Longs Peak

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 11/24/2011, By: Cool Hand Luke
Info: Trail is boot-packed all the way through, no real need for snowshoes. Two sections above treeline are a little tricky in the dark, but obvious in the daylight. I only made it to the Keyhole due to wind conditions, can't comment on the route from the ledges on. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 10/25/2011, By: colokeith
Info: Just a quick pic of Longs from the air last week. I am sure conditions are going to change drastically tonight, so this may not be of much help 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 10/16/2011, By: Snoda21
Info: Today we climbed up to the summit via the Loft and came down Keyhole. Through the Loft the snow was completely avoidable. On the diagonal portion towards the top the snow is built up and limits your options if you wish to avoid it. Very little around the base of palisade cliffs when descending loft and ascending home stretch. The most snow is on the west side between keyhole and base of trough, maybe 8" in blown spots, but boot pack is good. All in all, the little amount of snow up there is 95% avoidable, absolutely climbable in running shoes, and only slightly more difficult than climbing in summer. Warm cloths recommended however as the high was around 40 and very windy. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 10/1/2011, By: willeym22
Info: Summited today after a failed attempt two weeks ago. Things are looking pretty good. Almost no snow until after the Keyhole. Then really the only measurable snow was in the trough. Trough has pretty significant snow on the right side, but can be avoided by hiking left. Microspikes and trekking poles were very helpful for the descent. Some small pockets of snow have become pretty slick from the many people hiking and packing it down. The Narrows and Homestretch were completely free of snow. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/28/2011, By: lackerstef
Info: The route is clear of snow up until passing through the Keyhole. After that, there are very few patches of ice and snow UNTIL the Trough. The trough has a considerable amount of snowpack and ice which is manageable with MicroSpikes. The fourth picture I have attached shows The Narrows (dry). The Homestreach is also clear of snow. If there are any storms that pass through, I would approach Longs with an extreme willingness to turn around. I have also included a video taken from the Summit. I came across someone in the Boulder Field who turned around reporting lots of wind pass the Keyhole. That was not the case for me, so things change quickly up there. Again, proceed with caution and if you don't have some sort of traction (Crampons/microspikes), you may be flirting with a fall. Bring your helmet too! There was one other person heading toward the summit yesterday in shorts, no helmet, and duct-taped shoes passing through the keyhole at about 1:30/2:00pm- not advised. I state in my video you "could" be up there in shorts, but of course I would never actually attempt it. PM with any questions you may have about the route!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfcI-xiP6wE 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/25/2011, By: DoWork
Info: good to go until next storm.... tons of peeps up there today... 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 9/17/2011, By: Monster5
Info: My party went up the Loft and descended the Keyhole today:

Overall, everything was covered in hoar frost and verglas. Our visibility was limited to about 150 ft most of the time with fresh snow falling (accumulation above Granite Pass). The snow varied between 0-5 inches, but it was less a concern than the frost. I would strongly recommend ice axes, trekking poles, and at least micro-spikes. A couple people didn't use any gear on the Keyhole, but they were comfortable and experienced on that terrain. Come prepared - I think only my group and another pair made it up today (of about 30ish log entries).

The Loft - extremely sketchy. The exit of the Loft couloir is covered in thin ice and we had to pull some interesting moves to get up. We reached a point where it was absolutely unsafe to descend and we banked on being able to meet up with the Keyhole route (no mother hens, please). Rest of the route required a couple awkward downclimbs, but we were able to meet up with the KH without too many problems. Used sgladbach's advice for finding Clark's Arrow (search forum) and it worked perfectly.

The Keyhole - fairly good. Light snow and ice, but plenty of holds/kick-steps to utilize. Hoar frost covers most of the rocks and requires careful footing. The bulls-eyes are still easy to follow, as well as the boot-track. The crux exit at the top of the Trough was icy and requires a bit of finesse (we slid down, but it looks like some people climbed up on the left). Narrows and Ledges were frosted, but standard enough. Homestretch is icy - follow the drifted snow in one of the left weaknesses (look for foot-steps). I would recommend micro-spikes for the Homestretch. An axe was handy in the Trough.

See "Longs Peak Season Over" thread for picture link 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/17/2011, By: -Rogowald-
Info: Unsuccessful attempt to summit this morning via keyhole route. Hike was easy up to boulder field. A few inches of snow throughout the boulder field with some verglas as well but still smooth sailing. I did not venture any further than the keyhole as it was very windy, poor visibility and also appeared to be very slick possibly requiring crampons, plus i was hiking solo so I hiked back down. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/12/2011, By: rickinco123
Info: The cables pitch was iced over in spots with verglas making this 5.4 a scary lead towards the exit of the pitch. The scrambling above had hard snow and some verglas due to recent snow. We made our way without crampons but had to go very slowly and carefully. Micro-spikes would probably be great if you don't want to lug along crampons. Trip report to follow in a few days. 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 9/12/2011, By: hikeaddict
Info: There is snow and ice in areas but totally avoidable. Microspikes were not needed. Any snow we did need to cross was very firm and not in a dangerous area. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 9/9/2011, By: gallihand
Info: Current as of the morning, some clouds came in on top as we descended the boulder fields. Some snow in the Trough but not enough to hinder progress. Mild ice in the Narrows and Homestretch but easy to avoid. 

Route: Keyhole
Posted On: 8/30/2011, By: Nelson
Info: I climbed the Keyhole route today. It has been raining regularly on Longs and getting cold at night. There was significant Verglas (ice) in the homestretch. Today was a beautiful day but that raised the stress factor.

Need I say it was windy at the Keyhole? 

Route: Cables/Keyhole/Loft
Posted On: 8/29/2011, By: JohnWilliams
Info: Cables route, along with many technical routes on the Peak are very wet from a hail storm on saturday the 27th. Cables was a waterfall. This could dry out quickly

Keyhole route still clear and dry, although this time of year things can change quickly. Watch for low temperatures on the mountain to determine if ice exist or if snow fell instead of rain.

Loft route is very dry under the homestretch but gaining the ledges under the Loft one must scramble up several hundered feet of slabs (class 3 or 4) on climbers left (south) of snowfield, or hike up the snowfield. Ledges are soaking wet, take care on this section. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 8/26/2011, By: RockyMountainMustang
Info: Longs Peak Keyhole Route still in great condition. No snow anywhere on trail. Summer mountaineering on this route won't last a whole lot longer with fall and winter just around the corner, so enjoy this pleasant hike and the fun ledges now. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 8/20/2011, By: mrschaible
Info: We went up the iron gates to Meeker Ridge and Mt Meeker to SE Longs then went through the loft to Longs then Storm Peak. All the routes were dry and clear. The route up the loft looked clear (we did not come up that way), although there is still some snow in the area. The park ranger (search and rescue) recommended this route as an alternative to the key hole route if storms moved in the area (we had a 50% chance of storms) as it is a much faster route down.