Kiener's Route Conditions

I'm heading to Colorado this weekend with the intention of climbing Long's Peak via Kiener's route early next week. Has anyone been up there recently? If so, can you give some beta on what the conditions are like? A friend that's a guide mentioned heat-induced avalanche risk and recommended a very early start. Our plan is to rap down the North Face after summiting. Can anyone speak to the visibility of the eye-bolts? Are they free of snow?

Any info is appreciated. Thank you!

On the kieners MP page there are GPS coordinates of the eyebolts.

I haven't been up there lately, however we're getting a lot of precip in the afternoon right now, the forecast at 4,345m shows 7.6 inches of snow between now and monday with temps hovering around freezing. My gut tells me that the conditions are going to be slushy as opposed to the bullet hard "snice" that would make the route super fun. I've yet to find that perfect snow consistency on Kiener's or the Notch, and this might be a late, late year for those conditions to form.

As for the eye bolts, the gps coordinates are accurate, but even so, I found them difficult to find in low light. Keep your crampons on for the descent until you get down to the boulder field, falling down the Cables would SUCK.

I was in RMNP last weekend and the weekend before, up to ~12,500'. Snow conditions are slushy and quite wet once the sun gets on anything, and even before it does I was occasionally breaking through crust with snowshoes on. There has also been a humongous amount of wet slide activity, visible from Estes Park.

Hey guys. Thanks for the beta--really appreciate the quick feedback. I'm having some trouble finding the gps coordinates for the eye-bolts. Could you provide a link to the web page? Thanks again!

The Blueprint Part Dank wrote: Keep your crampons on for the descent until you get down to the boulder field, falling down the Cables would SUCK.

Rocky_Mtn_High wrote: Ha, I *did* fall down the Cables route (the most memorable event during my first year of climbing), and I have to say, it wasn't too bad -- though I should add that it was a big snow year. Also, not going over the Diamond was a plus . . .

Thanks Klimbien. I am definitely going to do my best not to fall down the Cables route. Although by the sound of the snow conditions I might be tired enough by that point that I don't care. Thanks again guys for the feedback.

You won't be able to find the eye bolts, the n face is completely filled in.

We went up the cables and back down on skis on 5/30, and didn't so much as step over a single rock.

You'll certainly want to start very early, and bail if snowpack didn't freeze overnight