Longs winter assault

I am exploring the possibility of attempting to climb Longs Peak this winter. I don't know a whole lot about what to expect or when the best time to climb is. I've done the mountain several times in the summer and am interested in trying something a little off the wall, since I've never climbed in the winter before.

I would expect the climb to be technical requiring more than just an ax and crampons. I am planing on taking harness, rope, and a few ice tools for anchoring (plus some route markers), but I'll need to take a class on how to use the anchoring tools. I'm fluent with the other gear.

If any of you who have done this in the past have any inormation, that would be great.

What is the approach like? Will I need to take snow shoes? Are roads open to at least a couple miles from the ranger station? What kind of weather conditions should I expect? Is an avalanch beacon recomended? Would climbing in the winter allow the use of the old cable route? I am currently planing on taking the traditional keyhole route.

A guide is an option that I havn't overlooked, so if CMS does winter trips up the mountain, let me know. So far, I have two people interested in this trip.

Thanks

I've only climbed Longs once in winter, via the Trough. Others here have done a lot more. Anyway, here's my bit of advice.

The most popular routes for winter ascent should be Keyhole Route, North Face, and Trough.

Driving to the trailheads (Longs Peak and Glacier Gorge) is not a problem, except after a storm. The roads are regularly plowed. Snowshoes might be useful, but most of the East Longs Peak Trail tends to be either packed or windswept. Snowshoes (or skis) may be more useful on the Glacier Gorge Trail.

Avalanche danger is very low on the East Longs Peak Trail. On the Glacier Gorge Trail there may be some. Avalanche danger is one reason why the Loft is not a popular winter route. Obviously, you should pick a time when conditions are good regardless of your route choice.

Your claim that you have never climbed in winter may be interpreted in more than one way. If you have never been above, say, 13,000 feet in winter, then practice on something easy and shorter to get your system dialed. Around Longs Peak, Mount Lady Washington and Storm Peak are two good options that allow you to familiarize with the approach in winter conditions.

The Trough was not technical when we did it. We carried a little gear and a short, thin rope just in case, but they stayed in the pack. You should be prepared for more difficult conditions, though; for instance, verglas. It will help if you are comfortable climbing easy mixed terrain in your crampons. I would approach the North Face as a technical climb, even though in favorable conditions it may prove just a steep snow climb.

The weather, and the wind in particular, may prove the biggest obstacle. Several valiant climbers have been turned down by Longs more than once in winter. Be prepared to be patient. Going with someone who is experienced, like a guide, will increase your chances of success. I'd be surprised if the CMS folks did not guide people up Longs in winter.

Paul, we would be happy to work with you to achieve your goal of climbing Longs in the winter. We guide on Longs all year, in all conditions, and on virtually any route. Being new to winter climbing there are certainly some skills that you should have prior to an attempt, and, just as brenta said, we recommend some shorter preparatory objectives prior to the big attempt. Give us a shout at your convenience to discuss arrangements.

Colorado Mountain School
800-836-4008 x3
info@totalclimbing.com
9am to 6pm every day

I would recommend doing the North Face as it is the shortest route to the summit. The keyhole is longer and when slogging in snow this can make a difference. The technical section on the N Face is only 1 or 2 pitches and are usually pretty easy in the winter. Another consideration is to go all in one day or overnight. In my experience it always seems to work better to go all in one day, and choose the right day.

I attempted Longs several times in March and always found relatively deep snow somewhere on the mountain. The trail below timberline gets packed down well and flotation devices are often not useful at all. However the upper parts of the peak which are big boulder fields in the summer can be a nightmare under 2 feet of snow. Snow shoes or skis are of no use in such terrain, and in boots you keep punching through into holes between rocks.

One trick is that the peak often has significantly less snow cover in early winter, late December and early January. I finally succeeded on December 21st (the shortest day of the year but barely a valid winter ascent!), and found much less snow than on my attempts in March. But I suppose it depends on the year, to some extent.

The other big problem is the wind. If it seems windy below timberline, just turn around and go home! Try again another day.

Ok, by saying North Face route, do you mean the old Cable route? I always thought the North Face was the Diamond. Maybe I'm just a little confused.

Doing a smaller objective prior to the main event sounds like a good plan. I'll throw that into the mix.

Some people were refering to the Keyhole route and the Trough as two different routes. I was under the impression that these were the same route. Is this the case, or am I getting mixed up again?

Now, I'm looking at a map of the park right now (standard park map that they give you when you enter the park). Taking the Glacier Gorge trail, do some of you mean taking the North Longs Peak trail and meeting up at Granite Pass, or do I take the Glacier Gorge trail toward Ribbon Falls and just come up the backside of the mountain? I'm open to different routes as I've done the East Longs Peak trail a number of times going through the Keyhole, but I'm also open to doing the keyhole again.
Obviously for safety reasons, I would like to take a safe(er) route with less Avalanch risk. I understand the risk is there no matter what route I do. Is an avalanch beacon recomended anyway?

As far as doing it in one or two days, I would prefer to do it in one. I would start at the normal time of around 2-3:00 AM.
Also, since I'm coming from WI, it would allow a second attempt should the first be spoiled due to weather. I'm planing on doing this over an extended weekend. . . . Although, it would be fun to do some winter camping high up.
I have enough sense to turn around if things turn sour. I will NOT sacrifice the safety of those with me for the sake of of getting to the top. Gorge Bell sums it up well at the end of his post.

Speaking of wind, about what speed would be an impeadment on the climb? I went up to camp Muir, Mt. Rainier, in 30 mph winds without a whole lot of trouble in June.

CMS, why don't you send me a personal e-mail and we can start a dialogue.

Thanks,
Paul

The Diamond is part of the east face of Longs. North Face Route and Cable Route designate the same route.

The Keyhole Route follows the upper part of the Trough. The Trough Route follows the Trough in its entirety from Upper Glacier Gorge. The two routes meet when the Keyhole Route enters the Trough.

The Trough Route can be done in one day, but it's a very long day. On the other hand, if you camp, you get to camp at Black Lake in Glacier Gorge, which is a much nicer place (much better protected from the elements) than the Boulder Field. For a one-day assault, I'd second George's recommendation.

I brought a beacon with me, though the avy danger was low.

Wind speeds of 30 mph are very common near the Divide in winter. Speeds in excess of 60 mph are not uncommon, and the additional 30+ mph make quite a difference.

Here's a factoid: RMNP winds are among the worlds most severe. A wind speed of 201mph was recorded on Longs in 1981. It is possible that higher gusts have occurred since wind monitoring has been infrequent on Longs. Wind events on Longs have broken anemometers before peak gusts have been accurately recorded.

We battled a wind storm climbing Meekers(non-technical route). We had to lay down and hold on when the wind came up. Scree was being picked up by the wind.

A few years ago, a climber died on the Homestretch when the wind blew him off of the mtn.

Dougald MacDonald in his excellent book "Longs Peak: The Story of Colorado's Favorite Fourteener" has a whole chapter on Longs in the winter. You should try to procure a copy.

Paul, if you're looking to summit without too much technical work and the quickest approach, then I second George's recommendation for the North Face/Cable's route (Diamond is the East face). I've gone to the summit in winter via the notch, keyhole, and N face routes... but I'll always avoid the keyhole (too much going in circles for me).

I second the wind notion, as I've played on moderate technical routes on lower longs on a good number of winter days, and can distinctly recall crawling on more than one occasion. Other days have been quite still (though not too often). So, you never know what you'll get.

Since coming from low elevation, you might consider adding one day to your itinerary to get up high on something with an easy approach. That will make life much, much more 'reasonable'. Good luck.

The north face of Longs Peak is one of the worst places to go in mid-winter as the avalanche conditions on that particular piece of the mountain are typically considerable or greater (human caused avalanches LIKELY) and with a terrain trap like the Diamond below you, getting caught in even a small slide could result in a ride over the east face. Unless you are packing a parachute- it would hurt pretty bad. Going by oneself with an avalanche transeiver might make the body recovery easier.

The west face is about the only reasonable place to climb Longs in typical mid-winter conditions - the Diamond proper has low avi danger all year round if you can get to it...and up it.

Thanks for the great advice so far! :-)

Now, the Narrows and the Ledges . . . these two features I ALWAYS get switched or mixed up. Which comes first when doing the keyhole route? I should know this stuff as I've been on the mountain about five times before.

I think either the Trough or the Cable route would be my first two choices then concidering the advice given. If I take the Cable route, I'd do some other side climb like Storm peak or Mt. Lady Washington. If I do the Trough, I'd still like to do it in one day. It cuts down on weight and gear, though I would suspect a stove would still be needed to melt snow for additional water. Either case, if I can get enough people interested in this trip, components can be spread out. I'm used to long days. I've done 18-20 hours on the trail before several times . . . but that was also when the weather was nice. I can handle it. The reduction of time reduces the possibility of a weather front moving in and scraping the climb.

It seems like there is a little contradiction between two or three posters as to which route would be the best. (Eli Helmuth noted the North Face would be a bad choice.) This may be atributed to the time of winter that I would be conducting the ascent; which leads to the next question: What would be the best time of the winter to get the best conditions? I understand that this is a mountain, and no matter what people say things may be spot on or 180 degrees oposite. The object here is probability from past statisitcal data. In either case, I'll be asking conditions questions more specific closer to my departure time.

I was thinking along the lines of sometime between January and February. If another time would be better, please post it! Also, if a specific route's conditions are better in one time of year vs another while anothers will get better as the other's worsens, please post that as well. That's all important information to me, and it helps a ton in my planing with regard to other people's schedules and route choice.

And about the wind (not trying to write a novel here, sorry) I understand that an extra 30 mph makes a big difference. A freind or relitive is kinda hard to replace. Now, when people tell me about someone who died doing a climb, I'm NOT going to let that get me down. I posted here a few years ago about doing the Loft/Clarks Arrow route and several people told me a few grueling stories about searching for splattered bodies at the foot of Meeker's clifs or people freezing to death in storms. It happens. Climbing is dangerous; Mountain-Project's site has the statement posted at the bottom of all their pages with their copywrite. We ALL take the risks, and obviously common sense can play a part in this, sometimes we get cought off guard. It happens to the best of them out there.

Eli Helmuth wrote:. . . with a terrain trap like the Diamond below you, getting caught in even a small slide could result in a ride over the east face. Unless you are packing a parachute- it would hurt pretty bad.

It'd give me a good excuse to do some base-jumping.

I most likely with do the North Face within a couple of weeks. I want to bring my 5 year old up it so it might be a camping in the Boulder Field the night before mission.

If you want to join to understand what you will be up against for winter, let me know. We did Mt. Elbert yesterday and got caught in a snow storm on top and geez, shrinkage happenned quickly .... so after a night in mid-Septemeber on Longs you might get a tiny taste of what is to come.

Kevin

I didn't mean to put a damper on your plans. I added that info within the context of how severe the wind on Longs can be...also, from my perspective of studying past accidents to learn what not to do. I have studied the yearly 'Accidents in North American Mountaineering" and have found them to be great instructional literature. However, a little does go a long way.

More power to you!

I'll second the recommendations for the Trough as a very friendly winter route. It's less technical than the N. Face and, IMHO, a bit more interesting. It would be a long one-day climb but a bivy at Black Lake is sheltered and makes it into two pretty easy days with all the climbing and exposure to weather at the end. We attempted it in '06 and succeeded last season.

swarpa.net/~danforth/wj/tro…

Ok, I've decided that the North Face would be a little too risky and technical for my tastes to do unguided. So if I along with my group are going to do the NFCR, we WILL do it with a guide. Avilanch problems and the such seem like too big a risk unless I had someone who absolutely knew what they were doing. So, that being said, I'm interested in the Trough route.. It'd be nice to do the mountain from a different appoach.
Also, how dificult would it be to go with the Keyhole . . . just as a second option. I know some have already commented on this route, but I'd like some more info as most have commented on the North face and the Trough.

Just how long of a day are we talking about with regard to a one-dayer via Glacier Gorge and the Trough? Would I start at the normal 2:00 AM time or would I be looking at something a lot more extreme like 10:00PM the previous day to make the turnaround time of about 12:00 noon? It looks to be a few miles longer than the East Longs Peak trail.

Thanks

Paul, I'll second Eli's caution about the avi danger on the north side. Although it's frequently safe in the wintertime due to good anchoring and wind scour, it can also be a death trap with big consequences if you misjudge the snow. Have good avi evaluation skills on any route, including the trough and be ready to turn around if you see red flags popping up. I've had good conditions in early winter before the snow gets too layered, but I've also had epics when too much snow dumps on rock slabs making both bare boots or crampons useless (Keiners). Mid winter can be great on a low snow year, but again, don't be afraid to go home if the snow gets punchy. I'm a spring man now. Good snow, blue skies and an early morning start makes me smile on any route.

Hey Paul-

Unless your goal is to explicitly climb Longs in the winter (i.e. between Dec 22 and Mar 20), you might consider a spring mountaineering climb. As others have noted, the winter months are notoriously unpredictable, both in terms of weather and snow conditions. In contrast, spring mountaineering can be much more enjoyable - with increased odds of good weather and generally more stable snow, longer daylight hours, etc. All of the routes that you are considering will still be technical climbs (requiring crampons, ice axe, etc) until some time in June, possibly beyond, if we have a good snow year or late season storm.

Best of luck.

Matt

Interesting topic, wanting to ask --

Would Alexanders to Kieners be considered a great solid winter climb? Or is it more crap than it's worth & better just to bail upon completing the chimney?

Matthew Lipscomb wrote:Hey Paul- Unless your goal is to explicitly climb Longs in the winter (i.e. between Dec 22 and Mar 20), you might consider a spring mountaineering climb. As others have noted, the winter months are notoriously unpredictable, both in terms of weather and snow conditions. In contrast, spring mountaineering can be much more enjoyable - with increased odds of good weather and generally more stable snow, longer daylight hours, etc. All of the routes that you are considering will still be technical climbs (requiring crampons, ice axe, etc) until some time in June, possibly beyond, if we have a good snow year or late season storm. Best of luck. Matt

I'm pretty fluent in using an ax and crampons. I've used them on a regular basis the past few years. I would like to keep this a true winter ascent, however spring is not out of the question. Granted this would be my first winter climb, I have a lot to learn. One of the big reasons I picked Longs for this attempt was because I am so familiar with the mountain. Though, I can understand that the difference between witner and summer can make the same mountain two completely different animals. I was hoping to make it a bit of a learning experiance as well. I'm looking into taking a guide up with me for the snow-reading and route skills that I don't have yet. I'm getting better with each climb that I do, but as I've said, I have a lot to learn.

Paul, it's great that you are familiar with Longs. It is a good idea to go with a route you have done in the summer. I've been surprised by people who want to climb it in the winter who have never climbed it in the summer!

Mark, Alexanders to Kieners is a great winter combo -- in theory. I tried it one year and the problem is it requires a bivy, unless you are very speedy. We climbed Alexanders with full bivy gear and crashed out on Broadway in a snowstorm. The next morning the weather had improved but our stove wouldn't work so we went down. In hindsight, maybe it would be better to bivy at Chasm Lake.