Longs Peak

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 3/14/2011, By: mountainmicah83
Info: We planned on another go at the Cables route for Sunday but when we arrived at the ranger's station early early, it was blizzarding down snow. We made the no go at around 4Am when it was still snowing hard and there were 6+ fresh inches at the TH. The trail will still be bootable because there were at least 6 other cars of folks who set off up the trail anyhow. Many cars were getting stuck on the 1 mile road from hwy 7 to the TH at the ranger's station due to the snow but it should be gone in a couple of days. 

Route: Trough Direct
Posted On: 11/28/2010, By: Monster5
Info: Approach: Good bootpack to within 1.2 mi from Black Lake (winter shortcut is obvious). A solid snowshoe trail was in to Black Lake by the end of the day. Snow above the lake to the base of the Trough was hard and windswept.

Trough: Class 2+ section to the left of the lower difficulties is relatively clear of snow. The snow is continuous up to where the Keyhole route intersects. Perfect for cramponing - stayed left as per TomPierce's suggestion where the windslab tapered out. A few inches of snow in the upper Trough - a lot of points bashing.

Above: The Narrows and Homestretch are pretty dry - went through w/o crampons on the ascent but used them on the descent (Homestretch was dicey with the gusts and hard snow within the joints). The narrower section of the Narrows is dry and the snow is avoidable on the wider sections.