Longs Peak

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 4/3/2016, By: cordisimo
Info: Up the Loft, down Keyhole. Lots of snow on the exit ramp out of the Loft couloir, I just used poles for traction but spikes or crampons could be useful. Clark's to Kep's was pretty mellow, but getting from Keplingers to the bottom of the homestretch was a TON of snow, a little dicey perhaps; the homestretch was similarly snowy but at an easier gradient with less exposure. Narrows were off and on snow-rock, microspikes and an axe worked perfect. Trough is blast (at least going down), bomb down the perfect snow! Multiple long and deep snowfields along the ledges, had to scope out bull's eyes from a distance, crampons were mandatory for me here.

P.S. Don't forget sunscreen!!! 

Route: Glacier Gorge
Posted On: 3/6/2016, By: jmanner
Info: Benfromtheeast and I went up the Glacier Gorge route of Longs yesterday. We were able to skin from about .1 mile from the parking lot to the base of the Trough. From there you have two options mix climb directly into the couloir or take a class 2/2+ route just to the left of it, which was free of snow. The Trough had skiable snow from about 11.9K until 13.3K feet or just above where the ledges meets the trough. From there it's thin-ish snow in the center of the trough to the narrows. The narrows are mostly dry except for some snow and ice on the ledges of the narrows. The homestretch had enough snow that we wished that we had microspikes. For the Trough crampons were definitely the right choice. We skied the length of the trough and then hoofed the skis down to around 11.5 and then it was a mix of skiing and poling back to the car. It took us 14.3 hours.

I do believe Ben is putting up a Trip Report at some point. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 2/27/2016, By: Wolfman_CO
Info: Finally made it up Longs today after three previous tries over the past few months. Well packed trail up to tree-line, then there are a number of divergent trails that seem to go through much softer snow while the main trail is hard-packed. I didn't use micro-spikes or snow shoes all the way to the Keyhole (my boots are in good shape, stashed the snowshoes along the way). The Boulder Field is wind-blasted clean, all the way to the camping area is basically clear. More snow past the camping area to the Keyhole but it is generally bullet-proof and I walked on top of it the majority of the time, very little postholing.

Keyhole to the base of the Trough had snow, wore crampons in the morning (10ish) since the snow was super firm and there were no tracks. There are basically 3-4, 20-50' more exposed snow crossings and the rest was a snow/rock mix. Wore micro-spikes from the Trough all the way to summit. Basically, you can more or less choose if you want to be on rocks or snow from the Trough all the way up depending on comfort level/preference. On the way back I opted not to switch back to crampons (from Trough base to Keyhole) as the snow had softened slightly (12:30ish) and I could follow my steps. Felt safe the entire time. All in all a pleasant winter day on Longs, winds were even manageable! 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 2/22/2016, By: Kbal1
Info: Made it up to the boulderfield/keyhole. Trail was well packed below and near treeline and windblown in many spots above treeline. Took snowshoes but they weren't needed. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 2/7/2016, By: emgordon
Info: Well packed until trail turns west towards MLW, then the summer trail is actually clear in a few places from wind scour. Made it about a mile from Chasm Lake until winds convinced us to give up.

Sidebar: saw some tracks, nails were visible which some research indicates likely means fox (not lynx as I originally thought). Wish I'd taken a picture, but anyone seen any carnivores above treeline on Longs in winter before? 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 1/24/2016, By: devinwang91
Info: Can make it to keyhole without snowshoes or crampons. Didn't attempt to go beyond keyhole. 

Route: Chasm Lake
Posted On: 1/17/2016, By: Jeremya
Info: Hard Snow packed trail to Chasm lake. I didn't put on snowshoes and they weren't needed; I did put on crampons and pull out the ice ax to cross some of the steep snow after the cutoff. Up to the cutoff hiking boots and winter gear were more than enough. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 12/27/2015, By: johnalcorn
Info: Made it just beyond the keyhole. Decided to turn back due to high winds. Throughout the trees snow is well-packed. I broke my own trail past treeline. Snowshoes highly recommended from treeline to the keyhole. Hope to return before school starts back and make the summit. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 12/19/2015, By: Alan Arnette
Info: Snowshoes very helpful below treeline after recent snows. Winter shortcut at Brooks Creek Bridge, not worth it now - deep drifts. Above treeline, windblown as usual. Stopped at Keyhole/Loft junction due to high winds. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 12/7/2015, By: Wolfman_CO
Info: The trail is boot-packed up to treeline, then wind-blown and boot-packed to the Chasm Lake junction. From Chasm Lake junction to the boulder field the trail is fairly clear of snow and when it's not clear the snow is minimal. Boulder field in similar condition- snow in parts but mostly wind cleared of snow. Snow shoes not necessary, micro-spikes helpful but also not mandatory. Stopped at the top of the Keyhole due to intense winds and lots of spin-drift after the Keyhole. 

Route: Keplinger Couloir
Posted On: 12/7/2015, By: pbakwin
Info: 8 of us went to the summit, and since we put in an excellent snowshoe track others might want to follow - if you have a jones for a really long route on the shoulder of winter. The trail up to Sandbeach Lake was easy to follow, then we kind of wandered through the trees - not the most direct route but certainly better than setting your own track. Removed snowshoes at the top of the krumholz. There was decent snow all the way up the couloir - good cramponing. A couple of dry spots, but mostly continuous snow to the top (Homestretch has snow). Not enough snow to be a worthwhile ski yet of course. 

Route: Kieners
Posted On: 11/9/2015, By: FireOnTheMountain
Info: Lot of unconsolidated. Lambslide felt stable despite the healthy amount of snow. Really slow conditions top of crux to base diamond steps which were dry.

Time consuming and hard work conditions. 

Route: MLW
Posted On: 11/7/2015, By: cordisimo
Info: I did Mt Lady Washington today, trail is completely packed to Chasm Junction and otherwise not too deep. I saw one party on Lambs Slide (looked like all snow aside from a few ice patches, could be a pretty thin coat of snow though), another mid-way through the boulder field and talked to another guy in the parking lot headed for Alexander's Chimney. Enough snow to be fun but not so much as for it to quite be a death march. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 10/16/2015, By: madadraw1
Info: Weather man called for no rain today, so did not start until 6AM. No wind on the summit either. There was some scattered areas of snow on The Trough. Would be doable in hiking boots alone, but easier with microspikes. Otherwise, this route remains free of snow. I added a picture of the worst of the snow we encountered on The Trough. Completed the hike in about 11.5 hours but that included a long break on the summit on a perfect Colorado day! 

Route: Loft ascent, Keyhole descent
Posted On: 10/9/2015, By: bmcqueen
Info: Loft snowy. Crampons on upper half. Down climb into Kepplingers had a couple tricky snow covered moves. Homestretch mostly dry and in good shape. Some avoidable snow and ice. Narrows mostly dry with some avoidable snow and ice. Trough quite snowy and entry move on descent was tricky and snow covered. Spikes recommended for trough this weekend. Ledges were getting sun today and should be mostly dry Sat and Sun.