Longs Peak

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: jeffmpls
Info: Ledges, Trough, Narrows 98% snow free & Homestretch has one snow field that is best managed by going to the right. 

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. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 6/25/2023, By: deepdarkseas
Info: I did Chiefs Head a couple days ago, which gives probably the best view of the route past the Keyhole, so I thought the pictures I took might be helpful. Almost every section looks well snowed in. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 6/20/2023, By: justiner
Info: This is just a quick note to remind people that the East Longs Peak Campground is still closed and probably will be for a while more. I noticed a lot of very confused people drive to the closed entrance.

OK that's all. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 6/19/2023, By: Ni ck
Info: The route to the Boulderfield was almost entirely free of snow, and water was streaming down many sections as I approached the Boulderfield. There were approximately five sections of 10 to 30m where snow was still covering the trail between where you exit the treeline and Granite Pass.

The Boulderfield itself was free of snow until the area between the toilets and the Keyhole. I hopped on stones in my running shoes when I could, walked gently on top of the snow when I could, but in some sections I sank to my shins. Past the Keyhole, there were high winds blowing snow and ice. I transitioned out of my paper-thin hiking clothes and into a hardshell top and bottom with boots, crampons, and an ice axe. The high winds and blowing snow and ice persisted to the top of the Trough. The Ledges were covered in steep snow, but they were easily traversed with an ice axe and strap-on crampons.

I met a pair of Europeans at the Keyhole making a go/no-go decision. They seemed better equipped and more experienced than I was, so I watched them step onto the Ledges and then followed behind them. As the three of us stepped onto the Ledges, the wind was blowing strong enough and the snow was sturdy enough that we could not see the bootpack of two other climbers we would later pass at the Trough as they descended. By the time we neared the Trough, I passed the Europeans and they seemed to stop for awhile, maybe keeping in cover in case I triggered an avalanche.

Upon arriving at the Trough, it became clear that winds were blowing and gusting straight up the direction of travel. In some places, the snow was deeper and more powdery here than the Ledges, and there was some loose snow. Though, the snow was consistently fairly hard from Keyhole to the top of the Trough, compacting one to six inches with crampons, but usually closer to one inch.

Upon reaching the top of the Trough, I could see very steep snow covering the Narrows. In addition, the winds were blowing strongly up the Trough and around the corner parallel to the Narrows. It did not seem plausible to proceed unprotected, so I turned around here. Two more experienced mountaineers (seemed to be locals) had already turned around ahead of me; we had passed each other at the base of the Trough. Another set of more experienced mountaineers was behind me in the Trough (the Europeans), and I do not know if they proceeded into the Narrows. They were roped up and traveling with considerable gear.

On the return hike, the sun-blasted snow was turning to slush when I encountered patches again below the Boulderfied.

Finally, you all need to stop feeding the Marmots in the Boulderfield! Two tried to attack me. 

Route: Cables
Posted On: 6/10/2023, By: zcrennen
Info: Cables is super filled in right now. Intermittent snow patches below treeline but nothing to worry about. Continuous snow starting at the boulder field. Make sure to plan out your line a little better than I did! Many of the narrow chutes are just covering rock, hard to climb. The wide paths have deep snow and make for a great climb. Even saw 2 skiers on cables. Didnt follow up with any of the people I saw going for keyhole, but it seems like cables is the move right now, park rangers said thats what they saw most people doing. An ice tool wouldve been nice, but did fine with axe, crampons, and a trekking pole. Start: 1:45 am. Summit: 8am. End: 2 pm. Go get er done while the snow lasts! 

Route: Cables
Posted On: 6/5/2023, By: daway8
Info: Actually went up Keyhole and down Cables. There is a LOT more snow since last week up past the Keyhole (below treeline is melting out fast). Plenty of small wet slides all over the place but seemed to mostly be new snow sluffing off from the last storm. However did encounter some very minor releases in various places. Cables was far more loaded than last week and all signs of previous tracks were wiped away. Ledges/Trough/Narrows/Homestretch also all very filled in. The Narrows are absolute sketch right now, especially when arriving at 8am to very firm snow. Many kudos to Sidney and Logan for blazing a trail across and high five to Cameron for sinking his teeth into a big one so soon after coming to Colorado (even though he wisely turned back partway across the Narrows upon realizing how sketch it was without crampons/axe). Sidney/Logan returned via the Narrows; I had had enough of that and went down Cables, despite never having done the route before (um, don't follow my tracks, if they're still there after the storm this afternoon). I think the rappel points must be buried in snow - there was enough that I went down dual-wielding ice axe/ice tool with crampons (on real mountaineering boots this time) and only had one section of a few feet where I scraped over barely buried rock so never needed to put any 5th class climbing into action - just stepped down facing in. Fun glissade at the bottom where I cleaned off some of the sluff. Massive dump of graupel after I got back down to Granite Pass - that will likely fill in most our tracks. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 5/31/2023, By: justiner
Info: Trail is a mess of mash potatoes. Keyhole is very much under snow. Not much of a bootpack for Ledges (don't get lost), ok one for Trough (or make your own!), and good one for Narrows. Homestretch is very firm snow with little rock poking through.