There are a lot of trip reports and a ton of beta out there about Longs but not as much detail about the Keyhole route under snowy conditions (much less with the Narrows absolutely filled in solid with snow) and not a lot of info about the Cables route being 100% snow covered. This report will provide some beta on these somewhat unusual conditions and also recount my own little two-part adventure on this mountain.

Warning: this trip report is very wordy - if you want brevity, look at the pictures and read the captions. If you want to immerse yourself in the experience, read the whole thing.

1^st climb attempt: Memorial Day, Monday 5/29/23

2^nd successful climb: Monday 6/5/23 (note I’m filing this under the May climb date because conditions were not like a typical June)

Trailhead both times: Longs Peak ranger Station

Route day 1: Keyhole route up to partway across the Narrows

Route day 2: Keyhole up; Cables down

Mileage/gain of full trip: ~13.25mi 5,250ft gain

Time of full trip: So freaking close to an FKT! (cough, cough, mutters under breath…) Um, well no. Actually, my total time was almost 16 hours um, not sure what happened with the font size there ;-)

Sleep: What’s that? That would’ve been nice (why did I drive in from FTC so early it was late?)

Included in this report will be:

• Some backstory on what motivated me and why this took me 2 attempts
• A brief description of my “training session” between climbs
• Some recounting of the unexpected on-mountain alliances that came and went
• Vivid description of crossing the fully loaded Narrows.
• Vivid description of descending the fully snow coated Cables route with nothing but a photo from below and GPX tracks (had never done the route before).
• A unexpected encounter with Maury Birdwell
• Playful caricature of Justiner easily banging out this route in between my two climbs: see The Justiner Chronicles (will balance out the perhaps at times dramatized recounting I give of the above but hey, give me a break, I’m not Justiner so it was rather dramatic for me at times!)
• A breakdown of my times

Gear I brought and used: Scarpa Mount Blanc Pro mountaineering boots, Grivle 12 point crampons, Black Diamond ice axe, Trango Raptor ice tool, Bluefield $11 gaiters (thanks CaptainSuburbia for the tip!), headlamp, various interchangeable layers.

Gear I wish I had brought: A HELMET!!! (queue ominous, foreboding soundtrack… Spoiler alert: I don’t die on this trip!)

Gear which might have been nice: Toss-up on snowshoes (100% useless 95% of the time on this trip but the return across the Boulder Field from the base of Cables was a soggy wet version of Hell without them).

Gear which I could have maybe left home: Always a little bit of a toss-up on having way more layers than you actually wear; had things gone only slightly different when the ominous foreboding soundtrack started playing (duuuh duh…) I might have needed every one of them; or none at all; duuuh duh… (sorry, this is a low budget trip report: can’t afford John Williams to compose the soundtrack…)

A note about style: This trip report is going to be very different than the typical beta focused ones I’ve often written in the past and also, for better or worse, a good bit longer (see what I did there!). Longs is such a popular and heavily documented peak that the only beta I have that is somewhat uncommon is showing the Narrows so heavily loaded with snow and showing Cables pretty much 100% snow coated such that it essentially was the “Longs Peak Winter Walkup” I posted about, except in reverse. Therefore much of this report will focus on a detailed description of those unusual conditions and the story unfolding before and after.

If you’re only here for the beta in this report your best bet for quick info is jump to the large bolded section headers, look through the pictures and read the captions. Besides that (and this intro section and time stamps at the end) there will be a lot of story telling and descriptiveness.

Oh, and you’ll also note I have a bit more of a flare for the dramatic than Logan, who I met along the trail and who wrote this very nice, concise, calm trip report of hiking the Keyhole route on the same day. My recounting reflects my sometimes intense personality and engineer’s tendency to overanalyze and get swept up into things – so hold on for the ride folks…

The Backstory

So why did I bother going up Longs Keyhole route during a season when most folks tend to wait for it to dry out? Well, I was motivated primarily by wanting to get a foretaste of what it will be like when I hopefully go back next winter to claim a snowflake.

I’ve done Longs a few times in summer conditions and it’s not bad at all except for being well, rather long. But I had always been concerned about what the Narrows would be like if that got buried in snow or what Cables would be like if you had to come down snow covered class 5 rocks without a rope or partner. Well, I was about to find out the answers to all of this and more… (but of course this mountain is sure to be an entirely different adventure during actual calendar winter when the snow tends to be less consolidated… stay tuned next winter…)

The first attempt

The first attempt was a pretty standard trek up to the Keyhole.

Then the fun started. I had on an extremely worn about pair of Keen hiking boots that were literally being held together by Shoe Goo and that when I would squat down the toes could very easily bend up at more than a 90 degree angle. Over that robust platform I pulled on some strap-on crampons.

I had already discovered not long before on South Wilson that this setup, while good for basic snowy slopes, was totally worthless for front pointing. So I knew to not even bother with that as I started to forge a fresh trail across the Ledges. I got a good ways across and then decided in one spot that, since I couldn’t do proper front pointing, but felt more comfortable facing inward, I would try to kick steps into the snow with the front points of my strap-on crampons.

BAD IDEA! I kicked the crampon completely off while on one of the steepest portions of the Ledges (steeper even than normal because I was to later discover I had dropped below the proper trail!). Luckily though the strap didn’t come fully untied so I was able to grab the crampon and awkwardly stagger along with ice axe in one hand, crampon in the other and only one foot with a crampon. With the other foot I tried to kick steps into the snow with my bare boot but that proved futile – the snow was too firm.

I eventually made it to a small rock sticking out of the snow that provided just enough of a perch to precariously sit on and reattach my crampon (I was very glad for the times I had practiced putting on my climbing shoes on the side of some steep formation in the Flatirons!).

So then I got going again and this time while trying to stomp down sideways to make a foothold the crampon soon came off again. Rinse/repeat the awkward stagger along a steep snowy cliff to another tiny rock perch where I reapplied the crampon again and took much greater care to focus and get it as firmly attached as possible.

After that the Trough felt like a relief (never thought I’d say that about the Trough, lol).

But upon getting to the top of the Trough and seeing the Narrows packed in with far more snow than I imagined could even ever stick to that narrow ledge I was… shocked, aghast, horrified, crest-fallen (and in need of a thesaurus to finish describing how I felt).

If I had only had gear I could trust I would have gone further than the maybe 20-30 feet or so that I ventured out onto the Narrows. But having already had a crampon fall off twice that day, and knowing that both front pointing and kick stepping would be essential and that both such actions were very likely to dislodge my crampons from my floppy old boots while I was over a deadly no fall zone with no rocks to perch on… well I just didn’t have it in me to risk that much.

So with extreme regret and reluctance I bailed and went back home. But first I enjoyed the views for a bit.

I'll finish day 1 with a few more photos.

The Practice Session – Loveland Ski Area

I knew I was going to need better gear if I was to go back to hit the Keyhole route again while it was still loaded. I in fact already had mountaineering boots with proper clamp-on crampons but hated them because they destroy my feet. So I found some inserts and athletic tape to help deal with that. Then I swung by REI and picked up an ice tool to compliment my ice axe. Finally I had ordered tall, cheap gaiters on Amazon ($11) to try to help prevent snagging my pants better than the overly short gaiters I wore last time.

The Saturday following Memorial Day had a pretty ugly forecast so I texted my friend Geo and, upon us both agreeing that it wasn’t a good summit day, and with me wanting to practice using my gear, Geo suggested going to the closed for the season Loveland Ski area to find some steep firm snow to practice on.

Geo, being an avid skier who has recently been breaking into skiing 14ers, knew the area well and picked the perfect spot going up Busy Gully just at the far end of the parking lot. The snow was squishy down low but firmed up pretty quick as we went up (at a horribly early hour for such an short outing).

The real crampons and proper mountaineering boots worked fantastic. Front pointing was no problem. Kick stepping, no problem. Walking left, right, up, down kicking and scraping at every angle to intentionally try to knock the things off and they absolutely would not budge no matter what abuse I subjected them to. I could even walk upright with toes pointed directly downhill with no issue.

This was exactly the confidence builder I needed to go tackle the snow filled Narrows. But lastly, I dropped my crampons and pack and did some self-arrest practice, doing all 4 of the classic positions: feet first on stomach and back and head first on stomach and back. Wow, sliding down head first on your back is absolutely freaky but I successfully self-arrested before getting to the nearest rock wall!

Look out Longs: now I’m ready for round 2!!!

The Second Trip

With Saturday already blown and a trip coming soon, Monday was basically my last ditch hope and it had the least hideous forecast of any other day in the general time period so it was all in to bag it then or likely not see conditions like this for who knows how long. I waited until somewhat late on the day Sunday, refreshing the forecast from multiple sources until I decided there was enough of a window to shot my boss an email that I was going to go for it.

Regrettably I chose to try to rest early at home (utterly failed at that) and then drive an hour to the trailhead and start hiking at a half past midnight. What a stupid way to start a day! Oh my goodness I was sooo sleep deprived. This was not one of my better planned outings.

This background of a failed attempt the week before where my crampons came off while crossing the Ledges and then starting way too early this time with essentially no sleep at all helps explain why what follows carries a bit more dramatized flare to it than others who journeyed that same day. Speaking of which…

The Encounter

Somewhere around the Chasm Lake junction I noticed a couple headlamps coming up after me. They finally overtook me as we were coming up to the Boulder Field. Neither of us had really expected to see anyone else on the mountain on a non-holiday Monday with questionable forecast and lots of snow on the summit so we chatted for a bit out of curiosity.

They introduced themselves as Sydney and Logan and I was rather surprised but happy when I heard they were also planning to summit via the Keyhole route. I was surprised again when they indicated they had noticed someone else coming up back behind them.

We eventually got to the typical “when did you start” question. It’s always a bit embarrassing to learn that some folks who started like an hour and a half later than you overtook you on the way up, lol, but in my defense they actually slept nearby that night while I hit the trail half past midnight after an hourlong drive from Fort Collins having had essentially no meaningful sleep (when recounting this to a coworker he asked: “isn’t it a bad idea to climb a mountain like that while sleep deprived?” ‘Um, well… but the cool part was…’).

Of course I’m pretty sure I also have at least a decade or two on them in age, plus in recent times I’ve become basically just a weekend warrior who does big climbs on Saturdays but doesn’t really get much of any exercise during the week – I keep having good intentions to change that but… At any rate I’m full of good excuses for being overtaken so easily.

Anyways, we started moving along and continued a little idle chitchat while coming into the Boulder Field but I quickly realized it was going to be a joke to think I could hold pace with a pair who had overcome my 1.5 hour head start but there was very conveniently an absolutely gorgeous view of Longs with a full moon behind it so I said “I gotta take some pictures of this, you guys can go on ahead.” “Ok, I’m sure we’ll see you up ahead again at least a few times,” said Sydney. I wasn’t quite so sure myself, given they way they were blazing.

During this time I looked up with interest to see the Cables route even MORE filled in with snow than last week!

Predictably they became smaller and smaller dots moving towards the Keyhole but they did stop there just long enough to rest and gear up that I was able to catch up just as they were about to start across the Ledges. They made a few inquiries in regards to beta about the trail, since they had already realized I was the guy who had posted a conditions report the week before. I gave my two cents on observations and said I would rest for a bit before following them.

There was a small part of me that had almost hoped to be the one to blaze the trail across the freshly covered route since my primary motivation for these hikes was to prepare myself in the hopes of a snowflake ascent next winter, but it was only a very small part of me. In the end, I was quite happy to let someone else blaze the trail especially since I was feeling abnormally wiped out that day (likely in no small part due to greater than normal sleep deprivation).

The Ledges (and encounter 2)

So partway across the Ledges I paused and sighed as I snagged my snow pants yet again with my crampons (still haven't fully trained my legs to avoid that). Then I nearly freaked out when I heard a sound directly behind me. I turned and saw a young guy who had just cleared his throat. “I thought you knew I was here; I’ve been following in your footsteps for a while…” So not only am I not even remotely a speed demon, but apparently I can be followed at close proximity for an extended time and remain completely unaware of it – yeah, I’m a real badass, elite mountaineer, lol!

So anyways, this highly trained stealth fighter who spent decades mastering the art of moving silently through the mountains introduced himself as Cameron (ok, actually he had only moved to Colorado a couple months ago and had only done a couple easy 14ers up to this point and I think said he was basically working odd jobs at the moment – but I like my version better and, hey, did I mention I was rather sleep deprived…?).

I noticed with a little bit of concern that Cameron only had on microspikes and no ice axe or other such implements. I gave him a quick rundown of what to expect, letting him know I had been most of the way up just a week prior. He thanked me for the info but indicated he wanted to keep going forward. Knowing that there were 3 people with boots/crampons ahead of him breaking in the trail I reasoned that if he had made it this far like that then there was no real reason to try to dissuade him further after explaining the challenges ahead.

We got somewhat close to Sydney and Logan as they rested a little at the bottom of the Trough but they forged on up before we made it the rest of the way over. Cameron and I then chatted as we went up the Trough. I find it easier to hold a good pace when having a conversation with someone because it basically forces me to go at a sustainable pace if I want to climb and talk at the same time.

I passed along lots of random tips and tidbits about mountain climbing in order to make the time pass quicker so neither of us had to dwell so much on how long the Trough goes on and on. It worked fairly well for me because before I knew it I was topping out on top of the Trough and turned and said to Cameron “check out this view!”

Cameron took the last few steps up to the top of the Trough and let out the kind of wow that let me know this was a much newer experience for him than me. I still feel that wow pretty much every time I pop up over a ridge like that but there was a freshness and intensity to his reaction that was enjoyable to watch.

The Narrows

Then it was time for things to get real. Going across the Ledges with just microspikes was ok, especially with 3 crampon wearing folks kicking in steps for you and it was fine for getting up the Trough but I made sure to be very, very clear that crossing the Narrows like that was going to be very, very dangerous. He still was not deterred. Sydney and Logan had very helpfully been kicking steps in and were already at least halfway across by the time we started.

The snow was pretty firm still since it was only 8:13am when we topped out on the Trough. I started by crawling under the overhanging rock blocking easy access to the snow covered ledge. As before, the amount of snow covering everything was basically an exact match for what my worst nightmares of what the Narrows could be like in a worse case scenario – and there was even more snow than the week before!

I coached Cameron through everything I was doing since I knew one wrong move here and it was game over. He did great until we got out onto the part where the snow was so steep that we were pretty much standing straight up kicking our toes into the steps made by Sydney and Logan and I was using both my ice axe (held in dagger position) and my ice tool (swinging its sharp, curved point down into the snow) to give me solid holds.

It was around then that Cameron began to realize what a serious disadvantage he was at having nothing but microspikes and no axe or anything for his hands. He had come a little ways out onto the steep stuff that way then started asking how far we were from the summit.

That’s when I laid things out very frankly telling him that although we were only about a quarter mile away from the summit, that we had to traverse all the way over to the skyline (I made sure he could look over and see how far we had yet to go) then turn the corner and go up several hundred feet of steep terrain that the last person to have reported crossing (justiner) said it was icy. I told him I estimated this was going to take us a good hour to an hour and a half (turned out to be a pretty good estimate actually) and that we would then have to come back down that way.

I also made it very clear that the forecast called for 1-3 inches of snow starting at noon. Doing the math, it was very easy to see a possibility of getting stuck in whiteout conditions as we tried to cross back over the Narrows (there were already a large amount of clouds under us – yes, under…).

As those warnings sank in he then asked how far we were vertically from the summit. This kid has a hell of a lot of spunk! I just gave him a speech about the extreme danger he would be facing if he kept going and what does he think first to do – he wants to climb straight up the side of the freaking cliffs above the Narrows! (Justiner, if you happen to read this report, er, novel, you gotta track this kid down and take him under your wings!) I knew there was a route or two of serious class 5 climbing somewhere along the space above the Narrows but I had no idea exactly where.

I relayed that to him and his initial reaction was that he preferred that to what we were going across at the moment. Sensing the same intense desire to not bail after so much effort that I myself had felt just the week before, I knew it was time to be very, very clear. I told him that, yes, I believe there was a route or two of serious class 5 climbing to the summit but I didn’t know where and that at the moment it would be class 5 covered in bits of snow and ice and that if he tried it without knowing the route that it would be exceedingly easy to get cliffed out and stuck up there as the coming storm rolled in and left him in whiteout conditions.

Sensing his disappointment and recognizing the look of reluctant, agonized resignation that I had on my face last week I then switched gears into pep talk mode and told him I was absolutely totally impressed that he had made it this far having just recently moved to Colorado and having only done a couple easy 14ers up until then. I also told him very honestly that I had done hundreds of total summits in Colorado at all times of the year and that this section here on the Narrows was by far the most sketchy thing I had ever done. I also told him that, according to what I’ve heard, it’s extremely rare to see this much snow packing the Narrows full.

I concluded my motivational give up and go home speech by telling him the honest truth that what he was seeing and experiencing here as we both hung on the side of a steep snow covered cliff with a drop of a 1,000ft or more directly below us was something that hardly any people have ever experienced on this mountain. “You’ll be able to come back here in the summer with your friends and say, ‘I was up here last spring when this whole entire ledge was completely packed in with snow at a crazy steep angle and we started going across it kicking steps into the snow…’”

My speech apparently worked because he seemed to be much more at peace, though still disappointed, at the decision to have to turn back. He thanked me for basically having been a guide for him and then turned back to make his way carefully back to the top of the Trough.

I turned to look at how much distance was left to cross along the Narrows, then turned and looked at Cameron working carefully back along to the start of the Narrows and almost thought about calling out “And take me with you!!” Lol, the badass mountaineer at it again…

So this is where the rubber really hit the road – or rather where the sharp points really hit the hardened snow! I was now all alone, suspended on the side of a snow covered cliff with not a single rock anywhere near in reach. My life was literally dependent on the frontpoints of my crampons and the blades of my ice axe and ice tool – and also on the condition of the snow they were digging into. I was vividly aware that if that snow gave way I was almost certainly done for.

Honestly, if Sydney and Logan hadn’t have blazed the trail across already and survived it, I’m pretty sure I would have chickened out for the second Monday in a row. I’ve summitted Longs multiple times and the Narrows have never really bothered me all that much. I did Capitol’s Knife Edge waking across most of the way and pausing standing up to twist in circles and take videos. I’ve been recently seeking out exposed class 5 routes to do alone with no ropes or protection and I’ve done at least a couple steep snow climbs/couloirs (including my recent South Wilson trip with Scott).

But this was the first time I had ever been in a position where I lived or died based on whether my tools kept their grip in the snow I was crossing. Every once in a while, as I stepped into one of the footholds that Sidney and Logan had kicked in ahead of me, I would feel the snow start to give just a little. That is a really, really freaky experience when the snow is all that is holding you on the side of the covered over cliff.

So then I would kick a new step in while clutching my ice tool and axe for dear life. There was just enough give in the snow that when I swung my ice tool down into the snow that it would plunge to where my glove pressed against the snow surface. Same thing with my ice axe held in dagger position. So my hands were getting more and more wet as the heat from my gloves came repeatedly into contact with the cold snow.

At some point I noticed my hand was getting a little stiff and I tried to flex the fingers of my right hand that was gripping the ice tool only to realize that it had literally frozen to the handle! Having flashbacks of the account of Eleazar the son of Dodo, I said to myself ‘oh well, I guess I don’t really need to let go of this ice tool right now anyways…’

This whole time going across the Narrows I was facing into towards the mountain with my front points and tips of my boots kicked into the snow and plunging my ice tool and axe into the snow, making sure each plunge was secure enough to hold me if needed. This was a very different muscle set than I normally used while mountain climbing. My arms and legs were starting to get tired. I found ways to shift my weight around to relieve strain and a time or two I seriously thought about turning back except by this time it was closer to the end of the Narrows than the beginning and I very much wanted the fastest way out of this situation.

Somewhere near the end of the Narrows is when the nightmare scenario almost erupted. I heard a little bit of noise directly above me and then BAM!!! A sizeable rock or chunk of ice slammed me hard right on the top of my head! I shouted out some loud curses but kept my death grip on my tools. I was reminded then, much to my horror, that I had left my helmet at home for this climb. Knowing that once something lets loose above, there is often more to follow, I started moving along as fast as I could dare to go to get out from under that little gully above the Narrows. Sure enough I heard a little more noise and felt some debris bounce off my left shoulder.

Now my heart was pumping like mad, all my muscles wear straining big time and of course I felt my next step start to give way under me so I pulled that foot back and aimed for a fresh spot in the snow to kick at furiously to put in a new step so I could continue on and get out of the line of fire. As I moved along as fast as possible it wasn’t too long until I suddenly came to the end of the tracks – the end of the tracks but not the end of the Narrows!!! Oh crap!!! I looked straight in front of my at some of the first exposed rock I had been near in a while and then said “Oh you’ve got to be kidding me – they climbed up this?!?!”

I looked back and saw that it looked like maybe whoever was in front realized they were about to cliff out and so climbed straight up the rock while the follower cut up along the snow to the top of that exposed rock where the iconic red bullseyes with yellow centers were. I was not at all in favor of backtracking at this point and upon putting a hand on the rock I suddenly realized how damn good it felt to grab onto solid rock again! So although initially horrified at scaling snow covered rock on a ledge like that, I soon realized I was much more in my element with solid rock to grab onto (even if my grip was being shared with my tools).

I let out some shouts of relief upon getting up onto flat stable ground. It had taken me almost an hour just to cross the Narrows!! (This included resting at the top of the Trough and the long interaction with Cameron that ended with my motivational give up and go home speech). It would be just over 40 minutes longer until I would reach the summit, so my earlier estimate to Cameron that we were still around an hour to an hour and a half from the summit was pretty on target.

I was both relieved and disappointed to see Sydney and Logan coming down off the summit at this point. Relieved because it was kind of nice to see some other humans again after having been stressfully hanging on the side of a snow covered cliff for the last hour but disappointed because I had somewhat hoped that I could maybe talk them into waiting so that after I summitted we could cross back over the Narrows together. But with me barely starting up the Homestretch as they were already like halfway down, I knew it was unreasonable to ask them to wait until I could summit and return.

It was then and there that I decided there was no way in hell I was going back over the Narrows again solo with a storm on the way, with the ever thickening clouds filling in the valleys around us and threatening to roll up over the mountain at any time – potentially leaving me totally alone with zero visibility as I tried to go back across the Narrows.

So I put on a brave face when they asked me how I was doing and said I was thinking about going down the Cables route since I had seen from below that it looked like it was pretty well snow covered and had been wanting to check out that route anyways. They said they had considered that but looked and decided it was way too steep for them and besides they had left their rope and trekking poles at the Keyhole.

So they soon continued down back to the Narrows offering the encouragement that I was “almost there!” Crossing yet more wet slide debris on the way up didn’t give me warm fuzzies – this was one of the biggest yet. But everything seemed pretty solid and stable at the moment so I pushed on – telling myself there’s no way I’m stopping before the summit at this point, after all this suffering two times in a row!

At long last (accidental pun again…) I topped out on Longs! I was stupid enough to look at the waypoints on my phone and realize that Loj and 14ers marked different spots as the high point so I walked all across the summit block – including going way too far, to be absolutely sure there was no possible candidate I had not been on top of.

Then I collapsed against the summit block and chugged electrolytes and I chowed some trail food and wondered ‘how in the heck am I supposed to get down off this mountain??’ I was greatly concerned that I was not in a good condition physically or mentally to go back across the Narrows alone, especially since I could tell I was at risk of losing visibility at any moment and would then have to descend the Trough and cross back over the Ledges as well.

Cables Descent

But on the other hand, I had no intention beforehand of doing Cables that day so I had not researched that route hardly at all. I had no photos of it except what I had taken from the below in the Boulder Field but I did at least have GPX tracks loaded including waypoints marking where the rappel anchors were (thank you very much carlsampurna, even though they wouldn’t do me any good without rope or climbing gear, they at least let me know when I was about to reach where there could be a few moves of class 5 climbing involved.

I knew I was more than capable in summer of doing the kind of low class 5 moves this route was said to have but was completely untested at snow covered class 5. So I basically bet the farm on the hopes that I had correctly seen from below that the route was fully covered in snow (despite not even knowing quite exactly where the actual route was). I figured if not, I could surely fudge it and worse case, take a small tumble before getting back on snow and utilizing my recently practiced self-arrest techniques.

So I went over towards the top of Cables. At first it was feeling a wee bit too similar to being at the top of the Manitou Incline – you start coming near it and can’t yet see the bottom. But I’ve gone down those sorts of slopes before, including with snow (thanks South Wilson for the refresher!). Plus I was a million times more willing to go down a steep slope over the Boulder Field than over the death if you fall Narrows.

Now of course I was also aware that for a good portion of the Cables route an uncontrolled slide will send you off of Longs East Face – arguably a worse, albeit perhaps more scenic way to die than falling off the Narrows. But you have a much longer runway to stop yourself than on the Narrows (good thing I just practiced those self-arrest skills!).

My route finding skills are epic…ly bad. Thankfully, despite disturbing minor wet slide evidence all around me, the sun baked snow was overall fairly supportive so I could easily dig in my ice implements and fish out my phone to see how far off route and in which direction I was off this time… and the next… and the next. I don’t know how well Sydney and Logan could spot my trail from where they were but if they could see it they may well have been wondering if I had a few summit beers or something (nope, just sleep-deprived and stink at route finding).

A few times I tried to stand up and walk because the angle wasn't bad sometimes but then I would posthole rather deeply and remember those CAIC warnings to get off the mountain when you sink past your ankles. Given the wet slide debris around me (including a few tiny ones releasing while I was on the slope) I was paranoid about triggering something big so I got onto all 4s to spread out my weight so I didn't sink, thus hoping to minimize any risk of triggering a larger slide. Of course this slowly got me soaked...

Nevertheless, between comparing to the GPX tracks I had loaded and occasionally ‘forget it, this line looks good’ I eventually worked my way to the top of where the anchors are supposed to be. All the time leading up to here I had been very worried that the clouds filling the valley would rise up and envelope me but my weather window stayed open.

Above where the anchors were supposedly at I could see no sign of them – not that they would have done me any good anyways other than knowing I was in the right spot. I passed the waypoint for the first anchor without ever touching rock. Ditto for the second. It wasn’t until around the final anchor point that I finally felt my crampon scrape rock buried just beneath the surface.

Of course, this is the spot where I was closest to the death plunge off the East Face so it’s a wee bit stressful to bottom out your crampons at such a critical junction. But I could see plenty of good snow coverage below so it was all or nothing. I lowered myself slowly and crunched on more rock. Gently I lodged the sharp point of my ice tool onto a jagged nub of rock and/or ice hidden just below the surface. Whatever it was (I was starting to eek across the boundary into mixed climbing) the ice tool held firm.

Putting a little more weight on that sharp point than I would have liked to, I stretched my long legs down much longer than I would have liked to and gently kicked with the front points of my crampons. A sigh of relief escaped my lungs when I felt nothing but consolidated snow this time. With a little awkward shuffle I was down off the barely covered rock and back onto decently firm snow.

Finally, after shuffling over to make sure I was totally clear of the plunge of doom, I finally decided it was time to get off this thing and let loose with an absolutely wicked glissade down most of the rest of the way. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sydney and Logan heard my whoops and hollers from wherever they were by that time.

The Return

Logan stated in his TR that he was glad he didn’t bring snowshoes. So was I – until this point. Oh what an awful frozen wet hell that Boulder Field was to come all the way across from the bottom of Cables. More often than not whenever I stepped I snow I tended to plunge into standing (or running) water.

And almost cruelly, the clouds that had compelled me to rush down the mountain (relatively speaking for a way too sleep deprived guy who was way too on edge by this point) – well those clouds kept looking like they were going to roll over me at any minute and let loose but they kept holding back such that the sun was baking my brains out but I didn’t dare delayer too much because I knew a storm was sure to arrive at any time.

Well the main action is over so I would belabor the ending – the clouds finally enveloped me at the far side of the Boulder Field. Then the graupel started pelting me. Then some rain mixing in, then some hail, more graupel and so on. By this time I am zombie who just doesn’t care anymore – go ahead beat me, pummel me, drench me – I got the freaking summit!!! And I’ve got a really freaking long way still to hike while being way to exhausted to do it. KABOOM!!! Well that put a little extra perk back into my step. Not below treeline yet as the lightning starts, eh? No rest for the weary…

One Last Unexpected Encounter

So this was set to be the standard weary drudge back along the trail that I typically dread. Then I catch up to some other nut who is still up this high on the mountain this late on a stormy day but not seeming to be too concerned about it. I caught him while he was taking a brief pause and stopped to chat.

Come to find out the guy is Maury Birdwell who set the FKT on I believe is what is known as “The Casual Route” up the East Face. We started walking as he shared his tales of FKT adventure and I found myself now zipping down the trail with one of the fastest people out there. Granted, he wasn’t at all in FKT mode that day, but I was pleasantly surprised with myself at how quickly I managed to follow along and converse with him and was absolutely delighted when he took me down a shortcut that reportedly trims off about a mile of the return hike!

I had started this hike at 12:28am and ironically ended it alongside an FKT holder at 4:18pm – just 10 minutes shy of 16 hours!! (Maury’s FKT time – though a bit of a different route and under far different conditions was 3hrs 26 minutes and 12 seconds!

The Justiner Chronicles

Speaking of people who do crazy feats in the mountains… some of you may be rolling your eyes a bit and thinking much of this report was way too dramatic about a climb that was much less dramatic than what many on this site have done. So here’s a playful, tongue-in-cheek recounting of the trip that Justiner posted a conditions report on in between my own two reports to show you that I don’t actually take myself too seriously (this is the exclusive inside scoop showing the never before disclosed, behind-the-scenes details of Justiner’s actual trip).

So Justiner was sitting on his couch munching dinner when he scrolled through the conditions reports on 14ers and saw the conditions report where I bailed partway across the fully loaded Narrows on my first attempt. “That looks pretty sweet!” he said and jumped on his bike to peddle out to the trailhead.

He then runs up the Keyhole route in shorts and crocs, with nothing to belay with except the toothpick he cleaned his teeth with after dinner as he was biking to the trailhead. He pauses just a brief second before the Narrows to pull on his 9yr old hiking crampons that were worn down to nubbins and then zips across and up to the summit then does a quick free solo directly down the East Face before jogging back to the trailhead and hoping on his bicycle to make it home in time for the 9 o’clock news that evening.

So if you’re a crazy beast of a climber like Justiner seems to be (I gotta meet this guy some time…) then run on up Longs for a quick little bit of fun. Otherwise, if you do this in the very near future (or during another year with similarly unusually heavy snow loading) then make sure you gear up and get your game on because Longs fully loaded is much more challenging than Longs in summer conditions!

GPX tracks

The exact lines taken on this trip aren't exactly something I would recommend you load into your GPS - please go to the GPX library if you need to download tracks - but here's the basic gist in photo form.

My slightly embarrassing times

Trip 1

2am start from Ranger station

3:56am just past Chasm Lake turnoff

4:37am Granite Pass

5:16am start of Boulder Field

6:29am Keyhole

6:57am finished resting/gearing up: onto Ledges!

8:03am base of the Trough

9:07am top of Trough

9:31am partway across the Narrows before bailing

10:52am start down Trough after enjoying the view for a while

11:52am Keyhole!

1:24pm Granite Pass

1:57pm just past Chasm Lake turnoff

2:28pm Lightning bridge

3:11pm trailhead

Total: 13hrs, 11minutes (no summit)

Trip 2

12:28am start from Ranger Station with no sleep (?!?!)

1:58am lightning bridge

3:13am Chasm Lake turnoff (uughh, moving much slower this time…)

4:06am Granite Pass

4:57am entering Boulder Field

6:05am Keyhole (started 1.5hrs earlier than last time but only arrived less than 0.5hrs sooner)

6:31am geared up and moved on

7:14am base of Trough

8:13am top of Trough (I think chatting with Cameron helped get my pace back on track!)

9:12am finally across the Narrows

9:25am passed again by Sydney and Logan on Homestretch as they come down

9:53am summit marker!!!

10:21am start Cables descent

12:37am swap out gear at bottom of Cables

1:49pm across the Boulder Field

2:07pm storm begins

4:18pm at the trailhead

Total: 10 minutes shy of 16hrs (but got the summit and Keyhole plus Cables!!)