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Longs Peak Ships Prow Tower Route: Loft to Ships Prow Tower to the Beaver Vert: Approx. 5,200 Mileage: 13 Time: A little under 10 hours roundtrip Group: Tom, Carl (me), & Mark
Enjoyed some new terrain on Longs Peak Sunday with Tom Pierce and his friend Mark. I had wanted to head up the Beaver, mostly because it was a route I hadn't done on my favorite 14er. Tom wanted to look for a #2 Camalot (aka the Golden Girl) he bailed off of this winter near the Loft and was also interested in climbing the Ships Prow Tower. The result was a tour of Longs that covered new ground and a unique summit. Only shortcoming is that we returned to the trail head with no more cams than we started.
The parking lot filled up at 4:10am. We were on the trail a little before 5.
Alpenglow on Longs never gets old.
Another shot of the Longs Peak basin.
Another day... Flying Buttress on Meeker.
Eying some of the ramps up Ships Prow on Longs.
Took the direct route up the Loft (maybe there is another name for this route?) in search of the Golden Girl.
The Ships Prow Tower is the tallest of the towers pictured here. RMNP - The Complete Hiking Guide, by Lisa Foster, lists this tower at 13,320ft with the easiest route being 5.4. Tom, Mark, and I thought it was about 20 feet of easy 5th class, maybe 5.0 to 5.2.
Tom and me on Ships Prow Tower. The 70m sitting at our feet wasn't necessary for the rap off Ships Prow (a 30m would have been fine) but we brought it along for the Beaver. On a site note, I've only had this 9.4mm Bluewater Dominator out 5 or 6 times since I got it a few weeks ago, but so far I've been pretty impressed.
Tom and Mark.
Put a water knot in the sling, tightened the quick link, and we were off.
A look back at SPT.
Mark and Tom in the Loft, heading towards the Beaver. Zumie's Thumb on the right.
Mark and Tom decided to call it a day shortly thereafter around 10:45am as I headed up to the Beaver rappel. From the Loft is looks like you can climb straight up to the Longs Peak summit. This is why you can't.
Only took a minute or two to find the rap station. Getting to it isn't as trivial as I thought it might be. A step down and a step across in the same motion are required. I had read a 60m would work, but was glad to have the extra 30 feet.
Once in the Notch Couloir you traverse towards the Diamond maybe 20 feet before ascending a pitch of 5.4. It's really exposed, so we'll only look up.
Looking back at the Beaver with the rap station marked.
On the summit a little before noon.
Decided to descend the north face, although I contoured a little too far right and had to traverse to find the eye bolts. North face is still a little wet.
One of the eye bolts is labeled here. You can continue to downclimb and grab the next one if you just want to make one rap; probably best to have a 70m for that option.
Headed over to Chasm View for a few minutes. Watch your step! That's at least 100 feet down.
The Chasm View rap anchors, easy to see here with the stuff sack.
Climbers on the Diamond.
A glance back up at a party rappelling the north face before I hustled for the boulder field.
Starting hailing at the boulder field. A good reminder of the need to start early. It had been a while since I'd had one.
Tom and Mark, it was an absolute pleasure. Looking forward to the next climb.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
I accidently topped out on the ”Beaver” earlier last month when my brain went to scrambled eggs and I, for the life of me, couldn't remember where the f**k the Loft Route began. I remember thinking, ”hell, lets just summit this way”. Well that picture you took stopped us in our tracks pretty damn quickly.
Thanks again for getting out, Carl. Great job on the report & climb.
Stephanie: I got up as close as I could to that chockstone but couldn't see Golden Girl. The only way to confirm it for sure would have been to rap into a mini-waterfall of snowmelt water...didn't want to do that. Oh well, c'est la vie. Thanks for getting out with me last winter.
-Tom
Carl,
I was asking Brian why the heck you can't just go straight to the Longs summit from the Loft when we did Meeker a while back. That pic's the best explanation I can think of.
Nice report.
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