The Moose's Tooth
4787614
224970274
2008-07-11T06:41:54Z
Backspace
640870
To provide a more specific location; category
{{Infobox Mountain
| Name = The Moose's Tooth
| Elevation = 10,335 ft (3,150 m)
| Location = [[Denali National Park and Preserve]], [[Alaska]], [[United States|USA]]
| Range = Central [[Alaska Range]]
| Coordinates = {{coor dms|62|58|09|N|150|36|48|W|type:mountain_region:US}}
| First ascent = June, 1964 by Welsch, Bierl, Hasenkopf, Reichegger (German)
| Easiest route= Ham and Eggs: rock/snow/ice climb
}}
'''The Moose's Tooth''' (or simply '''Moose's Tooth''', '''Mooses Tooth''') is a rock peak on the east side of the [[Ruth Glacier|Ruth Gorge]] in the Central [[Alaska Range]], 15 miles (24 km) southeast of [[Mount McKinley]]. Despite its relatively low elevation, it is a difficult climb. It is notable for its many large rock faces and its long ice [[Glossary of climbing terms|couloir]]s, which are famous in [[mountaineering]] circles, and have seen a number of highly technical ascents.
The peak was originally called '''Mount Hubbard''' after [[Thomas H. Hubbard]] — the president of the [[Perry Arctic Club]] — by Belmore Browne and Hershel Parker{{Fact|date=February 2007}}. This name was revoked by the [[United States Geological Survey]], which named the peak "The Mooses Tooth," a translation of the [[Athabascan]] name for the peak.<ref name="aaj_1956">That "Moose's Tooth" is a native name for the peak is attested by Bradford Washburn in "Mapping McKinley's Southeast Approaches", ''[[American Alpine Journal]]'', 1956, p. 49.</ref> The official USGS name does lack the grammatically correct apostrophe.
The Moose's Tooth is located just to the east of the northern end of the Ruth Gorge, across from Mount Barille and [[Mount Dickey]]. It is the chief in a complex of rock peaks with names such as "Eye Tooth", "Sugar Tooth", and "Broken Tooth." On the east side of this complex lies the head of the Buckskin [[Glacier]], which provides access to climbs on the particularly large and difficult east face of The Moose's Tooth.
The name of the peak comes from its structure: its summit ridge is a long, low angled ridge running roughly east-west for about a mile, with steep drops to the north and south. This gives the mountain a vague resemblance to a moose's tooth. It also makes climbing to the true (east) summit from the west ridge (the least technical route) very difficult. The summit is more normally reached by steep [[Glossary of climbing terms|couloir]]s on the southwestern side of the peak.
The first ascent of The Moose's Tooth was in June, 1964, by four Germans, via the Northwest Ridge. In June, 1974, Gary Bocarde, Michael Clark, Charles Porter, and John Svenson climbed the lower Southwest Summit via the Southwest Face, for the second ascent of the massif, though not of the main summit. They found a great quantity of rotten rock. In July, 1975, [[Jon Krakauer]], Thomas Davies, and Nate Zinsser made the second ascent of the main summit, via a couloir on the south face which they called the "Ham and Eggs Route." This is the most popular route on the mountain today.
'''Moose's Tooth''' also lends its name to a Pub/Pizzeria in [[Anchorage, Alaska]].
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
*Joseph Puryear, ''Alaska Climbing'', SuperTopo, 2006.
*Michael Wood and Colby Coombs, ''Alaska: A climbing guide'', The Mountaineers, 2001.
*''[[American Alpine Journal]]'', 1975, 1976.
*[http://www.pubcrawler.com/Template/ReviewWC.cfm/flat/BrewerID=101420 Moose's Tooth Brewpub at Pubcrawler.com]
*[http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgresults.cfm?destination=anchorage@11&cur_section=din&property_id=118560 Moose's Tooth at Fodor Travel Guide]
==External links==
* [http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=62.9693&lon=-150.6133&size=m&symshow=n&datum=nad83&layer=DRG250&s=250 The Moose's Tooth on Topozone]
* [http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/151042/mooses-tooth.html The Moose's Tooth on summitpost.org]
* [http://bivouac.com/MtnPg.asp?MtnId=14249 The Moose's Tooth on bivouac.com]
[[Category:Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska]]
[[Category:Mountains of Alaska|Moose's Tooth, The]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moose's Tooth, The}}