend into too much trouble on one of her first more alpine style climbs a quick trip up the Tooth seemed only appropriate. I opted for the South Face as I was going solo and I heard that it was pretty much easy fifth with some 5.4 sprinkled in.

Trip Logistics

The Tooth can be accessed via Snow Lake Trailhead in Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest just right off of Snoqualmie Pass. At the time a permit is required for parking during the summer. During winter months when ski season is going on I would double check as the parking lot is the same lot used for the Alpental Resort. 

The South Face is graded at 5.4. It is 4 pitches and mostly easy fifth class terrain with a bit of 5.4 sprinkled in. The rock quality is not great but for the most part do not expect to pull anything too big off. My biggest concern would be the sandy ledges with small rocks that may be knocked off by parties rappelling. Most teams look to pitch this out into all four pitches but the route is a very approachable solo. That being said your safety is your responsibility. Please please please if you choose to solo this route be confident and courteous to other climbers. Do not use the popularity of this route to justify making sketchy decisions and using other folks to bail you out. Also depending on the time of year you may want to bring an ice axe/crampons for the approach.

Trip Statistics
6 hours car to car
6 mile approach
2400ft of elevation gain

Map

Permits

Mountain Project

Gear
This is really going to depend on the style that you want to run this in. For pitching this out I would recommend no more than a single rack (no bigger than a BD 2) with a smattering of nuts. From what I saw others placing protection tends to be sparse, you honestly could get away with four cams in the BD 0.5 to 2 range if you're willing to run it out a bit. Anchors tended to be slung blocks so cord, slings, etc seem to be a nice have. In regards to getting down a 60 m rope was nice and will get you down comfortably. I have heard of folks rapping the route with 30m ropes but you will have to do some down climbing. If you plan to solo I would say bring something to rap the route because some of the down climbing looks uncomfortable but at the end of the day it is 100% your decision to decide what you feel comfortable with. 

I carried these items plus some other personal things:

• Protection (a few nuts and a couple cams just in case)
  
• 7mm cord (in case one of the rap anchors were in bad shape)
• 60m rope (to rappel)
• Sling, belay device, lockers, etc.
• Harness
• Helmet
  
• Rock shoes (my approach shoes were soaked by the time I got to the top so this was pretty nice)
• Ice axe (not a must have but made me feel a lot more comfortable on the snow slopes heading up)
  

Trip Report

So lets get into the climb!

The Approach

The approach is roughly 3 miles with 2400 feet of elevation gain. The first two miles will be on trail and then you will dip off to traverse cross country through snow or talus depending on the time of year.

My day started at 8am leaving the trailhead going up the Snow Lake Trail. It is very well defined and passes a variety of features. There are well made stairs, rocky sections, flowing rivers, waterfalls, and beautiful peaks in the distance. As I made my way up there was definitely a fair amount of water and a bit of snow on the trail.

Some of the peaks "peaking" out in the distance

One of the cool streams to cross

The Tooth is hiding to the left of the picture

After hiking about 1.7 miles I reached the turn off towards Source Lake! Rather than taking the switchback and heading up towards Snow Lake continue straight onto the less traveled trail.

 

You can see my shadow. I know, scandalous

 

 I continued on Source Lake Trail four another quarter of a mile (plus probably some change). Hopped over some more creeks, kicked steps through a bit more snow. As I continued the approach to The Tooth became more and more obvious. Just looking south of the trail you could start to see Pineapple Pass and the basin that you would ascend to.

As you continue on the trail, the route becomes more and more obvious. You can see the route other climbers have taken across the snowfield.

When the ascent to Pineapple Pass in the distance is pretty much a straight shot think about leaving the trail!

At some point you will be looking south and you will be able to see Pineapple Pass. This is about when you should think about leaving trail. Here you can see I had the advantage of following some climbers who went up before me but your mileage may vary.

My route overlayed onto the picture

At this point I left the trail and began my way across the snow slopes. I had to descend a bit but not too much. The sun had already hit the slopes so it was beginning to soften already and I was able to kick steps well. I pulled out my ice axe at this point because hey, why not. 

I eventually made it to that first tree line that you can see in the photo. This is where there is a bit of a river/stream/creek that you may need to cross. For me there was water flowing under a large snowfield that sat above it. It was a little disconcerting because I was not exactly sure what was going on below the snow surface. The field looked big though so I continued onward. 

Once on the other end the slope kicked up quite a bit. I was kicking steps right into the slope and huffing and puffing my way up. I was happy to have the ice axe at this point as my snow comfort levels are still pretty low.

I moved through the second tree line and the basin below Pineapple Pass opened up. You could see the pass and a beautiful view of the Tooth at this point. The line to Pineapple Pass was clear and all you have to do is veer towards it. 

Entering the basin! You can see the Tooth right ahead.

The Tooth in all its glory! Aim towards the notch on the left side of the picture.

I continued upwards slowly getting closer to the Tooth. As you get closer you will want to head towards the second notch to the left of the Tooth. You could theoretically try and go up the first notch but supposedly that is part of the rappel route and is a bit loose. 

Once you get to the notch head right. You will want to get around that first mini peak and the south face will be on the other end. There will be some third or fourth class moves to get there but they are not too bad. Do not go up too quickly as you may end up on that mini peak, not actually at the South Face. The Mountain Project description here is adequate. Sadly I do not have any great photos to assist other than the photo below.

The first pitch! You can see some other parties.

After all that fun scrambling, kicking steps, being happy I had an ice axe (I could go on and on),... I finally made it to the base of the climb. I found a group from the Mountaineers racking up to send. 6 folks climbing in groups of two making there way up.

I ditched the ice axe and approach the shoes and dawned my harness and rock shoes. At this point my approach shoes were soaked so those were definitely a no go for the climb. Once I was ready to go the second team was making their way up so I chatted with them and they were cool with me climbing through. So the climb began!

The Climb

Pitch 1

The first pitch was pretty fun! Solid enough rock, mostly 4th and easy fifth terrain. There was one 5.4 move that supposedly was supposed to be a mantel but I guess I missed the mantel part. Definitely a small 5.4 portion though. Eventually I got to the anchor occupied by three climbers from two different teams. We chatted for a bit and I found a good place to pass and continue upwards. One of them was super nice and offered some solid beta. 

Pitch 2

I continued up on some exposed easy fifth moves. Be comfortable here because it definitely felt a little airy for a second. There were two options, left or right. I chose left which was described by one of the other climbers as 4th class with a awkward 5th class move where you need to use your knee. The moves were definitely exposed but I never ended up using the knee. Easy fifth seemed appropriate but the line definitely was not immediately obvious. Both options end up at a dead tree. If you get there you are in a happy place.

Looking up after the technical section at the top of P2. Don't be deceived, there is sandy stuff on the other side of these rocks. It is quite disappointing.

Pitch 3 

Folks seemed to build an anchor around here but I truly do not understand it. You end up on a sandy ledge that has easy 4th class/3rd class climbing upwards. If you are willing to wind around a bit you can do this with likely just 3rd class moves to get to the base of the 4th pitch. This pitch was super short, very boring, but might be annoying to link with pitch 2 because of its zig zaggy nature and trees in the way. 

I just followed the easiest way up. Be prepared for some sand and try not to knock anything off.

Pitch 4

Looking down as I start P4

 

Eventually I reached the next steep bit. It will be very obvious that you have reached this pitch because it definitely kicks vertically. Here I stayed on the right side and climbed a more sustained 5.4/5.5 variation up to the rappel anchor. The rock was good, there were tons of jugs, but it definitely has awkward body position so be careful and be confident in your feet. There were some loose rocks but it was mostly fine.

Taking this variation you will miss the catwalk that is supposedly super exposed and fun. My understanding is the catwalk is towards the left. You can kinda see it from the base but I was confused by a trip report that said there was a 5.8 variation with a hand crack with a stuck green cam in it. Low on the wall there is a stuck green cam but I guess it was not a hand crack and one of the other climbers mentioned that was the way up to it. 

You will eventually top out and you get to descend! When I topped out I was the only one there. The final little bit to the top is definitely 2nd class from the rappel anchor so no need to stay roped up here. Took some pictures, enjoyed some snacks, and then slowly prepped myself for the descent back down the South Face. 

The view looking north

The Descent

To get off I found the rappel route down the South Face to be perfectly acceptable. Looking from the top down the face, the rappel route tends to stay to the left and out of the way of those coming up. Please be careful as the stations tend to have loose rocks.

 

Thanks for leaving a lovely anchor Rob!!!! You made my descent so much easier.

The rap anchors were slings around blocks or trees. They looked surprisingly fresh and someone labeled when they added more slings! Honestly 10/10 alpine rap anchors. This does not mean they will always be like this so come with your own cord to build an anchor just in case! I would recommend heading down with saddle bags for your rope. Lots of things for your rope to get caught on and it made it a lot easier than having to constantly re-toss on the way down. Also use stopper knots because some of these rappels are rope stretchers.

The first rappel was a full 30 meters all the way down to the stopper knots. This got me on a comfy ledge from which I disconnected and did a short 3rd class downclimb to the sandy 3rd pitch. I pulled my rope and down climbed to the top of the second pitch whose rap anchor is hidden a bit out of sight to the left (facing down to the base). I finished by rapping down the second pitch with rope to spare. After that I did another full 30 m rappel to the base of the climb. 

Once down another party just arrived and started to make their way up the face. I got my gear together and headed back from where I came. On the initial descent of the snowslope I ran into two other folks making their way up to hop on the South Face as well. 

After getting off the steep bit of snow I was able to sprint down the basin. The soft snow and gentle angle assisted in me literally running a almost a half a mile through snow back towards Source Lake.I eventually made it back to the trail and continued back to my car passing the occasional hiker heading up to Snow Lake.

 

All in all 10/10 pretty fun solo. Got a bit of alpine fun without having to really go to far into the alpine. I would say this could be a fun first alpine climb for some folks and it definitely was for many of the people out that day!

Happy climbing!

-m