Longs Peak (attempt) - 14,255 ft
Mount Lady Washington - 13,281 ft
Date: 3-11-07
Climbers: George Barnes, Joey Luther, Nate Stutzke
RT distance: ~10 miles
RT time: 10 hours
Elevation gain: 4,000 feet
USGS Quadrangles: Longs Peak
Thanks to Nate Stutzke for use of his photographs.
Trip Report:
Nate, Joey, and I had been plotting a calendar winter ascent of Longs Peak most of the winter. Almost without fail, the forecast for the peak would be good during the week, and nasty for the weekend. Large snow falls, wind gusts to 85mph, and subzero windchills seemed to be the norm whenever we considered a weekend attempt. Joey had made one attempt on the north face a few weeks ago, whereas Nate and I just went ice climbing whenever the weather on Longs wasn’t perfect.
With time running out for a calendar winter ascent, I knew this weekend was my last shot to get up the north face. The forecast for Saturday was initially encouraging, with highs above freezing and partly sunny skies. As the weekend drew near, the forecast became increasingly dismal, first with a 30% chance of snow, which ultimately changed to a forecast calling for upwards of 17 inches of snow through Saturday. At the last minute we changed our plans from Saturday to Sunday, which had a clear forecast and highs in the 40s.
After getting up at 1:15 AM, I met Joey and Nate in Boulder at 1:59AM. With the time change, we made it to the trailhead just after 4AM. We were greeted by clear skies, a bright moon, and over 6 inches of new snow. Nate took off from the trailhead like a bottle rocket while Joey and I attempted to keep the beam of his headlamp in sight. Hoping that wind had swept the north face clean, we plodded up the trail with ignorant optimism.
We took brief breaks at the Lightning Bridge and Chasm Junction, each after about an hour on the move. The new snow slowed our pace, but our progress was steady. Past Chasm Junction I got to do my share of the trail breaking, though I was motivated by the prospects of the getting the first views of the north face.
Sunrise on the way to Granite Pass
Mount Lady Washington
First views proved to be disheartening, with the face being completely snow covered and streaked with numerous small avalanche aprons across the Cables route and the Dove. We sat down in the Boulderfield to eat burritos and contemplate our future.
The Boulderfield
Kieners Anyone?
We agreed to head up to Chasm View (base of the route) and see if we could find a safe line up the face. During our “pep talk”, we were distracted by a sizeable avalanche ripping across the Kieners Route and pouring over the Diamond. This was a pretty blatant clue that snow conditions were tender to say the least, so we took the hint and nixed our Longs plans for the day. As a consolation prize we decided to head up nearby Mount Lady Washington (13,281 feet) which has excellent views of the Longs-Meeker cirque.
The Diamond from MLW
We added value to our hike up MLW by schlepping double ropes, a full alpine rack, and ice tools. Nonetheless we soon had the summit to ourselves. It was bothering me to bail on Cables when I was feeling strong and the weather was perfect, so it was reassuring to see new avalanche debris appear on the Dove in the time it took us to climb MLW.
Route Beta:
Smear of Fear
Cables / North Face
Notch Couloir
Alexander's Chimney
We lounged on the summit for almost an hour before heading down. We opted to head directly towards Chasm Junction, thinking it might be faster than retracing our steps over Granite Pass. This rubble slope turned out to be exceptionally obnoxious, and it took over an hour to slip, slide, and cartwheel our way down the snow covered choss. Back on packed trail, the hike out went quickly with the aid of a few winter trail cut offs. We arrived back at the truck by 2:15PM for a round trip time of ~10 hours.
Just for amusement, here are two webcam shots of Longs Peak, one from last Monday, one from the day of our climb.
