Slava on Summit of Longs Peak
Climbergirl Conquers Longs Peak
Our Destination, From the Boulderfield
On Friday, Slava and I took advantage of the clear weather and climbed Longs Peak. Originally, our plan was to climb Mt. Lady Washington, but since the weather was gorgeous and we were making excellent time, we decided to go for the summit of Longs Peak instead.
We ascended the ever popular Keyhole Route. It was my first time climbing Longs Peak, so I was excited to do this route in winter when there would be no crowds. Additionally, the element of snow and ice made the route more challenging and I enjoyed the added technicality of climbing with crampons.
Jim’s Grove Vicinity, 10,800 ft. It took us one hour to get here, from the trail head. We were climbing at a fairly rapid pace, ascending ~ 1,400 feet in an hour.
Slava in Mills Moraine. He brought his big artsy camera. Good training weight!
Slava took this picture of me with his fancy camera. Nice, isn’t it?
Gorgeous Blue-bird day!
Slava approaching the keyhole. We made it here 4 hours after leaving the trail head. The weather was holding and we were feeling great, so we went for the summit.
After climbing through the keyhole, one exits on the west side. After descending the west side of the keyhole, we took a 10 minute break to put on crampons. The next 6 hours, 3 hours to reach the summit and 3 hours to come back, were technical and required alertness, concentration, and efficient climbing.
Slava traversing to get to the loft.
It took us about 20 minutes to get to the base of the loft. Slava took this picture of me staring up at the climb.
Slava with “lofty” ambitions. Pun intended. It took us 50 minutes to climb the loft.
From the top of the loft, one is confronted with the narrows which are a series of ledges about as wide as a sidewalk. I really enjoyed the narrows. Since nobody was there, we were able to go really fast and made excellent time. Slava tells me that in summertime, it can take a very long time as there are cues of people waiting for the person in front of them to advance.
Slava after a crux on the Narrows
Looking at Slava on the Narrows (I made him turn around for this shot, on our way back down).
Clare on the Narrows (Slava took this picture on our descent!).
Slava getting ready to climb the homestretch. Somebody painted these targets into key spots on the route, to aide with route finding.
Slava climbing the last 100 feet of the homestretch. Since snow slabs covered part of the route and ice filled the cracks, we used a combination of snow and ice climbing techniques to get through this section.
Slava got this picture of me at the top of the homestretch. We did not need a rope or ice screws. However, having an ice ax and crampons were essential!
Summit of Longs Peak! Super psyched. It took 7 hours and 20 minutes. This included several short snack breaks and gearing up with crampons.
On the summit, we walked around and took some pictures. We ate a quick lunch and then it was time to descend. We left the summit at around 3:15pm and made it back to the car 6 hours later. As we descended, the wind became more and more severe. By the time we reached the Keyhole, Slava clocked 86 mph gusts! It was an excellent day of climbing, albeit long (another intended pun).
I was grateful to Slava for driving and I fell asleep about 20 seconds after I got in the car. We made it back to his house around 10:30pm and his wife fed me beet soup, cheese, and crackers. Fueled by her good cooking and Slava’s most excellent Latte, I made it home by midnight.
Tags: 14er, Centennial, CO, Longs Peak, Mountaineering, RMNP, Rocky Mountain National Park