Longs Peak

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 1/17/2013, By: IkeB
Info: Trail is boot packed snow to the MLW/battle mt saddle and to chasm lake. Did not go any further due to my 1pm start time and fadding daylight. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 1/4/2013, By: Summit Lounger
Info: Climbed the North Face today. No snowshoes needed. Trail is boot packed well to treeline. Snow above treeline is pretty thin except for drifts that are easily avoided. Snow apron below route is mostly firm snow, no sugar. Summer zigzags worked well. Route has some ice in it. Climbed technical pitch in crampons. Snow above is firm also. 

Route: Cables
Posted On: 1/4/2013, By: SnowAlien
Info: No snowshoes needed for the approach. Trail is boot packed to Chasm juncture. After that the snow is mostly avoidable with rock hopping through Boulderfield. North Face route is in great shape, with some snow and ice as expected.

Pic 1: Approach to Boulderfield
Pic 2: North Face
Pic 3: Cables
Pic 4: Upper route 

Route: Misc
Posted On: 12/16/2012, By: Dave B
Info: Hiked to just above Peacock Pool yesterday, 'twas windy. Trail is uncompacted snow. No flotation or traction needed.

Image one is fatness at Columbine and Left of Columbine Falls

Images two and three are requested photos of Kieners 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 12/2/2012, By: ulvetano
Info: Did a solo jaunt up Longs today. It was windy in the Boulderfield and especially at the Keyhole and rounding the corner onto the Narrows, but the snow was...of course...minimal. I did it in my running gear and cross trainers, but the descent would have been aided slightly by having an ice ax. (there are some slippery spots in the Trough). By bouncing around the Homestretch gullies, you can piece together a snow-free route. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/30/2012, By: jsdratm
Info: I went up to the boulderfield today and there is a good layer of snow above 12,000'. As I ascended Mount Lady Washington, the snow depth increased and I had to put on microspikes. I'm sure the other side of Longs is even worse, but I didn't go over to the keyhole to find out. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/23/2012, By: LetsGoMets
Info: Summer conditions along Keyhole route to Trough, where some snow/ice is present on climbers right of ascending side, easily avoidable. No snow to speak of on Narrows or Homestretch. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/21/2012, By: TravelingMatt
Info: Occasional snow in Trough is easily avoidable. Most conspicuous at very top of Trough but again, can be avoided. Think I saw one rivulet of ice in the Narrows. No snow in Homestretch. Note Narrows and Homestretch face east so melt first if morning is sunny. Breezy in AM but died down around 11am. Visibility is lousy due to smoke from Wyoming/Pacific NW. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/19/2012, By: aliciaf
Info: Very windy today all the way to keyhole. Once past the keyhole, wind died down. Very little snow/ice in trough - completely avoidable. Large patches of ice in narrows, but below the route if you follow the bullseyes. No ice, snow, or water in homestretch. Overall, very good conditions for September. Just a few patches of snow and/or ice to try to avoid, which is easily doable.

In addition, we only saw two people heading down back to the TH from the time we started at 2am until the beginning of our descent at 9:45am. We were alone on the summit, which seems to be unsual for this peak from what I've read. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/19/2012, By: jomagam
Info: Some snow in the Trough. Didn't feel like it made conditions much harder, though this was my first time on the route. The exit slab at that top was unclimbable, so we did a class 4 move around it. Everything else was dry. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/15/2012, By: Dave B
Info: Went up today with Keyhole ridge as primary, north face as secondary. Ended up doing the standard keyhole route.

Through the binocs it looked like the first and crux pitch of Keyhole Ridge have snow as well as a patch of snow at the base of the crux pitch that might have produced some ice on the slabs.

The north face literally glistened in the morning sun as it was almost completely iced over. The slabs to the right of the dihedral looked dry but there was a large patch above the pitch that would be difficult to get around.

As we headed up the standard route it looked like there was a team at the base of the dihedral, but they seemed to be there for a while, so not sure if they headed up or not.

Standard keyhole was clear of ice and snow for the most part. A little in the trough but completely avoidable. 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 9/11/2012, By: Kitten
Info: Most beautiful weather we've ever had on a 14er, sunny and blue skies all day. Went up the Loft to Longs Pk, then descended same way and summited Meeker. Not many people on the route, even thought it was a Sunday. All dry and clear. That will change in the next few days. 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 9/9/2012, By: ChrisinAZ
Info: In spite of recent precipitation and cold temps, the Loft and Keyhole routes, as well as the routes up "SE Longs" and Meeker, are in generally summer conditions and don't require special gear. Several tiny patches of snow above 13k, especially on N-facing aspects, but nothing that can't be easily navigated around. The only areas of complication were ascending to the Loft on the 10' wide ledge, which had ice flows crossing it in large, but still avoidable patches. Descending the Keyhole midday found parts of the "Ledges" section a bit muddy/wet, but they didn't seem to stop people from summitting Longs well before we did, so I imagine any ice there is minimal as well.

Absolutely fantastic day--get your climbs in here in the short time you still can! 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 9/8/2012, By: forbins_mtn
Info: Went up the Cables Route today. Most beautiful weather I have ever experienced on a 14er. Blue skies without a single cloud all day. However, the Cables Route was littered with patches of ice. We all brought our rock shoes, and should have had boots and/or spikes or crampons. it was doable. But definitely added to the difficulty. We could see the ice from the boulderfield. so you should be able to make a smart game-time decision from there.

We were hoping the ice had melted by the time we rapped down. But it was still there and going strong. 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 9/1/2012, By: snr25
Info: Hiked up the Loft route, down the gully past Clark's Arrow, up the couloir to the Homestretch, then down the standard keyhole route.

Started seeing a little snow on the route up to the Loft, but didn't have an issue until ascending back up past Clark's Arrow. Later in the day, I was told there was a hailstorm the day before, which explained all the icy snow on the couloir and Homestretch. The Homestretch wasn't completely snow covered but wet enough that the majority of folks turned around without summitting despite the nice weather. I had my microspikes with me so I summitted without an issue and slid back down on my butt. Once past the Homestretch, the Trough had even more snow, but I was okay with my spikes. Definitely a wet ascend.