Avg: 4 from 64
votes
Pitch after pitch of laser cut granite splitters up to .11- on clean stone in a beautiful alpine setting makes Mighty Mouse one of the finest alpine climbs on the BC Coast (if not anywhere). Naming notes – the original topo for this route was labelled “East Face” but this specific route is now called Mighty Mouse. The formation was named Mouse’s Tooth because of its resemblance under winter conditions to its larger and more famous neighbor to the north – the Ruth Gorge’s Moose’s Tooth. Mouse’s Tooth contains several other existing and potential routes.
Note - in late 2017 or early 2018 bolted anchors were added to every pitch except P4, including a new anchor that logically split the former 60M+ P6 into two pitches so I updated the pitch numbers to reflect the changes. This may make some comments or ticks confusing since the old P7 (seam/slab pitch) is now P8. Since I haven't climb the route after the new anchors were installed,some of my anchor beta may be inaccurate.
P1 (10c, 45m): Climb the left arete (just right of large gully typically filled with snow) with several bolts on the face and cross left under roof on flakes and blocks using cracks for gear to a 2-bolt anchor on a ledge. Fun bouldery climbing with occasional awkward moves.
P2 (10a, 60m): Climb the face just right of arete on left skyline, clipping two bolts, then start up vegetated ledges. Pass tree with slings at 30m by staying right and head up another 30m of easy scrambling on vegetated ledges to a 2-bolt anchor.
P3 (9+, 30m): Traverse rightward across the last section of dirty ledges aiming for a left-facing corner leading to a splitter above. Stem off pillar on left and corner on right and gain splitter which is the appetizer for better/harder splitters above, and the start of where the route becomes very classy.
P4 (10d, 20m): Start in the right hand crack which narrows to fingers, moving left into twin finger cracks. Stem and grasp between two cracks with crux near the top. Build anchor on ledge.
P5 (10d, 25m): Move left off belay to splitter fingers to hand crack, crux is first few off finger moves then eases. At about 25m do NOT continue following the splitter that keeps going straight up and left of roof, but instead traverse right under roof on feet and hand dike rails (5.8ish airy fun, almost no pro) to an anchor below roof.
P6 (10a, 35m): Move right off belay and pull roof and smile when you see the perfect hands splitter soaring above for 30m. Pulling the roof is about.10a but quickly becomes 5.8/5.9 perfect hands (for those with larger hands). With double BD Camalot #2s and #3s this will be run-out and walking pieces is required, or bring triple or quadruple #3s if #3 isn't your perfect size. At 35m reach a nice ledge with a two bolt anchor. Note - can combine P6 and P7 into a 60m rope stretcher which is how we climbed it, but the new anchor makes this strategy unnecessary).
P7 (11a, 25m): Climb the finger crack above. Crux is near end as finger crack flares.
P8 (11-, 43m): Thin right-trending crack up steep slab. Pro is tricky because stances are insecure and crack is thin and flares. Lots of offset nuts useful, micro cams occasionally work. This is mostly slab climbing with a thin seam for pro and pinches. Heady, tenuous lead. At top, keep going past the first ledges and trees encountered and belay at a slung tree on a higher ledge. (There may be an alternative easier bypass variation in the vegetated cracks to right.).
The steep headwall ends here and five easier lower angle pitches lead to summit. Most parties rappel from here. Need two 60m ropes.
From the parking described in the North Joffre Lake area description, hike up the old spur road and immediately cross first creek/wash out on log just upstream and drop back down to abandoned road. In 5 minutes where the road becomes completely reclaimed by vegetation, take a trail uphill on the right. Follow a decent climber’s trail (well flagged, cut, and marked with cairns) up and right that parallels North Joffre Creek through boulder fields and alder/brush. Trail stays well above creek until about one hour when it deposits you down to edge of North Joffre Creek. Head up right and above creek until nearly below Mouse's Tooth and cross over creek (snow field in late July). Head up boulder fields to base of left arete with large gully on left. Two hours or less to base of route, pleasantly moderate approach.
Doubles from 0.3 to 3 (Camalot-sizes). Could use 3 or 4 #3s for the splitter above roof (P6). Micro cams and lots of small offset nuts/RPs for P8. Two 60m ropes needed for the rappel.
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Boulder, CO
Seattle, WA
Washington
1. Top of P8.
2. Top of P7.
3. Top of P5.
4. Top of P2. (do NOT rap to top of P1, instead rap towards gully)
5. Bolted station above gully.
See the route overlay I posted for a visual. Aug 15, 2018
Seattle/Eastrevy
Las Vegas, NV
--- Beta Alert ----
We decided that the last pitch really wasn't that bad without any moves really making their way past mid-10s and being able to get solid (but small!!) pro 3m apart at most.
Also we thought that the first pitch was the toughest and a little gnarly for my tastes, but it gets way better from there so don't despair! Aug 18, 2019
North Vancouver, BC
All pitches felt a grade harder compared to most Squamish routes imo.
We were pretty wet after hiking in. Long pants are useful for the raspberry crux.
Jump on this, it's a jewel! Aug 7, 2020
Seattle, WA
Logging road approach: Mercifully short. Not that bad, even in a wide van that just barely fit between the greenery. There are a few pullouts about 2 miles in with one of the earliest ones you encounter after emerging from the forest and into a large clear cut being the flattest. There is another turnout at the other end of the clearing, though that one is a bit sloped, but it saves you a quarter to a half mile of walking along the forest road. There is one last turnout before reaching the washout/creek bed mentioned in the approach beta. That one will appear when you re-enter the forest on the other end of the huge clearing. We did not go to that one because the road starts to narrow with more plant life at that point. Whichever turnout you choose to park/sleep for the night, they are all within striking distance of the approach trail. I wouldn't elect to cross the washout, even with a high-clearance vehicle. Yes, you can get across, but it is not much further until you need to start walking, anyways. One of the turnouts mentioned above will be way more laid back and your escape at the end of the day will be easier.
Approach: Some boulder hopping in the beginning followed by some slogging through damp undergrowth to get into the cirque below the Mouse's Tooth. I will post an update with the GPX file when I upload it to my website. 2 hours at a moderate pace to get to the wall from the second pullout.
The climbing:
- P1 is a sleeper crux. Never hard but sustained at the grade from beginning to end, and a long pitch, to boot.
- P2 and 3 feel more like filler pitches to get to the goods on the headwall, though P3 has some fun stemming climbing in a corner.
- P4 has a very obvious crux where you can see the start and the end of the difficulties.
- P5's crux is a bit punchier and requires more elbow grease than P4, but the bouldery crux is over quickly. The traverse at the end of the pitch is improbable, fun, and affords great photos of your follower coming up to the belay!
- P6 is proof that the universe crafts walls for climbing. If you want the definition of the perfect hand crack, look no further! Doubles in #2 and #3 is plenty if you are confident on less-than-vertical hand crack. I also snuck in two #1s in anticipation of saving gear that I didn't end up using. The crack is just THAT good! If you need to triple up, an extra #2 or #3 will help.
- P7 shouldn't scare you with its grade. Yes, there are some hard finger locks, but just like P4, the crux has a visible start and end that you can mentally prepare for.
- P8: Probably the trickiest, most thoughtful pitch of the whole route. Bring brassies/micronuts, tiny cams, and small offset cams, and you can definitely protect it well. I found use for the nuts, along with a 00 and 000 C3 alongside a couple of small offset cams. Take your time placing good gear and look around. The terrain will provide for you when you want it the most!
Continuing up the mountain: Partner and I thought about trying to "top out" the Mouse's Tooth via some of the vague 5.8 pitches mentioned in the beta. But after talking to some of the local climbing shop people, it takes a LOT more work to top out the wall, since the 5.8 pitches do not deposit you at the top of a feature, more just deliver you to another part of the mountain. The wall itself eventually just rolls over more and more (you can see this from the approach), until the "top" of the Mouse's Tooth intersects with another buttress on its right and becomes a rambling, low-angle, alpine ridge where you would very likely be scrambling or even walking to get to the proper summit. Getting down seems likely to necessitate some sort of scramble to the north off the mountain down into a boulder field above North Joffre Creek, traveling roughly north above the cirque, and finally scrambling down one of the few low-angle gullies that exist in the cirque on its northwest (uphill) end. If you are REALLY determined to get to the top of the feature, it is absolutely possible, but be prepared to have it transform your day from a pleasant alpine multipitch outing into a classic PNW alpine mission.
Descent: We used a Beal Escaper, and it was nice to be able to save on the weight of a tag line. There are very few obstacles to get hung up on, save for the hand crack on P6, and the 5.11+ variation to the right of P4.
Verdict: Excellent route that feels reasonable for the grade. Climb a beautiful route and gawk at all the unclimbed granite that surrounds you! Sep 3, 2022
Pitch 9: Move the belay left and climb a handcrack in a left-facing flake corner just right of the more prominent corner. Actually quite a good pitch (5.9).
Pitch 10: Climb up and right eventually gaining a ramp that leads way right to a ledge with a clump of trees (mid-5th).
Pitch 11: Climb slabs to the obvious left-facing corner. A bit scruffy with some loose blocks (5.8).
Pitch 12: Slabby traverse right to a couple scruffy moves that gain another ledge with trees. Continue up the ramp on the right to the arete and up to a big ledge with boulders (5.8).
Pitch 13: Steep boulder problem above the ledge (might be possible to go around on the left?) and then easier climbing a short wide crack and a big ledge (5.10 boulder, then mid-5th).
If rappelling from here, you'll likely need to build some anchors yourself and add tat to the existing anchors on the trees. To continue, hike a short ways to where the Rhapsody in Floyd gulley intersects the ridge. It's necessary to make a short rappel into the gulley and then scramble out the other side. From there, it's possible to continue to the "summit" of the Mouse's Tooth (really more of a bump on the ridge) or traverse directly across to the North Rib. The North Rib is a pretty efficient descent that drops back into the upper basin and generally shouldn't require crampons or axe. There is a short section of 4th class to negotiate at the bottom.
A few other comments:
The original righthand start to the route is better than it looks and is worth considering if looking for an easier warmup. Look for bolts on the face and climb the corner (a bit mossy) that leads to them. It's a very full 60 meters to the anchor.
The route "Of Mice and Men" (also labelled "Spliff Avoider" in the topo) looks like it would be a nice moderate way to climb the buttress. However, on pitch 3, there's an insecure traverse protected by a fixed knifeblade where if you ripped the pin you would almost certainly get hurt. After crumbling some of the footholds, I bailed back onto Might Mouse. Aug 28, 2023
On this rap my partner went down on a single line all the way to the final bolted station. I then rapped normally to a large ledge about 10 meters above him. From there I pulled the rope, tied back in, and he belayed me for a casual, unexposed 5.2 downclimb to his position.
A final, short rap took us to the ground - kind of a shame this anchor isn’t just on the ledge where I stopped - 10m above its current position. That said, if you only want to hike one rope in to climb Mighty Mouse, you can make it work. Jul 20, 2024
the crux of P1 is after the couple bolts on bouldery overhanging rock with big holds. Great pitch! My wife led.
P2 is cool with another sort of bouldery arete with a couple bolts, then some salad climbing. I got this one.
P3 was fun! ends at another beautiful ledge! wife led
P4. Crux at the top of the parallel cracks. I led this and fired through quickly. I found this relatively straightforward. Finger sized stuff for the anchor (blue metolius, but probably fits stuff that's larger, just lower down so more awkward) which is similar to the pitch, if I recall .
P5. I fell on the ring locks here about 4 times. Thankfully the crux is right off the anchor and it's easy to start again from the anchor. It's also easy to reach over, place a piece to protect the anchor, try hard, and lob. Orange metolius low, then black, then it widens after 2 or so body lengths to hands and is cruiser. I found this way harder than the prev pitch. The 5.8 traverse has some shitty tiny gear on it, but it's pretty easy.
We bailed from the next anchor (end of P5). This is kind of the magic of this route. it's like climbing in squamish with relatively low commitment (except...it's alpine, you're away from the road, rescue would suck, etc) because of the bolted descent. So, you can just try and come down, though it would be really hard to aid P1 to get to the rest of the cracks.
The last rap took a few minutes for me to find. it ends up being on the rock likely right of where gravity takes you at maybe 40m from the second last rap.
Aug 6 there were numerous huckleberries and a few salmonberries and some raspberries! good eating on the approach!!!
Overall, stupendous cracks in a beautiful setting. We saw one other party who were quick and ahead of us! Looking forward to going back to try the rest of it! Aug 29, 2024
Seattle, WA
I thought p1 and p2 were unremarkable (didn't help that p1 was seeping/soaked for us), but the climbing on the headwall above p2 is splitter in every sense of the term. With good crack technique these pitches will go fast. Pitch 6 offers a particularly impressive 30 meter stretch of continuous 2s and 3s. Imagine Supercrack of the Desert but in a wild and remote alpine setting. Jun 25, 2025
Bend, OR
Also, I thought all the hype about RPs for the last pitch is pretty overblown. I placed two early in the seam (one of which was fixed) and then placed cams the rest of the way including the full span of 000 to #1 C3s. If I was giving a friend beta, I'd say to take a few ballnuts for the beginning as they'd protect the seam better and be easier to place than RPs.
Lastly, if you're comfy running it a bit on splitter hands through a slab, doubles is more than adequate for the 10a splitter. I finished with one of my #3s still on my harness. Jul 23, 2025
Seattle