Teakettle Mountain Southeast Face route September 14, 1999
My brother Doug, a friend, Marty, and I set out from our motel rooms in Silverton, Co. at 5:00 am to attempt to climb Teakettle Mountain, one of several peaks on a ridge running east from Mt. Sneffels.
Just before dropping down into Ouray, the dirt road to Yankee Boy basin appeared on the left. Several miles of well maintained road gave way to rougher road with occasional washouts. The front bumper of our Subaru scraped the ground a couple of times before we came to a place to park which was almost directly below the summit of Teakettle.
There was little opportunity to get warmed up as we attacked the grassy slopes head on, aiming for a ridge point known as "Coffee Pot". Soon we discovered that someone had marked the route with colored ribbons-presumably in the hope that a standard route would be established. The now-marked route corresponded with that which is described by Garratt and Martin.
As the route gains about 3500' in about 2 miles, I took plenty of short breaks-stuffing my lungs back down my windpipe-while also trying to keep Doug and Marty in sight. We regrouped near the base of "Coffee Pot" and turned left (west), aiming for the couloir which would take us almost all the way to the summit ridge. Near the top of the couloir things narrowed and steepened a bit. A chockstone blocked easy passage but turned out not to be too difficult. Once past the chockstone, an obvious trail led through sandy slopes to the summit pinnacle. The weather had so far been great-very little wind, comfortable temperature, the only significant clouds far to the west.
We didn't feel rushed as we dropped our packs and put on our climbing harnesses, all the while taking in the great views all around. Doug was the first one up, placing protection in a couple of spots, as Marty belayed and I sat and took pictures. Having had a nice photo of the summit pinnacle on our computer desktops for a couple months prior to this trip, we had mentally rehearsed this part many times. The discovery of a well placed and unweathered sling near the top expedited Doug's work somewhat. Next, it was Marty's turn as Doug belayed and I still took pictures (later finding out that the wrist strap was right in front of the lens!). Not exactly being a mountain goat, I had brought along my rock shoes for the final pitch. With the added confidence of traction (and , of course, the rope!), I was on top before I knew it, with Doug belaying and Marty being the photographer. The three of us were content with having our pictures taken while seated, the summit offering enough room to stand , but not a whole lot more. Before descending, we took pictures of each other standing in the "handle" of the Teakettle.
We retraced our steps on the way down until we came to a large, scree filled couloir that looked like the ticket for a quick trip back to the car. We soon found out why Garratt and Martin didn't recommend ascending this route! Besides being calf deep in scree, large rocks would give way at the touch of a hand. Taking three separate lines, we managed to get back to the grassy slopes without getting buried in the numerous rock avalanches we had started.
Ahhhh! Back on terra firma! Our arrival on firmer ground coincided with the arrival of a snow squall which had crept upon us from the west. Although descending the steep, wet, grassy slopes was no picnic, it was preferable to the loose rock. A short while later we were back at the car, dreaming of the green chile cheeseburgers awaiting us at the Brown Bear Café in Silverton!
Jeff Brode, October, 1999