Loft vs. Mountaineers Route

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Txhiker42
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Loft vs. Mountaineers Route

Post by Txhiker42 »

How does the Longs Loft route via Mt. Meeker compare to the Whitney's Mountaineers route in terms of difficulty and exposure?
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Re: Loft vs. Mountaineers Route

Post by Monster5 »

I'd say quite similar in difficulty but the Loft is less exposed. MR has easier route-finding too.
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Re: Loft vs. Mountaineers Route

Post by Txhiker42 »

Monster5 wrote:I'd say quite similar in difficulty but the Loft is less exposed. MR has easier route-finding too.
We may go up the Loft and down the Keyhole (in summer), but I'm nervous about the exposure on the Ledges and Narrows. How would you say the exposure/width of the path compare with Whitney's Ebersbscher Ledges?
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Re: Loft vs. Mountaineers Route

Post by randalmartin »

I did the Loft up/Keyhole down roundtrip a few years ago. Not sure how you normally are with exposure but I honestly don't recall even one moment where I had any thought about exposure the entire trip across the Ledges or Narrows. I think most of the accidents in that section have been when conditions were not dry or when winds were severe.
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Re: Loft vs. Mountaineers Route

Post by MtnHub »

I don't know anything about Whitney's Ebersbscher Ledges, but I wouldn't be very concerned about the exposure on the Narrows or Ledges of Longs. Under normal, dry conditions, exposure is pretty minimal. Even along the Narrows the pathway is around 3-4 feet wide for the most part, frequently with a long gutter, so slipping really isn't an issue unless you are extremely careless and not focusing on what you're doing. There are also a couple of places where exposure is a little greater (going around the chockstone at the beginning of the Narrows, and one or two places along the Ledges, but really these are pretty minor. You just don't want to pass along these places if it's icy or wet without technical gear. Good luck! :-D
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Re: Loft vs. Mountaineers Route

Post by Hungry Jack »

The Loft / Keyhole route (i.e. Nontechnical Tour de Longs) is spectacular. Highly recommended provided you are fit. It's demanding.

Finding the exit ramp traverse out of the upper Loft couloir requires a bit of patience. That actually felt more exposed than the Narrows and Ledges. The exit ramp out of Keplingers induced some pucker as the slab was wet when we crossed it. No big deal in retrospect.
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Re: Loft vs. Mountaineers Route

Post by Monster5 »

Eh what they^ said. The E-ledges are less exposed but narrower. If you fell (highly unlikely taking easiest ledge - gotta pay attention), you'd only go a dozen feet or so. The Narrows have more drop, but they are quite a bit wider.

The last few hundred feet of MR does have exposure, probably similar to the Homestretch. The moves are more on par with the terrain between Clark's Arrow and the Loft. Class 3 with a bit of side to side dodging around or make a direct move of class 4 type thing.
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Re: Loft vs. Mountaineers Route

Post by mtn_nut »

I did the mountaineers route in snow, and the last hundred feet only had one issue, just above the notch where you get onto the north face, where there was a gap in the snow and the rock wasn't very good underneath, but the snow above wasn't solid enough to hold much weight. It took some doing, but we got through it, with full backpacks since we were carrying over to descend the standard route and climb Muir. I'm sure there would be an easier way with bare rocks. Otherwise, i thought the rest of the route was pretty easy with snow. This was in late spring/early summer.

I did the loft, and the only hard part on the loft in my experience was getting from the loft to the Keplinger's. Some exposure during the down climb, but otherwise it was uneventful. This was in late fall, so there was no snow.
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Re: Loft vs. Mountaineers Route

Post by jchapell »

I thought I posted this earlier but apparently it didn't take... The (Longs) Ledges and Narrows were no big deal for us, while the Ebersbacher Ledges gave my wife a moment's pause the first time across and had a bit more sketch factor when there was snow/ice another day. If you have done the E-Ledges, you'll cruise the Long's Ledges and Narrows (in dry conditions). The downward slope of the E-Ledges make them a hair trickier if it's icy, and it's probably half the width of longs. In my made-up rating system of 1-10, Long's Ledges/Narrows are a 3 and the E-Ledges are a 6. I can send pics later tonight comparing them.
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Re: Loft vs. Mountaineers Route

Post by Txhiker42 »

jchapell wrote:I thought I posted this earlier but apparently it didn't take... The (Longs) Ledges and Narrows were no big deal for us, while the Ebersbacher Ledges gave my wife a moment's pause the first time across and had a bit more sketch factor when there was snow/ice another day. If you have done the E-Ledges, you'll cruise the Long's Ledges and Narrows (in dry conditions). The downward slope of the E-Ledges make them a hair trickier if it's icy, and it's probably half the width of longs. In my made-up rating system of 1-10, Long's Ledges/Narrows are a 3 and the E-Ledges are a 6. I can send pics later tonight comparing them.
I'd love to see some pictures, jchapell! I was a little nervous on the E-ledges the first time I crossed going up the mountain, but coming back, I was like "that was it?". We even saw a guide string a rope for his group to use as a handhold when they crossed. I didn't think that was necessarily warranted.

And from everyone's comments, sounds like the "Nontechnical Tour de Longs" would be an epic day. Do most people tag Meeker along the way?
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Re: Loft vs. Mountaineers Route

Post by spiderman »

The Mountaineer's Route is very easy if there is no ice or icy snow. Obviously those things could dramatically change everything. I have had some scary times in August when I didn't have spikes or an ax. I have also had times in early July where there was absolutely no snow. I last day hiked Whitney when my son was 8, taking the MR up and the Main trail down. There were no issues at all. Colorado Class 3, IMHO. It is not like the sandbagged California Class 3 routes that seem like 5-easy. I hate trying to compare Colorado Class 3s since it all depend on the weather/snow/physical conditions. None should be bad if you go the right way and all could be bad if you go the wrong way.

If you are packing light and in good physical condition, it should be 6 hours to the peak: about an hour or two longer than Longs Peak Keyhole or Loft route.
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Re: Loft vs. Mountaineers Route

Post by atalarico »

For a second I though you were talking about the Loft vs Kiener's since Kieners was known as "the Mountaineers route" on Long's. Guilt by association, but now I'm intrigued by Whitney!

Oh, and I've climbed the Loft in non-snow conditions, and it's a great route! It's my favorite non-technical route I've climbed on Long's (I've climbed Keyhole, and the Loft, but also the Casual...but that's a different animal). Descending the Loft is really quite nice too since you can go explore other features you might have rushed past on the way up. For example, the Beaver! There's some great rock to climb around on up there, and you get phenomenal views of the Diamond. Depending on how spry you're feeling, you really can push the 4th class a bit on the way up to the Meeker/Longs ridge.

Cheers!
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