Longs Peak

Route: Trough
Posted On: 3/7/2020, By: astrobassman
Info: Great conditions on Longs. Good skinning / skiing thru Glacier Gorge. The Trough couloir is in nice, although still bare at the top. Normal snow drifts on the Narrows where having crampons / axe was nice. The homestretch is in pretty easy conditions as well. I got up pretty early before 10am, the winds weren't too bad at that time. 

Route: via Lambs Slide
Posted On: 3/7/2020, By: JephgonnaSteph
Info: Attempted Longs via Lambs Slide yesterday. Below treeline was well packed. Above treeline was wind blown and parts of the trail was completely dry. The trench to chasm lake disappeared half way so it was a bit confusing to reach the lake. First half of lambs slide was a mix of hard and soft snow while the second half was generally softer. Kick stepping worked out well. The climb from the top of lambs slide to loft was a steep traverse on snow followed by scrambling over some class 3 rocks. The snow on the traverse was soft and loose and it could be sketchy at certain point. Turned back at loft due to wind. 

Route: Cables Route
Posted On: 3/2/2020, By: Micaiah
Info: Shortcuts and standard trail were boot packed. Jims Grove was firm wind slab with minimal postholeing. The cracks on the technical pitch were mostly filled with neve. Fair amount of snow above that to the summit. Some step kicking, some firm wind slab that accepted crampon points adequately. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 3/4/2020, By: justiner
Info: Route after the Keyhole:

a few snowfields of middling quality on the Ledges, but none too deep. Axe/crampons advised, although I got away with microspikes. Snow in Trough, but not enough coverage for skiing, Narrows similar story to the Ledges. Homestretch has snow of similar, less than ideal quality, climbing the slabs seemed not a good idea.

Altogether fairly windblown. 

Route: The Trough
Posted On: 2/23/2020, By: Posthole Pete
Info: Did not summit. Trail is in great shape from Glacier gorge. No flotation is needed until Black Lake area. Turned around at 13,150 (top of trough, immediately before the route meets up with the keyhole route) because of fatigue. Would have summited if I didn't have to kick step up the entire Trough but where's the fun in not breaking trail? I hope someone can use my steps for their summit now. Snow was great for boarding in the Trough. 

Route: Cables Route
Posted On: 2/4/2020, By: Micaiah
Info: Approach trails and shortcuts packed but not icy. Hard wind slab below the technical pitch. Crack was mostly dry, halfway wish I'd not put on my crampons for the lead. Bottom eye bolt and top eye bolt were buried. Very little snow above the technical pitch. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 2/2/2020, By: Giant hills
Info: Trees packed no flotation needed at all. Mostly Dry with patches of snow here and there to keyhole. ledges were a mix of snow and rock. The trail leading through them was for the most part filled in and a couple of snow slope crossings that had a mix of good hard packed and straight sugar but was better when the sun hit it later on. Trough was wind blasted packed down snow with the exit portion dry. Narrows had ice and snow mixed in the rocks and where the main walkway is was filled but could still piece together staying on the sticking out rocks.Home stretch was mostly snow free. snow in the cracks which i thought was easier crampon up than trying to stay on the rocks.used crampons and axe from ledges to summit. Wind was absolutely brutal which made things a bit more tough and intense . Other than that the route is in good shape,but I'm sure that'll change with the storms coming this week. Sorry for the lack of pics waiting for friend to send them. Will upload once he does lol. 

Route: Keyhole - Ledges Only
Posted On: 2/1/2020, By: supranihilest
Info: From the parking lot to just past treeline is all packed snow. There are several shortcuts you can utilize if you wish, but sticking to the main trail is easiest to follow. Above treeline things are very dry. The trail is easy to follow all the way to the Boulderfield campground, then snow starts accumulating on the scramble to the Keyhole. Beyond the Keyhole the Ledges have plenty of snow of variable quality - some is good, some is pure sugar. For the most part the Ledges are easy, but always be mindful of footing. The amount of snow we encountered slowed us considerably and we turned around a few hundred yards past the Keyhole, so we don't have relevant conditions in the Trough, Narrows, or Homestretch. Flotation is not needed, an ice axe and traction are mandatory beyond the Keyhole. 

Route: Glacier Gorge
Posted On: 1/27/2020, By: JQDivide
Info: Did not summit.
The route is boot packed from TH to Mills Lake and to Black Lake.
Though the route between lakes is wind-blown in a few spots, but should still be viable until the next big storm. (seems to be seeing lots of use.)
Put on snowshoes between Black Lake and to almost to the Trough. Wind blown below Trough.
Snow in the Trough was a complete mix, but mostly unsupportive. We turned back near 13,000 due to time and fatigue of floundering in the Trough. 

Route: Grand Slam
Posted On: 1/21/2020, By: cordisimo
Info: Great conditions all around. We went Loft - Meeker- Clarks Arrow - Longs - Out and back Pagoda - Keyhole - Storm - MLW. Trail is nicely packed snow, tree shortcuts are pretty much all in. Above treeline it's quite dry, Loft to Meeker to Longs barely had snow, Pagoda's talus march was a bit sugary in spots, but fine. Microspikes would be perfect for trough/ledges. I just had crampons which would've been too jumbly for all the dry rock still in there, so just rock hopped -- my partner had screw shoes which were perfect. Surprisingly, the crux of the day came glissading off the slopes of Storm where the soft snow suddenly turned to hard icy snow. We were actually happy to crampons/axe there, but the entire section could have easily been traversed around. Boulderfield and MLW were completely dry. By far the nicest day in winter I've ever seen, too easy up there right now! 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 12/24/2019, By: justiner
Info: Trail below treeline really well packed down, I wore microspikes from the start until out of treeline, where things were mostly windblown and screw shoes sufficed. It didn't seem like any of the usual winter shortcuts were well packed, so I didn't even bother - need a large guided group of snowshoers to do the dirty work!

The south face of Mt. Lady Washington isn't holding too much snow, and I was able to get across without issue.

Loft was patchy - I kept to the annoying moraine, then onto the steepish yet bomber slabs on climber's left, before getting onto the exit ridges. There is snow to climb in the middle of the Loft, but I felt better to stay away from it. Some windblown heaps of snow on the exit slabs, but it's brief.

Loft completely snow free, as is the higher (harder) gully that gains you access to Keplingers. Keplingers was patchy, but no big deal. The zone between the top of Kep and Hometretch is always a nervous place for me, as there is a slight change of angle, and snow seems to get piled up. This was the case today, but the snow - although very DEEP is some places, seemed stable enough. I've never wallowed so much, so high up, so early in the Winter season. Unusual for me, but maybe not unusual as a thing.

Homestretch had patchy snow, no big deal Cordis!

Cables is 90% snow free, with most of the snow right above the last bolt. I again kept mostly to the stepped slabs to the north of the bolt line, and just had to downclimb the last 30 feet or so. Minimal ice in the business of the Cables route - just a bit of snow, and a little bit of ice near bolt #2.

Ice flows below Cables, but easily avoided. Boulderfield has some patchy snow, but easy to avoid as well. Didn't take Jims Grove trail down, as I was thinking that the trees down near its terminus would be stashed with snow.

Saw no evidence of avalanche activity anywhere. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 12/22/2019, By: cordisimo
Info: great snowpack trail to treeline, traction optional. Above treeline there were bits of punchy snow getting through Jim's grove but then basically to the Keyhole you can stay on rock the whole way. Beyond the keyhole was some big drifts on sections of the ledges and trough, a couple waist deep traverses but otherwise pretty light on the snow front and easy to stay on rock if you choose your line. Narrows were basically dry and homestretch had not much snow either, but enough to make navigating the slabs with 1in of snow on top of them engaging, at least for me. Overall, pretty favorable conditions. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 12/14/2019, By: Will_E
Info: Longs was tough today, the cold and snow don't bother me much, but the wind was something else. Nice below treeline, then it picked up a bit at the Chasm Junction, and by the time I was in the boulder field it felt like a hurricane. I battled it out to the Keyhole, then succumbed and turned back.

On the way up, I didn't use any traction or flotation. The boulder field was really a pain, some of the way I could rock hop and avoid the snow, but where I couldn't, there was no consistency to it. Sometimes I sunk to my waist, sometimes it was just a few inches. The worst was when there was a steeply angled rock under the snow and caused me to slip. Ugh. On the way back I had to snowshoe up, with all the snow and wind it was really a different hike down below treeline, lots of big drifts and thick snow. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 11/19/2019, By: justiner
Info: Trail is quite icy until at least the Jim's Grove/Battle Mountain campsite junction with the main E Longs Peak Trail. Traction is advised from the very start.

Boulderfield is dry.

Past keyhole, you'll find strange, unconsolidated snow that looks like puffed rice. No large snowfields to cross, but snow present is slippery.

Some spots of water ice on the Narrows (easily avoidable).

Homestretch mostly dry, but smattering of that same unconsolidated snow. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 10/25/2019, By: graberz
Info: There is a boot pack from tree line to the chasm junction now. The trail goes a little bit all over the place and does get deep at times. No trail past this point to Longs. I broke trail to chasm lake. There is waist deep snow at times, and was consistently 8-12 inches. I did not use snow shoes, but wished I would've. I took the ice axe, but it was not particularly needed. There is a solid trench up to just past tree line. Very little wind and it sure did get warm and slushy today. Beautiful day!