Current conditions on the Diamond (and RMNP)

I was hoping to sneak in a relatively late season run up the Diamond next week. Any information on recent weather conditions, etc. would be greatly appreciated. It seems like the monsoon season continues to drag on in the San Juans and NM.

Thanks!

William

I was up there over the weekend looking to do either the casual or D7 and it was quite wet. We didn't bring any wide gear so didn't bother to go look at pervertical. We wound up bailing as a result. The entirety of the casual look soaked and the first pitch of D7 was dripping also. Hard to know what was going on in the cracks on the upper pitches of either route without getting a close up look at the plumbing, but it would be hard for me to believe that the top half of either route was dry considering the circumstances.

That said, if the afternoon/evening showers have been better than they were last week you might be in luck. I'd call the ranger station at the Longs trail head and see what they've heard from climbers coming down in the last day or so.

Good luck!

I too went up to do casual last sunday 9.1. As we were rapping down chasm view raps, we watched 4 parties walk up to casual and immediately bail. Ended up doing P1, and part of P2 but the entire traverse was soaked. The rangers we ran into said P7 was also pretty wet. Pervertical looked much more dry but water was still visible along the entire diamond. What did look dry however, was the wall to the north of the diamond and east of chasm view raps. Chasm wall I think? Hope things dry up. Cheers

Bummer. Just posting so I can follow the thread...

George Perkins wrote:Climbed Pervertical on Sunday 9/1. It was almost entirely dry after the first pitch. Ariana and Obelisk also looked dry. (It rained hard up there on Saturday, and the rangers said it had rained daily for most of the last week, so I suspect those climbs are almost always good to go.) The rest of the Diamond looked like most climbs would have at least a couple of wet pitches, although other teams were successful on D-7 on both Sat. and Sunday anyway. The North Chimney was wetter than I've seen it in 4 previous trips, and entirely free of ice, including the slope heading up to it.

Weather forecast is not so favorable this week: climbinglife.com/mountain-w…

From below the dirty chimney/enduro on Friday. The traverse was very wet from start to finish.

I know we need the rain, but I'm watching the alpine season pass by pretty quickly. It looks pretty stormy up in the high country this afternoon too. Hoping to get up there and climb Spearhead next week. We were supposed to go this week, but again, the forecast.

• le sigh*

Spearhead was pretty wet on all aspects Sunday & Monday. We planned on climbing Syke's but climbed North Ridge instead- wet 5th class slab was exciting needless to say. Most everything on Chiefshead was wet (both NE and NW faces). Pagoda was pretty wet Sunday but dried up nicely Monday. But it's always worth going to check out for yourself and not really relying on the forecast.

For those interested in Spearhead, we climbed it yesterday via the North Ridge and it was almost completely dry. There was only one tiny wet section on route. We talked to a group that had climbed it the day before under similar conditions. The East Face looked bone dry, too. Interestingly, there were a lot of puddles on rocks and on the trail, suggesting a fair amount of recent rain. It seems Spearhead doesn't hold moisture nearly as well as the Longs summit block, which certainly makes sense.

All that said, I think we got super lucky as today looks pretty nasty up that way.

Climbed the casual on saturday. P3 and P4 (traverse and subsequent pitch) were wet but the rest of the rout was perfectly dry. the traverse was easy despite the wetness (very incut holds) but the 5.8 pitch afterwards was a bit slimy and wet...

Freddy.Mondale wrote:Climbed the casual on saturday. P3 and P4 (traverse and subsequent pitch) were wet but the rest of the rout was perfectly dry. the traverse was easy despite the wetness (very incut holds) but the 5.8 pitch afterwards was a bit slimy and wet...

Bump. Thinking about climbing the diamond Sat.

I'm making the drive from Alabama out to Long's this week. Last I checked the weather is not looking good most of the week. Has there been any snow accumulation at higher elevations yet? I'm hoping it clears up by Saturday. Crossing my fingers.

It is not looking super good Dustin.

If you want to see conditions, here is a link to the web cam.

LongsPeakCam

Based on temp's last night in Estes and the amount of rainfall, there could be copious snow above 13k from this storm. Will post a photo/sighting once the clouds part as we're about 15 miles from the Diamond w/a clear view of the east face.

Here's the most accurate forecast for the Diamond?: forecast.weather.gov/MapCli…

With this much moisture and temp's hovering around freezing at night all week - could have up to a foot of fresh by the weekend? Ice season often comes in Sept to RMNP and it looks like this could be the feeder for an early one on Longs/Meeker/Chiefshead/Alice/Ypsilon.

Time to start sharpening the tools!

I look forward to your report Eli!