Longs Peak

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/17/2018, By: cshanek
Info: No ice/snow on route, very warm conditions (also windy). Slept at Boulder field, finding water can be a little tricky, but if you head North up the trail about 1/8 of a mile (from the squat shacks) it is much easier to pump. Route was pretty easy in good conditions, exposure not bad, however Homestretch was surprisingly slick coming down due to decades of hikers leaving rubber on the rock as they make their way down. I decided to go with a lightweight pair of Solomon high tops over my approach shoes, and they slid like bowling shoes. Just stick to the right side of the homestretch while descending and utilize the cracks to mitigate slippage. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/16/2018, By: jhalee4
Info: Excellent conditions on the Keyhole Route. Got really lucky with the weather - warm, not a cloud in the sky, virtually no wind. I saw no ice on the route. There were a couple teeny tiny patches of snow on the trough, but on far right side and totally avoidable. 

Route: Cables
Posted On: 9/11/2018, By: mrickers
Info: Small amount of ice/verglas on the technical section of the route, pretty much avoidable at this point in time. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/11/2018, By: salmanalsaif
Info: Excellent conditions. Windy at the keyhole but that was expected, pretty good besides that. Started at 3am, reached keyhole around 630, summited at 830, hung out for half an hour, back to the TH at 1240. 940 total. One of my favorite routes (more exposure is optional if you take class 4 lines to make it more exciting but safe, otherwise class 3/2 is pretty solid). 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/9/2018, By: adamdaresnick
Info: Completely clear of snow/ice/etc.. Wind was very strong at/near the Keyhole and at the top of the chute, but died down 100 feet past and was not bad anywhere else, including the summit. All in all, near perfect conditions. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/10/2018, By: BenThom11
Info: Still summer conditions, no ice/snow at all. Also still summer crowds. I managed to have the summit to myself despite there being 100 or so people on the mountain. Had to park a ways down from the TH arriving at 5:45 am on Saturday, but it did not add too much extra time, and weather was no issue. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/9/2018, By: aussie
Info: Arrived at the TH around 2am. Snagged one of the last parking spots in the main lot. Trail was amazing with perfect weather. Everything was dry and I didn't spot any ice or snow on the trail. I was on the trail between 2am and 10:30am and received no snow or rain. Summit was very calm and the windiest part was descending the trough. Main obstacles were the horse droppings! 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/4/2018, By: SoreSitzBones
Info: There were no snow patches to avoid on the route today - I took microspikes but didn't use them. Snow/rain was in the forecast but only a few flakes fell and they didn't amount to anything. Plus there was no wind, which for Longs is crazy. Really a beautiful day on Longs.

Not too many hikers, either. The early crowd might have seen 20-30 people on the route, and after 10 a.m. more RMNP visitors were at the keyhole but I don't know if they tried to summit. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 8/31/2018, By: jhalee4
Info: Very windy on the route today unfortunately. Many people turned around at the keyhole or after attempting to go through it as the wind was so relentless and strong (30+ mph). It got a bit better once you made it down to the ledges, but was still a steady presence. My friend and I turned around on the ledges :/ People did still summit though! 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 8/29/2018, By: cory1223oh
Info: Route was in great shape today. There were very small areas of ice in the narrows and homestretch, but they are easily avoided while staying on the standard route. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 8/27/2018, By: BradyLampert
Info: Started at 4am (hit snooze a couple times), summited right around 8am..back to the truck at 11:30. Spent about 30 mins at the peak. Beat most of the crowd up, but man there was a TON of people out. Not to mention the 80mph winds that picked up as I was traversing down..RIP to my Patagonia hat the blew off a 1000ft down Longs lol. No more snow on the standard keyhole route as was mentioned in the last peak condition report. I will mention I summited solo. I try not to with most class 3s but I've summited the Crestone group, Little Bear, Ellingwood and Blanca solo, something I enjoy doing is hiking more difficult 14ers solo. If you plan to set out solo, theres a good chance you'll have some people with you. I climbed a portion of Longs with a dude from Kansas lol.
Ive had my eyes on summiting since last summer and just couldn't find a day that the weather held up and fell on a day I had off work..but Longs is easily my favorite summit to date. This was the first mountain I saw when I moved to Colorado and never once thought I'd stand on top of it. Not trying to be "that guy" but most people I've met out hiking 14ers speak about how difficult Longs is, but if you're an experienced hiker and have decent cardio it should be a relatively easy going day. The last couple hundred feet were the most difficult as it usually is for most 14ers. Only saw one person take a nasty spill on the scree pile heading down, also there was a 12 year old hiking it for his 2nd time that I met..crazy, I was playing halo 3 and eating Cheetos when I was 12. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 8/22/2018, By: Shaller13
Info: Some ice patches on the Narrows close to where you climb up to begin the Homestrech. Everything else is dry for the most part. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 8/13/2018, By: CamKelley
Info: Trail in good shape other than mounds of horse droppings.

Caught the meteor shower in perfect conditions Friday night. Arrived at 1:20am and parked WAY down below the TH off the side of the road. Sunday I saw pictures on facebook of folks being towed, but from what I could tell, they were well into the road.... 

Route: Iron Gates to Clarks Arrow to Skyscraper
Posted On: 8/2/2018, By: benglish
Info: Everything is in great shape. The rumors about the demise of Clark's Arrow are WRONG. The whole buttress is right where it used to be. See attached. 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 7/30/2018, By: BigC
Info: A beautiful day on Long's today. It was so unlike Long's--free of inclement weather, gusting wind at the Keyboard of the Winds, and (until the latter part of the afternoon) a bluebird Colorado day. Also, I counted less than 10 people at the summit, although there were several large parties (2 dozen or more) of students and park rangers moving up in the afternoon.

Of note: I ascended the Loft Couloir today, and it was spectacular. However, beyond the Beaver, there were no cairns. The route describes a cairn to mark a gully descent, and I couldn't find it. Likewise, there were no cairns in Keplinger's Couloir, as described in the route. I wonder if the inclement weather from last week into the weekend didn't do a number on them. If you are planning on hiking the back side of Long's, make sure to bring a GPS or other means of finding your route.
There was a small stream of snowmelt in the Loft Couloir, but it was to climber's right and out of the main route. Perhaps helpful for people with LifeStraws or tabs to refill their bottles before the final few miles. Happy climbing.