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My First Time on Da Toof


JGowans

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Great day yesterday. I was with my Mounties group (6 of us) and went up the Tooth. Awesome weather. The approach wasn't too bad since the snow was pretty firm. The rock was totally clear of snow except towards the end of the 3rd pitch where there was a little snow to walk through. My partner was doing his first lead on trad. Some sketchy placements and pretty slow going but otherwise pretty safe...I mean, how dangerous can it be on dry rock on a 5.3 pitch?

 

In true Mounties fashion, I followed with my full-on hiking boots (no rock shoes allowed, WTF???), back pack stuffed full of enough shit to last two people 3 weeks atop the Tooth and an ice-ax attached to the pack that kept getting caught up in another group's rope. Ha!

 

Saw Scott-teryx there with his little Alpina chica swinging leads and doing it in about 1/4 of the time it took us.

 

Rapped down no probs and then rapped down Pineapple Pass which is still full of snow. Once we got down far enough, we were able to glissade all the way down to where it flattened out. The slog back was a pain cos the snow had melted and we had to pretty much posthole all the way back to the parking lot.

 

Anyway, all in all a great day out. Da Toof is in great shape just now and definitely recommended. I'm gonna get a lot more trad climbs under my belt this year and hopefully feel competent enough to start leading next season.

 

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Good Job!

The tooth was my first lead, back in the Stone Age. (Don't tell Dan Larson that, he was following. shocked.gif)

Lead it with a couple chocks, two tricams and one large hex (thats all I had at the time.). Did the 5.6 variation on the last pitch. My pack was a bit heavy too!

May go back soon for old times sake.

 

-By the way, can you get away with one rope on the raps? I think I call an intermediate anchor on the last one before Pinnaple Pass.

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Yeah I know. I would have taken her but for one, I'm sure she wouldn't have wanted to be with Der Mountie Patrol and in any case, the Mounties is an elite band of uber-Alpinists and we only let in the creme de la creme. Hee hee.

 

Nah, like I said, there was just us and Scot'teryx with his partner. Nobody else. Just as well really cos we were taking up the whole rock with enough stoppers, cams, and runners to scale El Cap smile.gif

 

Actually, I gotta give my partner credit...he was on the sharp end after all which is definitely a different story than following. bigdrink.gif

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This Irish thing is getting old you wanker! You know I'm 100% Scottish. I'd try to do a similar jook but calling you Canadian or Mexican just wouldn't be funny wink.gif Highest point in Scotland is Ben Nevis. I think it's about 4,200ft or thereabouts.

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Good to see you up there J!

Did you guys happen to find a shovel handle on the way out?

My alpine chica friend did not tie it off well to her pack and lost it somewhere inbetween the climb and the road.

 

Did you ever get the small nut out that was placed 2 feet back in the crack?

 

I heard that there was shit talking up top because we passed your rope team on the last pitch..... hellno3d.gif

 

I've also seen that one ponytail guy before in Vantage, but that's a whole 'nother story........ wazzup.gif

 

There was some serious comedy going on up there, and at the last belay, j and I could not stop freakin laughing yellaf.gifyellaf.gifyellaf.gifyellaf.gifyellaf.gif

 

BTW - avy conditions were sure bad yesterday, set off several small slides that moved slow but gained alot of snow everytime I cut a slope. The layer was generally 6 inches. That upper basin slab would be scary to watch go

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There was indeed some comedy up there. Pretty funny stuff.

 

Yeah, we found the shovel handle. It's got a phone number on it. My buddy (the ponytailed dude) is gonna call her. His name's Ken.

 

After wailing on the nut for about 10 miutes, we finally got the sucker loose. That crack was ripe for a cam. I don't know how he even got that stopper in there. Quite a feat.

 

As for shit talking...nope. All was cool. We were last but what do you expect. His rack was weighing him down. Ha Ha!!! One of those hexes was so big it could have plugged Pineapple pass.

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JGowans said:

This Irish thing is getting old you wanker! You know I'm 100% Scottish. I'd try to do a similar jook but calling you Canadian or Mexican just wouldn't be funny wink.gif Highest point in Scotland is Ben Nevis. I think it's about 4,200ft or thereabouts.

BEN NEVIS is GNARLEY man

rockband.giffruit.gifbigdrink.gif

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Yeah, we found the shovel handle. It's got a phone number on it. My buddy (the ponytailed dude) is gonna call her. His name's Ken.

 

It's actually mine, and that's my phone number. I wasn't too stoked to tell my wife a friend lost half of her shovel!

 

Maybe he can get it to an everett mountie that could get it to cascade crags?

 

Man did I get sunburned up there!

Watch out folks, I hear Toast is going up there this week perhaps -

 

BTW - still a ton of coverage up there for skiing, if it would just get cold at night up there it might not turn to mush so quick

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Thanks Kitten. Well, I did Cowboy on Saturday, Whitehorse on Sunday and The Tooth yesterday. I felt a little sluggish yesterday on the trail but once there I felt cool. I have to admit that it was pretty easy. The hardest part was hauling all the gear in the pack up the bloody rock.

 

One thing I'm beginning to realize is the trade off between the amount of gear one takes and the result in compromised safety. For example, what to leave / keep in your First Aid kit?, bringing how much extra clothing?, The size of the rack?, etc. There's tons of gear questions to consider and I think that I'm willing to accept a greater amount of risk than some in favor of a lighter pack. I guess it'll take an "incident" of some sort to make me reconsider that.

 

cheers,

/j

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JGowans said:

blah blah blah.....One thing I'm beginning to realize is the trade off between the amount of gear one takes and the result in compromised safety. For example, what to leave / keep in your First Aid kit?, bringing how much extra clothing?, The size of the rack?, etc....blah blah blah

/j

 

1/2 roll of duct tape will take care of all three potential needs. thumbs_up.gif

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JGowans said:

The size of the rack?, etc.

 

I remembered this time, and all we brought was the ol camalot .75, 1, 2 and lots of slings.

 

So to everyone else, how fun is it to free solo?

I would think the weight of your rope to rappel would suck to have on, or do you downclimb the whole thing? I am thinking that if I ever did free solo something it would be das toof or sabre

 

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So to everyone else, how fun is it to free solo?

I would think the weight of your rope to rappel would suck to have on, or do you downclimb the whole thing? I am thinking that if I ever did free solo something it would be das toof or sabre

 

Scott--

 

Just solo up and down, no need to bring a rope, however, real rock shoes make it a little more secure. I remember there was a discussion a while back and I think Dan Smith or ChucK had done it car to car in under 2 hours. It becomes an afterwork trail run with a boulder problem in the middle. It is so nice to get up there without the weight of gear dragging you down. It's much easier to pass people when you are soloing-- go for it!

 

 

bigdrink.gif

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