Longs Peak

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/30/2023, By: MollyJean628
Info: Weather was perfect! Hardly any snow in the trough, a little wet on the homestretch, but plenty of paths available to scurry up to the summit. As others have mentioned, Long's Peak lives up to its name...L.O.N.G. Backside of the ridge past the keyhole is shaded and windy, have layers, have water and/or filter pump to refill at the base of the boulder field. Be wise and mindful with each step, especially on the descent with tired legs. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/23/2023, By: Sameerkumar1979
Info: Summer conditions. Go get it! Lots of hikers/climbers summited today. The restroom facility at Boulder Field was not open though. Have an alternate plan. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/23/2023, By: tsars03
Info: The whole route was snow and ice free except for the trough and homestretch. The snow and ice was easy to work around though. The trough had some very loose rock and there were parts of the trough where the rocks were wet making it slick. 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 7/24/2023, By: axelmalahieude
Info: Loft is in summer conditions until you get behind the notch. Between the notch and the homestretch theres a snowfield right on the path (see picture). Climbers right is a class 4+ traverse but its dry, climbers left is pretty much a walk but its got black ice from the snow runoff. The move is to take it slow on climbers left (I was almost on all fours feeling for ice). My friend went right but it ended up being sketchier than going over the ice because it becomes vertical and has next to no holds. Descended the keyhole and saw lots of people bringing ice axes. Completely unnecessary; any snow is far too hard/icy for an axe to be useful, and climbing around is very easy. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/22/2023, By: The Stadler
Info: Absolute beautiful day. Just a little breezy at the keyhole around 6am, no wind at all on the peak around 9am and kinda warm. Spent a lot of time up at the top because it was so nice. No snow or ice really. The biggest problem, though, was all the snow melt covering rocks in water. Especially on the steep/exposed parts of the hike, wet rocks were the biggest problem. Our main focus during the Homestretch really was just finding a route that was as dry as possible. Otherwise, conditions couldn't of been better. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/20/2023, By: LukaLikesClimbing
Info: I climbed Longs on July 9th 2023 and there was still a considerable amount of snow on the Trough and Home Stretch. The Narrows were very melted out and you could walk around the snow. I had some friends attempt it 17th and they said everything was clear except the Home Stretch which has a steep piece of ice on it near the summit that they said was too sketchy to pass. I think a rock scramble is possible. They talked to the ranger and the ranger said they don't think it'll fully melt all season. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/18/2023, By: jeffmpls
Info: Ledges, Trough, Narrows 98% snow free & Homestretch has one snow field that is best managed by going to the right. 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 7/18/2023, By: colekics
Info: We ascended the Loft and descended the Keyhole route. The loft is holding snow but it's completely avoidable. We didn't take the bypass to the left of the loft but instead went directly up the head wall where we encountered a lot of slippery rock under drainage, so I'd definitely recommend the standard bypass. Routefinding to the gully descent after the loft is tough, but again all moves are snow free. The sketchiest part of the day was the slabby section of rock ascending to the homestretch because it is surprisingly slippery and just steep enough to be dangerous, not to mention not having great holds in certain areas. Find the driest possible section of rock you can, I almost slipped all the way off. On the keyhole route, we NEVER used traction or an axe, just like on the Loft route. You can avoid all snow and ice by making moves that aren't much harder than the standard moves you would make when it's all dry. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/18/2023, By: Strugglr
Info: Easy going and snow free until the trough. Minor ice and snow in the trough but nothing that couldn't be easily worked around. No snow on the Narrows. Only issue was on the upper homestretch. Almost no one was summiting because of the ice there. It was not really doable without crampons, an ice axe and ice skills. I had none of those so I worked my way up the rocks to the far left and found a fairly safe ridge to traverse. Only had to scale some class 3 stuff and a small class 4 scramble about 12 feet high to reach the summit. Never really felt that dangerous. We had the summit to ourselves. Great weather too. Never put on a jacket or used any traction or axe, just shorts and a t-shirt. 

Route: Keyhole ridge, Beaver, Gorrels
Posted On: 7/17/2023, By: ellenmseb
Info: Keyhole ROUTE (standard route): Viewed from afar; still has snow. Some parties had microspikes, others no traction. Seems crampons not required? Not sure about axe but I would bring one. Will be in full summer condition very soon. Keyhole RIDGE (5.6, not the keyhole route described on this site): snow free. 3 parties on route. Beaver/Stepladder: Snow only in the Notch. Dealt with this snow with an axe, didn't take the effort to pull out the spikes. fixed rope hanging from the rap that gets you from the Beaver into the notch (the direction you would be going if you ascended the Loft). Gorrel's: Snow avoidable by doing an awkward ~5.4 chimney move. Loft couloir: All snow avoidable. Loose as shit. This only applies to the Loft Couloir, not Clark's Arrow or any of the sections of the route described on this site beyond photo 9 on the Loft route description. Cables/north face route/rappels: I didn't climb or rap them, only viewed and discussed. Both eyebolts are accessible, but there's still steep snow below the lower rap. Sounds like it's preferable to have either double 60s to bypass the snow, or the full contingent of mountaineering boots, crampons and axe to downclimb the snow. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/13/2023, By: MattDLane1
Info: Still recommend crampons and an axe for another week or two. Some shear ice in the Trough and some on the Homestretch, both of which are still filled in with snow. The only parts of the Trough/Homestretch without snow are the steeper variations on the sides, which still very wet and super dangerous. Ledges/Narrows are very doable without spikes or an axe, probably preferable to avoid dulling your crampons. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/7/2023, By: IkeB
Info: Still a lot of snow on the back side. Crampons and ace recommend for at least another couple of weeks. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/2/2023, By: Kdowning710
Info: Micro spikes preferably crampons necessary 50m past keyhole all the way to summit. Ice axe will also add a layer of much needed comfort but is not necessary. Snow/ice mix will be present on last portion of ledges/trough/narrows/homestretch for several weeks if not longer. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 6/30/2023, By: jeffmpls
Info: After the Keyhole snow begins about 1/8 of mile down the Ledges. I put on my crampons shortly after that and had them on the entire way to the summit, and the return to the Keyhole. There's a significant amount of snow remaining, I suspect the Trough will hold snow for another 3+ weeks, and the Ledges, Narrows, and Homestretch for another 2+ weeks. 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 6/26/2023, By: jfm3
Info: I climbed "Southeast Longs" and Mt. Meeker via the Loft on June 25. I didn't go over to the true summit of Longs. Still a lot of snow up there. I put on crampons at Chasm Lake and didn't take them off until I was back at the lake on the descent. I saw two people who skied down Lamb's Slide. The snow on the Loft was cold and crunchy. The snow on the ledge that exits the couloir was fairly icy, due to the water ice that is thawing and flowing off the cliffs above. It was more like climbing on a glacier than a snowfield. There is a good track but it's steep and some places are harder to kick steps than others.