The Moose's Tooth has intrigued me since I first read about it over 30 years ago in the Fifty Classic Climbs of North America by Steve Roper and Allen Steck (1979). The American Alpine Journal (AAJ) reports over the years on ascents of the Ham and Eggs and Shaken, Not Stirred routes further piqued my interest in climbing the peak. The publication of Alaska Climbing by Joe Puryear cemented my interest in it.
So then, along comes Steve...
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 'Shaken, Not Stirred' on the Moose's Tooth during our flight to the Root Canal Glacier (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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I met Steve in Cody, Wyoming, in January 2012. Our partnership consisted of Steve and Ivan's (his partner on his Cody trip) sharing a rope with me for a pitch of Too Cold to Fire. We third-classed the approach pitch (maybe WI 3) and roped up for the WI 4 crux which Steve cruised on lead. Strong and enthusiastic, Steve hadn't climbed in Alaska, but wanted to and was available. With some decent weather, it was clear that we were going to have fun!
Route info? There's excellent information on many of the routes short and long in Denali National Park in Greg Puryear's Alaska Climbing - some Moose's Tooth info excerpted here:
http://www.supertopo.com/rock-climbing/Alaska-USA-The-Mooses-Tooth-Ham-and-Eggs
http://www.supertopo.com/rock-climbing/Alaska-USA-The-Mooses-Tooth-Shaken-Not-Stirred
There's additional info on the internet at MtnProject, SummitPost, and in AAJ's, trip reports, and blogs such as this one from Greg Crouch on his first ascent with Jim Donini in 1997 of Shaken, Not Stirred:
http://gregcrouch.com/2013/shaken-not-stirred-fa
And we had first hand information and insights from Harry Hunt who was half of the second ascent party on Ham and Eggs, has also climbed Shaken, Not Stirred, and had been my host and climbing partner for Alaskan waterfall ice in Valdez and nearer to Anchorage in February of this year.
With big hopes and plans, and a reserve of optimistic patience for the crappy weather we were likely to get at some point on our trip, Steve flew up from Denver and I from San Francisco to meet in Anchorage at 12:30a.m. on May 8.
We got our shuttle ride to Talkeetna (sky looked clear!) and were dropped off at Talkeetna Air Taxi's (TAT's) bunkhouse for a couple of hours of sleep.
Breakfast at the Roadhouse is traditional prior to getting flown in and dropped off to climb. Half of the 'Roadhouse Standard' (juice, bottomless coffee or tea, extra thick peppered bacon, honey whole wheat toast, home fries, and scrambled eggs) is a huge meal. The full Roadhouse Standard is gargantuan. We had time available for breakfast since the National Park Service (NPS) and TAT's offices weren't open, yet.
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 Steve getting ready for first breakfast at the Roadhouse. Note the clear blue skies - excellent flying weather! Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve's partner on this trip (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 Checked in with the Rangers. Credit: BMcC |
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The NPS climber registration notebook showed 13 people on the Root Canal Glacier below the Moose's Tooth as of May 6. TAT had a different tally, but did not include climbers flown in by other services or climbers who hiked up the icefall to the Root Canal from the Ruth Glacier. The two routes we wanted to do were getting some attention and traffic. It could be crowded.
The forecast was for several good, clear days to be followed by unsettled weather and light snow - there was the edge of a low pressure system slowly passing by.
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 Checked in with TAT. This Beaver was our plane for the flight in. Jonathon was our pilot. Hooray - we were flying mere hours after arriving in Alaska! Credit: BMcC |
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 Adam and Rick (both from the Salt Lake City area), and me (pic courtesy of Steve Towne, our co-pilot on this flight). Credit: BMcC |
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Adam and Rick were also planning to climb Ham and Eggs and Shaken, Not Stirred.
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 The flight from Talkeetna is quite scenic. Credit: BMcC |
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 Credit: BMcC |
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 Flying over the Ruth Glacier (the Great Gorge) with Denail behind and above Mt. Dickey on the right. Credit: BMcC |
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 Mt. Barrill, with the 'Japanese Couloir' near its left margin, was one of our fall-back climbs had we not been able to get flown up onto the Root Canal Glacier and been dropped off instead somewhere down on the Ruth. Credit: BMcC |
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 On our pre-landing flyby, 'Ham and Eggs' looked steep and inviting (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 ... and seconds later we flew by 'Shaken, Not Stirred' - even steeper and more inviting! (pic courtesy of Steve Towne) Credit: BMcC |
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 Rather than being delivered by TAT to the Root Canal Glacier, climbers can base camp on the Ruth or at the Mountain House, and then ski and hike up this snowfield to access the climbs on the south side of the Moose's Tooth. We chose to fly. Credit: BMcC |
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 Heading in.... the air strip is visible left of center and camp in the center of this pic. Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve - incredibly excited about his first ever ski plane flight and glacier landing. In his other life, Steve is a commercial airline pilot. Credit: BMcC |
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 'Ham and Eggs' - complete with packed approach tracks. Credit: BMcC |
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 NIce view of Denali from our camp. Credit: BMcC |
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We heard the rock spire in the left middle of the pic called the Incisor. It's a great spot for viewing Shaken, Not Stirred, the Ruth Glacier, Mt. Barrill, Mt. Dickey, and Denali.
By the way, in their devious search for easy food, ravens unzipped and removed and scattered about stuff from the duffle bags we left outside the tent - even though the duffles held no food.
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 After setting up our camp, we visited with other climbers to see what they were planning to climb the next day (5/9/13). Credit: BMcC |
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Adam and Rick were going to do an alpine start on Shaken, Not Stirred. The ever-smiling and energetic Freddie Wilkinson (who recently did the complete traverse of the Moose's Tooth and has been climbing with Uli Steck in the Himalaya) and Bruce were going to be with us on Ham and Eggs. The other parties in camp were between climbs... yay!
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 When Freddie asked when we'd be starting, Steve boldly announced that we wanted to be climbing by 5:30a.m.. My thought, "Sure, nice idea, but probably not..." Freddie and Bruce planned to start later. Here they are, ahead of us. Credit: BMcC |
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 Freddie at the 5.6 rock step with Bruce and Steve heading up. Credit: BMcC |
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 Looking back down at Steve coming up the 2nd pitch. He led the 1st pitch. Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve on the sharp end - we simul-climbed the next 5 pitches up steep, but easy snow. Steve caught up with Freddie and Bruce at the 7th belay as (and because) they were heading down - Bruce was sick and unable to keep fluids in. Bummer! Credit: BMcC |
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 Freddie and Bruce were far below in no time. Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve at the 7th belay. Credit: BMcC |
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We had heard from Adam, Steve, and a guy with rock-shredded puff pants (I'll call him Mr. Puffy since I didn't catch his name) that a #3 cam was essential for the 5.9 rock pitch up the slot to the right of Steve. We also heard from one of the 2 partners of Mr.Puffy that when they rapped, they saw steep ice off to the left of the 5.9 grovel.
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 Meanwhile behind us, this was the view from the 7th belay - I think the peaks (from right to left) are Dickey, Bradley, Wake, and (a bit of) Johnson. Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve pondering my fate. Decision time: do I head right for the rock pitch (which shredded Mr. Puffy's pants) and for which we had no #3 cam, or do I go left of the buttress in hopes of finding ice? Credit: BMcC |
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Easy decision: l chose to go left.
Steve, unable to see me, "How's the ice look?"
Me, "Good, maybe AI 2."
Steve, with some disbelief in his voice, asks me just as I've climbed the short overhanging section above the near vertical bit, "Really?"
Me, "Well, uh, it is steeper here. Call it AI 2+." Actually, maybe, probably 3 something, but super mellow.
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 Steve coming to join me above the crux of the route. Credit: BMcC |
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Nice view of the air strip and camp from the 8th belay. Good weather, temps in the low teens, and we'd done the crux. Merely 10 pitches plus the corniced summit ridge to go!
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 The route continued to be mostly steepish with mellow snow and some steep ice steps (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 Steep little corner. With the rock at my back, it was easy to have both hands free to place a screw (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve coming up to my belay. Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve on the steep. Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve coming up. Camp and air strip getting farther and farther below... Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve's turn on the sharp end of the rope. Credit: BMcC |
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 On the receiving end... Credit: BMcC |
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Only a minor ouch... confirming the truth in Puryear's cautionary comment that "Ham and Eggs is essentially a garbage chute for the surrounding cliffs and upper snow slopes." Steve and I were pleased to have no one above us adding to the bits of snow and ice zeroing in on whomever of us was belaying...
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 Steve cruising in the early afternoon sun. Credit: BMcC |
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 Some fuzz high in the sky, but nothing threatening, yet. Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve playing on a thin-ice variation along the left margin of the gully. Credit: BMcC |
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 Almost above the col - pitch #18? (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 Looking down past an excellent ice screw to Steve at the belay. Credit: BMcC |
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 The top of col is to my left (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 Up what Puryear described as 'the 85 degree ice headwall' - buried under steep snow (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 Time to rehydrate... Credit: BMcC |
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Above the headwall, Steve got his MSR stove out to melt some snow so we could rehydrate and refill our bottles for the summit push and the rappels. We started out the climb with about a liter each of water.
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 My lead (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve on the corniced summit ridge. Credit: BMcC |
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Steve coming across from 1 false summit towards me and my false summit. The summit ridge extends down and across to the right from Steve to the West Summit of the Moose's Tooth. The last notch is the Englishman's Col - which was to be our next high point several days hence.
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 Steepish and kind of loose. Mt. Dickey and Mt. Barrill in the background. Credit: BMcC |
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 Cornice collapse and avalanche. It was quite exciting to hear the rumble and roar (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 On the Moose's Tooth corniced main summit (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve on top of the Moose's Tooth! Credit: BMcC |
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 Heading back - note the increasing overcast (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 Camp down on the Root Canal Glacier at around 7,350' and the Ruth Glacier thousands of feet lower still (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 Mounts Dickey, Bradley, Wake, Johnson, Grosvenor, and Church (from right to left). Credit: BMcC |
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 Down and down and down for hours and hours... Credit: BMcC |
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 Many hours and some 25 or more rappels later, we were back on the approach slope of what had become very rotten snow. Credit: BMcC |
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We soon wished we had kept rapping from the route directly down over the rock slabs which the approach track had circumvented. About 4 in the morning and still having FUN!
We returned to camp from Ham and Eggs in a near dream-state in the wee hours of the morning of Friday-10th. The climbing had been really fun. We were a tad bit knackered, but quite jazzed. We set no records with our casual pace, arriving at the summit about 10.5 hours after we started.
We rapped forever, using most of the anchors we encountered so that we wouldn't miss any key ones. There were so many anchors it was (almost) confusing. During the time from around mid-night until almost 4, headlamps were key in finding some of the rap anchors and in confirming that we were tying in and setting up our rappels correctly. From my hazy memory, I'm guessing the bottom-most 8 pitches were equipped for 100'-raps. So we must of done more than 25 raps - some silly and short, but none leaving us hanging out in space.
It was easy to decide to devote Friday and Saturday to resting, rehydrating, and socializing with other climbers. Most teams were simply friends climbing together; although, as Steve commented once, most teams also had 1 or more team members who were guides. Friendly people who hailed from Bishop, Boulder, Denver, Salt Lake City, Washington, DC, Honolulu, British Columbia, England, and Switzerland. One of the British guides was spinning tales about some great ice climbing in Norway and some, too in Morocco.
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 Picnic time on the Incisor. The tiny figure on the rocks is either Adam or Rick. The Incisor is a great point from which to view Mt. Dickey and other peaks along the Great Gorge (the N-S stretch of the Ruth Glacier), watch planes fly by and land on the Ro Credit: BMcC |
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 Adam and Rick hanging out on the Incisor with Mt. Dickey in the background. Credit: BMcC |
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While the McConachie-Towne expedition (catchy name, eh?) was on Ham and Eggs, the Handsome and Well-Hung expedition cruised Shaken, Not Stirred. Rick said that Adam was the 'handsome' part of their team. We took his word for it.
Some climbers pass their free time reading. These two had the choice, stormy-weather, tech setup: they watched movies on Rick's tablet computer (an iPad, I think) which they suspended in the ceiling of their tent so they could watch from their sleeping bags. They had solar panels set up to recharge their batteries and keep the entertainment coming.
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 We talked with Adam and Rick for quite a while, waiting to see and take pictures of a TAT plane arriving to pick up some of the other climbers from camp. The climbers and their gear are near the top end of the air strip; our tent is one of those up to the Credit: BMcC |
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 'Shaken, Not Stirred.' Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve starting up the 1st pitch of 'Shaken, Not Stirred.' Credit: BMcC |
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Our start up Shaken, Not Stirred just before 9 in the morning on Sunday-12th was definitely not an alpine start. As the weather forecast suggested, it was considerably colder than several days before when we climbed Ham and Eggs - low single digit temps rather than the teens. Also, we wouldn't get any sun for many hours. I happily wore my Koflach plastic double boots for both climbs. Steve wore his single boots for Ham and Eggsand his double Baruntse boots for Shaken, Not Stirred.
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 Steve at the 1st belay above the steep snow and the rock crux. Pro for this bit of climbing was a solid screw in good ice and a trustworthy #1 camalot in the rock. Credit: BMcC |
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 My lead was a bit of steep ice (below Steve in this pic) followed by squeaky styrofoam-like snow under some soft stuff. Easy cruising terrain - we were all smiles! Credit: BMcC |
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 The next lead was more of the styrofoam-snow-under-soft-snow combo topped off by a steep icy slot. Credit: BMcC |
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 Although you can't see his face, I'm sure Steve was smiling as he climbed this. Credit: BMcC |
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 Good snow and excellent ice - we were having fun. Credit: BMcC |
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 More excellent snow and ice coming up the 3rd pitch (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 A little fuzzy, but you get the idea: steep, fun ice as far as the eyes can see! Kind of narrow even though we were still far below the actual 'Narrows.' The ice was solid and even thick enough for short ice screws (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve about to re-enter the shade for a while. Credit: BMcC |
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 Sweet views that got sweeter as we climbed higher. Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve surmounting an ice step. Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve leading a steepish icy bit. Credit: BMcC |
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 More sun with elevation - we weren't racing the sun; instead, we reveled in the fleeting bits of warmth it almost provided. Credit: BMcC |
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 Back into the shade - Steve on lead. Credit: BMcC |
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 We simul-climbed some with Steve in the lead, clipping but not stopping at the belay/rap stations he passed. Credit: BMcC |
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 A happy climber just below the Narrows - some 500' of 50 to 60 degree ice with some steeper steps. Portions of this were barely a shoulder width wide. Excellent, easy ice. Would be awkward for more than a party of 2 or for a party to rap down past another Credit: BMcC |
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 The Narrows (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 Higher in the Narrows (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve coming onto lower angled terrain after a steep section. Note the clouds below him. Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve's turn leading in the Narrows. Credit: BMcC |
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 Heading for the crux chockstone. Swinging leads and simul-climbing worked out perfectly to my advantage again - thank you, Steve! (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve to me, "How's the ice?" Me, "About AI 3" (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve again, "How's the ice up there?" Me in the clouds under the overhanging stretch of ice, 'Steeper, maybe about 3+ for this bit." Truly fine and fun ice (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 The sea of clouds below us. Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve barely above the sea of clouds and also just above the crux pitch of the route. Credit: BMcC |
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 Almost to the snow hump and then up to the Englishman's Col - Steve on steep ice. Credit: BMcC |
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 Me - just over the snow hump and moving onto poorly-bonded sugar snow - the other crux on the route. It was more exciting for Steve to lead than for me to follow (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve coming up to our high point with the Englishman's Col below him on the left. Credit: BMcC |
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 It was snowing, blowing, and time to rehydrate and head down. Credit: BMcC |
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We carried an extra liter of water each rather than bring the stove on Shaken, Not Stirred- this saved us the time and effort we'd have expended getting the stove out, setting it up, melting snow, and putting it away.
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 Steve re-entering the right-side gully after retracing his steps across the snow hump. I added new V-thread anchors in a couple of places to help make the ropes easier to pull. Credit: BMcC |
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 A couple of rappels to go. Steve rappelling between spindrift avalanches that were sometimes waist to chest deep and seem to flow over us for minutes at a time. My ropes are not normally white. Credit: BMcC |
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 The snow which began falling before we stopped above the Englishman's Col on Sunday-12th around 7pm, continued on Monday. Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve heading out for a stroll and to talk to our neighbors. Credit: BMcC |
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 'Ham and Eggs' above the plane. Credit: BMcC |
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The sky was blue and clear on our 2nd day after Shaken, Not Stirred. Some of our neighbors on the Root Canal decided to fly out while the weather was still good: several parties had been successful in achieving some or all of their climbing goals; others had lesser degrees of success and had backed off after trying to climb behind and under other parties. Some had procrastinated a day believing in weather forecasts that turned out to be wrong...
Weather update from Tyler, the pilot: 1 or maybe 2 more clear but (very) cold days before several days or more of unsettled, stormy, no-fly weather would set in.
It looked like our window of good weather was limited.
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 The 'Unforgiven' (MI5+, WI5+, R, 1000') which splits the buttress on the Bear's Tooth initially seemed to be an option for us. Credit: BMcC |
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The Unforgiven, (MI5+, WI5+, R, 1000') which splits the buttress on the Bear's Tooth initially seemed to be an option, but our enthusiasm was tempered by very low temps in the forecast and especially by consideration of the route's hazards (looming seracs and avi potential).
So on Thursday-15th, we started up unconsolidated snow in a gully to the right of Ham and Eggs, but quickly decided that simply flying out while the weather was good was a better idea than climbing and getting stuck for days if the forecast was wrong. The air temp had been a minus 8 degrees Fahrenheit earlier in the day and barely above zero in the afternoon.
We returned to camp and pulled out our frustratingly defective satellite phone to call out to TAT for a flight back to suburbia and Talkeetna.
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 Nice views on the flight back to Talkeetna. Credit: BMcC |
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 Great burgers and beer at the West Rib. Recommendation courtesy of Ryan who accompanied us and regaled us with tales of his past climbs and plans for the next 4 or 6 weeks in the range. Credit: BMcC |
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 Rain began falling a few hours after our flight off the glacier. Credit: BMcC |
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Rain began falling a few hours after our flight off the Root Canal Glacier. The forecast had been updated - there would likely be rain for days, probably precluding mountain flying and glacier drop offs... we had gotten out just in time to avoid being largely tent-bound in less than favorable climbing weather on the glacier.
Back to Anchorage and the airport...
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 Before flying home, we celebrated with pizza and beer at the Moose's Tooth Pub and Pizzeria with Harry Hunt and Stuart Parks. Credit: BMcC |
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 Steve's partner and the Moose's Tooth (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). Credit: BMcC |
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All in all, Steve and I had a very fine trip with weather that turned out to be better than we could have hoped for. We climbed Ham and Eggs (V, 5.9, AI 4, 18 pitches - according to Alaska Climbing) on 5/9/13 with excellent conditions, well-filled-in ice and fairly firm snow. On 5/12/13, we climbed Shaken, Not Stirred (V, AI 5, 16 pitches). Shaken, Not Stirred was the steeper, slightly more challenging route and was even more fun than the already very fun and scenic Ham and Eggs.
I hope you've enjoyed the pics - cheers, all!
