The Tooth (South Face) -08/23/09

Katie and I enjoyed a wonderful day on the tooth. The hike up went really fast, but with the usual Bandit shenanigans it took us 3 hours to reach the base of the climb and we had to leave Bandit below a gully. When we got to the base, we noticed that we were about to be a part of the biggest cluster the tooth has ever seen. There was a group of six climbers all tied together by half ropes simul-climbing the tooth at one time. One person led the climb and five others climbed after him, but were all tied together. Just to reiterate, a six person simul-climb for a three pitch route. I asked if I could climb around them, but they were not into that. Nobody was moving and it felt like an eternity. One of the climbers mentioned that this was the best way they thought of and it should be faster than a party of three, but I don't know what he was talking about. Eventually after an hour or so, the sixth climber got on the wall and I led out right behind him. I would make a few moves then have to wait, and then repeat. Then all of a sudden a group of two, who were apparently in front of the group of six, started going down and threw their ropes over mine. Great times mate! I definitely acted like a big jackass when I was yelling down to Katie and asking her if she would like to join my tea party. Eventually we got to a place where I can sort of pass this mess and on lead, I spotted the sixth climber while he climbed with lots of slack in his line. Once to the left of the mess, the rest of the climb went off without a hitch and we were standing on top of the tooth in no time. Luckily we were able to rappel down before the party of six. Pictures can be found at http://alpinenapping.com/main.php/v/mountains/2009/tooth-08_23_09/