Longs Peak

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 6/20/2014, By: akoller
Info: Summer conditions up until the Keyhole. Lots of snow on all aspects of the route after that. The snow had a strong overnight freeze and was very firm. I had a hard time getting good plunges with the ice axe. As per usual the narrows were the least sketchy part and the homestretch was the most sketchy. Also the north face and loft are both holding a decent amount of snow. 

Route: Notch Couloir and Cables
Posted On: 6/17/2014, By: Furthermore
Info: Conditions are changing quickly. With that in mind:
Due to some good, recent freezes the Notch is in Prime condition. Broadway has some snow but not at any of the tricky spots. Hard styrofoam snow the entire way; even surprisingly firm near the top. The 5.5 chimney is completely smegged in ice making for a more award and tricky climb.

Due to the freezing and north aspect of the Cables route our descent had hard snow as well. Lower cables was covered in ice. The snow never softened up and we had to front point for the entire descent. The keyhole may be a better descent option at the moment.

Pic 1: Lower Notch
Pic 2: Upper Notch
Pic 3: Icy Chimney out of Notch
Pic 4: Hard snow on North Face.
Pic 5: Still lots of snow on the North Face. 

Route: Notch Couloir and North Face
Posted On: 6/17/2014, By: Kevin Baker
Info: The Notch couloir on the east face is still in great condition. The snow was great for kicking steps and held firm since the most of the couloir doesn't receive sunhit until late. The top was a bit soft. We thought the crux chimney was harder than 5.0, especially with ice. We descended the north face and the snow was still quite firm in the afternoon. We had to face in from about 200 feet below the summit to the highest rap station, an exhausting ordeal. The snow didn't soften much due to the wind. 

Route: North Face & Keyhole
Posted On: 6/14/2014, By: pbakwin
Info: For some reason I went up the North Face (Cables) and down the Keyhole both yesterday and today. Conditions are changing rapidly. The North Face was probably an ideal snow climb 5 days ago. Yesterday it was pretty good with a couple of careful steps on the cables section, and otherwise good snow right to the summit. Today the crux moves at the top of the cables section were quite icy & we had to hack some steps to be secure with running shoes and light crampons. It will probably get harder with time (mix of wet rock & ice) until it finally dries out later in the summer. But anyway the top bolt is easily visible so it's a fine rap route as is.

The Keyhole Route is in great shape for crampons/ax. The first 200 yards from the Keyhole are rock, then it's almost completely good, cramponable snow to the top of the Trough, then some rocky and some snowy sections through and past the Narrows, then the Homestretch is all good firm snow. It's a great route in these conditions, if you bring the right tools.

All this is of course changing very fast. 

Route: Notch Coulior; Keyhole
Posted On: 6/5/2014, By: Zambo
Info: Climbed Longs via the Notch on 6/5 and descended the Keyhole. Here is some beta from all the different sections which we encountered. Excellent snow conditions for anyone with a mind, but the keyhole is still very, very much in snow and ice conditions.

Chasm Lake: Frozen in the middle, melting out fast. We were able to traverse around the south side of the lake on snow. This may be in for a while longer.

Lamb's Slide: Excellent booting snow. Almost no signs of rock fall or wet slide activity. Terrific purchase the length of the coulior.

Broadway: Still substantial snow across the route. Multiple 45-60 degree fields to cross. Some areas had melted out, but it was almost always easier to stick to the snow. First crux move consists of a nearly vertical 10-15 foot down climb at the start of the traverse. Move around the boulder was melted well with some good pro opportunities nearby. Climbing above the boulder seemed possible, although much more involved and not worth it.

Notch: Excellent snow conditions with a solid boot track in place due to several parties going up. Snow conditions varied considerably based on sun exposure, which was different due to the shaded portions of the route. By noon, the top was getting quite wet - start early.

Homestretch: Terrific snow down climb the whole way on 35ish slope. Moving on the rocks is possible, but a good boot track is in place. Keplinger's looks in for a ways down the coulior. Skiers take note.

Narrows: More snow to cross. Several spicy section for anyone without an axe or crampons.

Loft: More good snow on gentler angle. Fast and easy snow down climb.

Feel free to post of PM for more beta or pics. I plan on doing a TR in the coming days. 

Route: Notch
Posted On: 6/1/2014, By: Monster5
Info: Boot-packed good snow (~45 deg Lambslide and Broadway, maybe 45 with a few steeper snow steps in Notch). No ice and not yet neve. A week of warming might clear out the Broadway crux step - well protected from slung horns and a red to yellow BD in the hand crack just after (tall people could probably use the crack at the cross over). Not much instability or rock fall. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 5/26/2014, By: marcstrawser
Info: Easily still classified as a winter climb. Broke trail from the Tundra sign this morning, but it was melted enough by noon to see the trail to the split for Chasm. Around Mt. Lady Washington and into the Boulder field was consistent shin-deep snow with no trail to follow which became progressively worse toward the end of the boulder field. At times sinking further than waist deep, was lucky enough to have met an awesome guy who broke most of the way up. The entrance to the Keyhole itself was icy and covered in snow. Past the Keyhole the bulls-eye markings were hidden as there was knee-deep powder on the ledges. Route finding was not an easy task, and in addition to the snow conditions the decision was made to turn around not far from the Keyhole. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 5/18/2014, By: Alan Arnette
Info: Full on winter conditions today. Summited via Keyhole but broke trail from Chasm Junction to summit. Drifts in Boulder Field makes for interesting post holing. Ledges, Trough, Narrows and Homestretch all covered with 1 - 3 feet of loose to thin crusted powder. Hopefully will consolidate with warmer temps 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 5/8/2014, By: BenfromtheEast
Info: This update could become quickly outdated depending on this weekend's snowfall. Lemmiwinks and I had nothing better to do on Saturday, so we ventured through the Keyhole to find a decent amount of stable snow on the Ledges (Image #1), not much snow in the Trough (Image #2), and a decent amount of snow on the second half of the Narrows (Images #3 and #4). The Narrows are obviously passable (see existing tracks), but we were wary of the snow stability at 10am, and not willing to risk instabilities due to sun exposure while we went for the summit. Bottom line: it's spicy, but possibly doable if you're up and down early or have cold and clouds to keep the snow firm on the Narrows. I would also compare against Bill's route description photos 14-16 for an idea of what that snow is sitting on. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 4/23/2014, By: davidponak
Info: Firm snow past the keyhole, steps you can follow but they are shallow and don't kick in further easily. I was comfortable not using crampons on the way up but they helped on the way down. Below the keyhole snow was slushy - started at 6AM and finished by noon, above the keyhole I'm guessing the snow would have stayed firm longer into the afternoon with the colder temperature over 13000 feet. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 3/19/2014, By: andrewrose
Info: Both summer and winter short cuts pretty well beat in to tree line. Trail is (as usual) sometimes difficult to follow after that due to blowing and drifted snow. Trail is mostly visible around MLW, easy to follow. Clear sailing through boulder field. Pretty steep snowfield on the ledges which held me and others. Trough in ok shape, snow and rock as you please. Narrows mostly clear, rock, snow, and ice. Homestretch a choose your own adventure mix of snow, ice, and rock. Heard a whump from a stretch of snow near the top and got off immediately. Photos- 1. Ledges. 2. Narrows. 3. Homestretch. 4. Steep field before Trough. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 2/16/2014, By: Alan Arnette
Info: Well established boot path to treeline. Used snowshoes but others did not and got away with simple traction. Would recommend either in general, but shoes after fresh snow. Usual winter shortcuts in effect where snowshoes are helpful. Snow depth is deepest in several years this time of year. Winds are brutal this time of winter above treeline so be prepared with layers and goggles if going higher. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 2/9/2014, By: Michael Underwood
Info: I didn't venture above treeline today, but what I saw of Longs Peak Trail was pretty snowy and not too tracked in, making for a calf-scorching hike in my trekking boots and microspikes. I turned around earlier than planned, sagely opting not to torture myself with further postholing and plowing the trail. On my descent from the Alpine Brook, I saw about six backcountry skiers and one hiker with snowshoes. They all seemed to be floating across the deeply powdered trail with considerably less effort than me. The snow looked gorgeous, and I can only imagine how much fun the descent must have been for anyone on skis. The weather was mild and balmy, with some snow coming down and much less wind than I'm accustomed to enduring on Longs. If you're free on Monday and like to ski Longs Peak Trail, you're probably in for a treat. 

Route: North Face/Cables
Posted On: 12/30/2013, By: pooree
Info: Went up for a winter summit of Longs Peak today via the North Face. The trail below treeline is compacted snow(would be great skin) but snowshoe are not mandatory. At treeline used snowshoes for about .25 of a mile before stashing them for pickup on the descent. The traverse accross the lower face of Mt. Lady Washington has compacted snow but we did not punch through with mountaineering boots. travel accross the Boulder Field is straight forward (be prepared for wind) with some compact snow and ice. The North Face is in good shape. Patches of snow and ice. We used ice tools and crampons for the entire face and ended up dowing a lot of dry tooling. The path of least resistance above the bolts is easy, just follow the snow. While there was ice nothing was thick enough to get a screw into. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 12/11/2013, By: IkeB
Info: Post holed to treeline. A lot of sugar snow from 2 inches to thigh high. Hope to make it higher later in the week.