Forgive my obsession with this remarkable mountain and its many varied routes.
Is ascending Lamb's Slide to the Loft worth effort? It looks like it might be an interesting scramble with a nice side trip to view the first part of Broadway (Alas, I am not prepared to climb Kieners), but I guess a lot depends on the snow conditions on Lamb's Slide.
Long's Route Question #2
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Hungry Jack
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Long's Route Question #2
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TomPierce
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Re: Long's Route Question #2
Hey Jack: I'll take a stab at this one, sorry if I give you more info than you need/want.
So you could go all the way up Lamb's Slide (LS) to the Loft, I've done it up and down a few times. If you go up LS you can, of course, mosey over to the start of Broadway (tip: if you pass the pillar on the right with the upside-down chair top [Zumies Thumb], you've gone too far), but note that IMO LS tends to melt out top to bottom so as you go up you may encounter more and more alpine ice, but that depends on your timing and the prior snow season. Gillet's guide rates the climb AI 2 (alpine ice II, I just now had to double check that...), but IMO that's a later season rating. If you hit it in the spring you should find fairly firm snow up to Broadway, but of course that varies year to year. If you hit it too late, into the fall, it can turn into sporty black ice. That aside, as you near the top of LS, IMO the steepest angle is to the left side, and on the right you can hug the rock wall and take advantage of the moat to make the ascent somewhat easier, I've done both. As I recall there's a short scrambly/snowy headwall to surmount to make it up to the Loft.
Note the rock rib to climber's left of LS, that's Glacier Rib and that too can be climbed to bypass the ice (if any) in LS. IMO the easiest access to the base of Glacier Rib is to climber's right, and the ascent itself is a class 3-ish scramble (full disclosure, I've scrambled on much of it when needed, but never did the complete top-to-bottom scramble). Once you top out on Glacier Rib, either by LS or scrambling up the Rib itself, you will find a nice platform there on which to look down LS and on the other side, the Flying Dutchman couloir. This platform is called something, like Eagle's Perch, Eagle's Nest, something like that, I've forgotten.
Once you top out onto the Loft, multiple route options exist. Hope that helps, it's a cool mountain to explore. Now I'm going climbing...into a beach chair at the neighborhood pool with wife & kids!
-Tom
So you could go all the way up Lamb's Slide (LS) to the Loft, I've done it up and down a few times. If you go up LS you can, of course, mosey over to the start of Broadway (tip: if you pass the pillar on the right with the upside-down chair top [Zumies Thumb], you've gone too far), but note that IMO LS tends to melt out top to bottom so as you go up you may encounter more and more alpine ice, but that depends on your timing and the prior snow season. Gillet's guide rates the climb AI 2 (alpine ice II, I just now had to double check that...), but IMO that's a later season rating. If you hit it in the spring you should find fairly firm snow up to Broadway, but of course that varies year to year. If you hit it too late, into the fall, it can turn into sporty black ice. That aside, as you near the top of LS, IMO the steepest angle is to the left side, and on the right you can hug the rock wall and take advantage of the moat to make the ascent somewhat easier, I've done both. As I recall there's a short scrambly/snowy headwall to surmount to make it up to the Loft.
Note the rock rib to climber's left of LS, that's Glacier Rib and that too can be climbed to bypass the ice (if any) in LS. IMO the easiest access to the base of Glacier Rib is to climber's right, and the ascent itself is a class 3-ish scramble (full disclosure, I've scrambled on much of it when needed, but never did the complete top-to-bottom scramble). Once you top out on Glacier Rib, either by LS or scrambling up the Rib itself, you will find a nice platform there on which to look down LS and on the other side, the Flying Dutchman couloir. This platform is called something, like Eagle's Perch, Eagle's Nest, something like that, I've forgotten.
Once you top out onto the Loft, multiple route options exist. Hope that helps, it's a cool mountain to explore. Now I'm going climbing...into a beach chair at the neighborhood pool with wife & kids!
-Tom
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Hungry Jack
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Re: Long's Route Question #2
That's great Beta, Tom. Enjoy that beach chair! I will probably be a climbing partner for my 3-year old this weekend. Some good towers over at the park...
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Re: Long's Route Question #2
Jack,
The GF and I are heading that direction tomorrow morning. Descending the Loft proper.
The GF and I are heading that direction tomorrow morning. Descending the Loft proper.
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Hungry Jack
- Posts: 914
- Joined: 7/18/2008
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Re: Long's Route Question #2
Safe travel.Kiefer wrote:Jack,
The GF and I are heading that direction tomorrow morning. Descending the Loft proper.
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