I think the Loft (up) / Keyhole (down) is a great way to do Longs. You need to be in exceptional condition to truly enjoy it, and be prepared with plenty of water (you might be able to top off your bottle near the exit ramp of the Loft Couloir from melt coming of the Loft headwall assuming the big snow year has left enough accumulation).
The drop from the Loft into Keplingers offers an easy option that drops you below the class 4 gully that ends at Clark's Arrow. We took this easy gully as we didn't feel like looking around for the Clark gully. The easy gully drops off in a direction that is due south before it corkscrews right.
I didn't find much of a pucker factor on this route, but I had done Quandary's west ridge, the Sawtooth, Kelso Ridge and a few other scrambles by then. The exit ramp from the Loft might have felt the most exposed, or perhaps the run-off slicked ramp that exits the top of Keplingers and places you just below the Homestretch, which was dry at the time.
Loft vs. Keyhole
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Hungry Jack
- Posts: 914
- Joined: 7/18/2008
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Re: Loft vs. Keyhole
please rotate your device
