Longs Peak

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/1/2019, By: jfm3
Info: I hiked up Mt. Lady Washington and got a good look at the north & east side of Longs. Trail is snow-free to just below the Keyhole (see my MLW CR). There is a snowfield leading up to the Keyhole. Cables still looks snow-covered, though there were many sets of tracks all up & down the face. On the Diamond, Lamb's Slide and Broadway still have snow, as does the upper part of Kiener's. I saw 2 people way up on the top of Kiener's through binoculars when I was at Chasm Lake.

1. Diamond from MLW summit.

2. At Chasm Lake.

3. North Face/Keyhole view from MLW summit. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 6/17/2019, By: dbolton
Info: Went up to the keyhole on Sat. 6/15. Trail is under snow from just below to just above treeline. I would say traction isn't needed up to the boulderfield, but the upper part of the boulderfield is still very snowy and the last bit is made a lot easier with microspikes. 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 6/4/2019, By: grahampa
Info: Tons of snow up high. We booted up the loft (2:45 am start due to weak freeze) and made it to meeker by 730. Loft itself is windblown with little snow, as is the ridge to Meeker. Climbed over to Clark's arrow and into keplinger's but was glad I kept the crampons on the entire time as there were plenty of snow crossings. The top of keplinger's and into the home stretch was completely filled in and I had no trouble booting up with 1 Mountain Axe and one technical axe. From the summit we descended The North face (myself on skis) without any rope and the only trouble we had was one move by the rappel anchors. Once at the Boulder Field we climbed up Mount lady Washington and I was able to ski all the way down to the chasm lake / boulder field junction. From there I had to take my skis off multiple times, and walked the last two miles to the car. 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 6/1/2019, By: cougar
Info: general info for the common routes based on observation:

Trail below treeline still holding snow down to 10,000 ft. Enough of a bootpack to keep it firm for the most part. Above treeline, there's still a ton of snow, easy to lose the trail, especially up to Chasm Junction. Tracks go all over the place.

Loft Couloir is chock full of snow, with some tracks. There was some recent avy activity at the base of Lambs Slide - most of the snowfield above Chasm Lake slid.

Surprisingly quiet day up there, lot didn't seem more than half full at any point, not too many people on the trail. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 5/13/2019, By: wintersage
Info: Decided to do an overnight trip and set up camp at the Boulderfield.


On Saturday, the trailhead to the Chasm Lake trail junction was well traveled and packed. Lots of people coming back from Lady Washington and the Chasm Lake.


From the Chasm Lake trail junction to Boulderfield had ankle-deep snow, with winds picking up as the sun was setting. We decided to set up camp between the two bathroom stalls as it offered the biggest protection against the wind. The designated campsites were completely buried in snow. Also, Agnes Vaille shelter is completely snowed in.


Saturday night we slept in 5F with occasional gusts of high speed winds. Luckily we had all 4 sides of the tent tied to the bathroom walls. Sleeping at Boulderfield with that temperature and the loudness of the wind was no 5 star hotel, but we managed to get some rest.


Sunday morning we began our summit bid. From the bathrooms to the Keyhole, the snow was surprisingly deep and soft with lots of annoying postholes.


From the Keyhole to the Trough, the trail was barely visible. Very difficult to follow the bullseye signs without GPS. The snow was deep, but stable. The Trough was the most difficult section of the hike as we kept sinking to near knee deep snow in that extremely steep slog. The Narrows were completely loaded, some sections required careful stepping facing the wall, but overall the deep snow added some stable footing.


The headwall was snow covered and this, in my opinion, made it easier to climb with crampons than if we were stepping on slick rocks. Summit conditions on Sunday were great, warm and hardly any wind. 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 5/7/2019, By: grahampa
Info: The loft is in great condition to climb early in the morning. We were happy to have ice ax and crampons. The snow on the ledges is a bit sketchy in the afternoon for the down climb, a very early start would be helpful unless you're very fast. Two of us on skis and one without any flotation said he was glad he left the snowshoes but could have been useful on the way down. The loft itself is wind scoured and easy rock scrambling, we didn't summit but got past Clark's arrow and again, very glad we had our crampons. 

Route: Keplinger Couloir
Posted On: 5/6/2019, By: JulianSmith
Info: Climbed and skied Keplinger's Couloir on Sunday May 5th. If you can call it skiing… from the summit, the homestretch is pretty thin. For us it was rock hard and icy, so there was a lot of slide slipping and phaffing about. The transition from the homestretch to the top of the couloir is mostly without snow, and involved a bootpack. The headwall of snow that separates the transition to the top of the couloir is really steep, but climbs well towards the top, hugging the rock wall, and skis okay at the bottom. Hope this make sense, but it will when you are looking at it. The top of the couloir involves just a bit of butt scootching; i.e. dry skiing over a thin spot or two, and then the couloir opens up for some nice skiing to the bottom of the apron. Overall, I would say that it is out of condition. You can't ski from the bottom of the homestretch to the top of the couloir. You can ski the homestretch from the summit, but it is pretty tight, and can be really icy if the sun hasn't warmed it up enough. Cheers. 

Route: Keplinger Couloir
Posted On: 4/21/2019, By: astrobassman
Info: Snow starts about 1.5-2 miles from TH. The bushwhack above Sandbeach lake was not bad since there was a ski track to follow. The couloir is in good conditions, as is the ledge above the couloir. The homestretch is mostly snow.
Another party said the nearby Dragon's Egg couloir was real icy. One of the guys took a bad fall, but was able to slowly descend himself. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 2/11/2019, By: soloclimber97
Info: Made it up Longs via Keyhole, carried snowshoes never used them (stashed at keyhole). Solid trench in place to tree line, tree line to keyhole was surprisingly low on snow. Ledges and Trough I wore crampons and used axe. Narrows had a little snow but not enough to require traction, homestretch was basically summer conditions with the exception of a few avoidable patches of snow/ice. Extremely windy made for a tough day. 

Route: Cables
Posted On: 2/10/2019, By: Gcobb
Info: Cables route had minimal snow and ice on on the technical pitches on 2/1/19. Snow seemed to help smooth out the crux. Four eyebolts were easily appreciated and exposed rock for pro was ample. Not nearly enough ice for screws. Crampons helpful for the snowfields above the boulderfield, the two technical pitches, and the snowfields above the diamond. Kept them on the whole way to the summit. Traction and flotation weren't necessary for the bootpacked trail the whole approach to treeline and then definitely not on the windswept rock all the way to the boulderfield but may be helpful after the recent snowfall. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 2/3/2019, By: Toobaboy
Info: It was sunny, warm and calm on Friday. There wasn't much snow above treeline, and I didn't even need traction from there to the Keyhole. There was enough snow on the Ledges that I broke out the crampons. The Trough had a good amount of snow (photo 1), but nobody's gonna be skiing that any time soon! I doffed the crampons for the Narrows and most of the Homestretch (photo 2), but donned them again for the final 10-15 feet to the summit. This was my first ascent of Longs and my first winter 14er. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 1/15/2019, By: s26miler
Info: Nice wide hardpacked trail up to chasm lake junction...some drifting and a couple icy spots on ledge over to lake...some postholing in rocky area right b4 lake...

I brought snowshoes but didnt need...wore micro spikes...
Looking over to route to keyhole...just a single foot track...but didnt go up trail...
Enjoy lake!! 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 1/6/2019, By: justiner
Info: * Trail below treeline to Keyhole is nicely packed snow

After Keyhole:

* Ledges have snow, with a few small fields of relatively unconsolidated snow - do be careful
* Loft has snow, but consolidated enough to kick steps
* Ice on the Narrows, but avoidable for the most part
* Snow in the cracks on Homestretch, most of the slabs of free of snow 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 12/17/2018, By: cordisimo
Info: Perfect conditions right now. We went up Loft and down Keyhole with a trip around through the Notch to see if the Stepladder would go (it was too snowy for me). Crampons to Chasm Lake, from Keplinger's to homstretch, I did just axe for keyhole route, but foot traction might be a good idea for the trough. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 11/28/2018, By: FellowSaint
Info: Park Rangers would like to hear from anyone who has been in the Longs Peak area since Saturday morning, November 24, or who may have had contact with Micah Tice regarding his planned route on Longs Peak. Please call Rocky Mountain National Park at (970) 586-1204.