Longs Peak

Route: Keyhole Up, Cables + Camel Down
Posted On: 6/12/2025, By: nicholasjblock
Info: Getting to the keyhole was a breeze, some minor snow but all was hardpack with good steps (felt totally fine in hiking shoes) At the keyhole I put on full mountain boots and crampons, and was glad to have them. 97% of the route from keyhole to summit is still snow, and the Trough is on the firm/icy side before the sun hits it. Super fun snow climbing, glad to have the axe. Descending to the Cables raps is pretty straightforward, almost entirely steep snow downclimbing. I did 3 raps, and the last one ended up on steep snow where I continued downclimbing to Chasm View. Navigating to the Camel gulley is straightforward, and the gulley is almost devoid of snow. Lower half of rock is quite loose, and then there's a nice snowfield to walk down all the way to Chasm Lake (can still walk on the bank of the lake for all but the very end. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 6/1/2025, By: jfm3
Info: I climbed Hallett Peak on June 1 and saw the upper portion of the Keyhole route on Longs. Looks like there is continuous snow coverage in the Trough and on the North Face. 

Route: Iron Gates to Keplinger
Posted On: 5/31/2025, By: daway8
Info: Bailed 500ft below summit because only brought microspikes and one axe - snow condition in the upper couloir would have been prefect for crampons but it was getting too steep and firm for me to trust in spikes. Lots of old avy debris made portions of it easier since it was firm and chunky but other portions were still smooth and treacherous, with occasional ice here and there. Chasm Lake trail still has one steep snowfield to cross but it's very well packed down. Iron Gates had a lot more snow than I expected but plenty of exposed rocks to help anchor it. Knife Edge between Meeker Ridge and Meeker was dry on top but plenty of snow off to either side. Loft route to saddle is totally filled in - saw a few people on it today - lots of water running down from there and slide debris all around, possibly kicked of by hikers. Chasm Lake still frozen but the banks look like they're about to thaw. 

Route: Keplinger Couloir
Posted On: 5/24/2025, By: NathanRL
Info: Skiable from the summit down to 9950; the homestretch is still totally in. Unfortunately, the couloir had lots of debris from what looked like dry slides from storms a week ago; I could get some turns in off to the sides of the debris but it really wasn't good skiing. Hopefully the new snow in the next few days will hide that. I also had a lot of trouble with the GPX from the route description here, I made the left turn that is pictured in the route description up a steep, deep, south-facing snowfield and the GPX seemed to say I was well below the route. But it was totally necessary to traverse left out of the couloir between 13,600 and 13,700. Photos showing debris, summit, the homestretch with a bootpack, the narrows, and where I diverged from the posted GPX (looked down that next gully and it did not seem to go). (Also, that south-facing snowfield is over exposure, seems like a spot where a wet slide could be deadly even if it doesn't run that deep). 

Route: Keplinger Couloir
Posted On: 5/10/2025, By: slawrence2011
Info: Didn't summit. Left from Sandbeach TH at 2, intermittent snow starting 9,2, probably worth skinning around 9,7 to 9,8 as of this morning, but was melting fast down low this pm. Mostly continuous above 10K, but a lot of rocks in and under the skin track. Started climbing the couloir around 10, thanks to Luke for the bootpack! Unfortunately, the snow had not consolidated well, so we were punching ankle to knee deep through a breakable crust most of the way. That slowed us down enough that the very hot sun with very little wind and cloud cover stopped us around 13,5 around 12:30. Skied down very soft but reasonable snow. Luke said he thought homestretch was in and would stay in maybe another week. See my pictures, I saw some strips of snow up there, I have a hard time telling if it's continuous. Back to the car at 5:45 PM. 

Route: North Face
Posted On: 5/13/2025, By: GladeWolf
Info: Skied the north face on Friday. Skis on from the summit with amazing powder conditions on the north face. 2 other groups on route. Crux had a few inches of snow cover and we were able to ski/side step through it. Booted back up through the keyhole to access the trough. Snow in the trough was terrible; punchy crust and avi debris. The snow exiting glacier gorge was also poor. The homestretch looked in from what we could tell. Pic 1- looking down at homestretch from summit 2- halfway down n. face 3- n. face as we approached 4- bottom of trough 

Route: Keplinger Couloir
Posted On: 5/5/2025, By: Wildernessjane
Info: Keplinger’s Couloir is getting quite thin, especially the upper part of the couloir. Our objective was to ski the couloir not hit the summit so I don’t have any beta on the final stretch but things are looking pretty dry up there in general. We managed to get some really good turns in but it was definitely a big day (lots of shenanigans - a fair bit of deadfall, miles of discontinuous crappy snow on the approach where people were post-holing up to their knees, etc.). Many would say the juice was not worth the squeeze but that’s not how I roll. First two or so miles were clear. We only saw two other people. 

Route: Cables
Posted On: 4/24/2025, By: justiner
Info: We got stymied at the technical crux with pretty thin and wet snow between the first and second bolts and inadequate pro, If you go up, consider getting an early start so that the snow is firmer for you and bring something good for that section. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 3/31/2025, By: MaryinColorado
Info: Just pics! Thought maybe anybody tracking condition changes on specific routes might benefit from a visual aid. These pics were taken on Friday evening, so this is obviously visual from prior to Saturday night's snowfall. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 3/9/2025, By: wintersage
Info: There’s a nice bootpack all the way up to the treeline so we didn’t bother with snowshoes. Snowdrifts and trapdoor snow all the way to the Keyhole, after that it becomes a crampon and ice axe affair. The Ledges and Trough were quite loaded and powdery which made for slow progress but luckily the Narrows and Homestretch were not too crazy. We saw a few skiers on the Trough but no one else the entire day. 

Route: Trough Route
Posted On: 3/2/2025, By: Grisel
Info: Approach to base of Trough was straightforward and solid trench to Black Lake. Consistent, good snow all the way up the trough to where you meet standard route. Enjoyable snow climb. The narrows were pretty dry with some small patches of melting snow. Homestretch starts off day and then you have pockets of snow in all the cracks, we stuck to the furthest climbers left crack. Glissaded down the trough for a quick descent, snow was a mix of corn and styrofoam at 2pm. 3 people did keyhole and a couple skiers also went up trough. 14 hour day 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 12/24/2024, By: shapovalovm
Info: TH to Keyhole is almost in summer conditions effort-wise. Took me 2:55, no snowshoes or spikes needed. Past Keyhole is like a completely different world. Apparently there was some fresh snow yesterday, combined with strong winds. As a result, all the rock (yes, including vertical rock) on W-SW side of the mountain was covered in sticky wet (dessert frosting?) snow. The trail from the previous report is completely gone now. Section-by-section past Keyhole: * Ledges - filled with snow. There are multiple semi-exposed snow crossings there now. I was fine in spikes and with an axe, but kind of wished I had crampons as the snow was hard enough. Also, as this section goes up and down, it is very easy to lose the route here. I did going in both directions. * Trough - completely covered with a dusting of fresh snow, but almost every step would end on the rock/ground underneath. No avy danger. The notch on top was also covered with that wet fresh snow which made it exponentially harder, especially on the way down. I found that climbing to the left was easier/safer. * Narrows - I must admit I cannot even much here other than it was exposed to sun and all that fresh snow started melting and falling on my head in small flakes. More of an inconvenience than a problem though. * Homestretch - a mix of snow and rock. In summer, I could just walk all that straight on. Now, going up was OK, but going down in spikes and with some snow was sketchy and borderline scary (in general, I am not easily scared). Going down the Homestretch was definitely the crux of an entire route for me. Additional notes: * some of that new wet snow clearly started to melt throughout the route. I cannot tell if it will freeze and form ice or will just go away. But if the former happens in e.g. homestretch, I would not want to go there again. * I was too preoccupied with the route and did not take many pictures. Will post the ones that I have though. * Started at 7:10, finished at 4:00 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 12/22/2024, By: blown4runner
Info: Keyhole route was relatively dry. Homestretch and Narrows the snow was completely or nearly completely avoidable. Trough had some snow that can mainly be avoided climbers left. Ledges have some unconsolidated sugar snow under wind crust that has to be crossed. 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 10/21/2024, By: jjjullesss
Info: A great day to climb Longs Peak via the Loft Route for the ascent and the Keyhole Route for the descent. Ascent: The second half of the Loft Couloir is covered with a thin layer of snow, and some areas have ice, making the rocks slippery. The use of crampons is recommended on the exit ramp. The downclimb to Clark's Arrow can be challenging to locate, so make sure to follow the topo carefully. The Homestretch was a bit wet and requires caution before reaching the summit. Descent: The Trough was also covered in snow and very slippery. Overall, it was a beautiful hike. Do not underestimate the impact of snow on the duration and difficulty of the climb. Strava activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/12705792405 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 10/20/2024, By: seniorab
Info: The trough was covered in about 3-6in of snow, depending on where you were in it. No snow on the Narrows or Homestretch though. I found some lost hiking poles, if you think they're yours text 281-352-3830 about it.