Rocky Mountain National Park > Longs Peak > Climber's LogLongs Peak Climber's Log
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| Matt Mahoney | Route Climbed: Cables route Date Climbed: Aug. 12 1997  | |
| Climbed solo from Chasm Lake over Lady Washington, then a nice direct route up class 3 slabs, not hard except for one 5.4 move, a chest high overhang where you have to lunge over and grab into a crack. Descended the Keyhole in wet blowing snow, much harder than the climb. Lost feeling in 4 fingertips for 2 months. 10 hours car to car. | |
| Posted May 17, 2002 10:35 am | ||
| tiefenthaler | Route Climbed: keyhole route Date Climbed: september 1992 | |
| Climbed Longs Peak on a beautiful day in fall with my friend Chuck | |
| Posted May 13, 2002 11:26 pm | ||
| lavaka | Route Climbed: First Cables Route, then the Casual Route Date Climbed: June and July, 2001 Date Climbed: Jun 27, 2001 | |
| Cables Route is fantastic. For any experienced climber, it gives a quicker and, in my opinion, better way to the top than the Keyhole route. Rock fall danger only when lots of other climbers there. Best route for early summer. We roped up (rated 5.4), but found the rope pretty useless - though above the technical stuff, there were dicey moments if you lost the route. Casual Route was scary as hell for a climber of my ability - summited at 4:45 PM, way too late. Very commiting climb, but easiest one on the Diamond. Descended Cables Route, which was sopping wet and the descent to Chasm View was miserable, but better than a Keyhole descent. (posted: April 2002) edit (Sept 2008): I've since been back many times, climbing Keplinger's Couloir, Keyhole once or twice, Casual Route again, Cables Route again, and Pervertical Sanctuary (also on the Diamond). | |
| Posted Apr 29, 2002 5:28 pm | ||
| phillinley | Route Climbed: Keyhole Route Date Climbed: August 2001 | |
| Left at 1 a.m. reached the keyhole by sunrise. Banged my knee up pretty severely just below tree line falling on a slick wood bridge crossing a mountain stream. The crowds weren't too bad and those that were there gave me the encouragement to keep going through the pain. I had to quit at the trough though because my leg wouldn't support my weight. I decided to err on the side of safety and call it a day just an hour or so from the summit. I will be returning though to get this peak on a winter ascent in December | |
| Posted Apr 28, 2002 4:23 pm | ||
| darinchadwick | Route Climbed: Keyhole Date Climbed: August 1996 | |
| First my girlfriend (See Snake Dike trip report) dumps me, next I take a 40foot fall rock climbing at Vantage WA, leaving my arm in a cast for the summer. Third, I decide since I'm now solo and can't rock climb, it's time to bag some summits, so off to Colorado. Longs Peak was the first CO peak I tried. After sitting on the couch for 2 weeks nursing my emotional and physical wounds, this was sure a wake-up call. The other 14ers I tried were easy after Longs. What a fat mountain. | |
| Posted Apr 3, 2002 12:28 pm | ||
| jwclimbs | Route Climbed: North Face/Cables Route Date Climbed: 7.4.00 | |
| Very Nice! My first roped alpine experience. Beautiful day and lots of 4th of July Summiter's at the top. Went back in 2001 for Keyhole Ridge and rapped down Cables. I love this mountain! Casual Route - Here I come!! | |
| Posted Jan 30, 2002 11:37 am | ||
| coop | Route Climbed: Keyhole Date Climbed: July 1999 | |
| I enjoyed every minute of the climb except for the mass crowds. Climb this one during the week for sure if you are heading up in peak season (summer). Be extra careful during the trough portion not to launch off any rocks to the people below. I am surprised there are not more accidents from rock fall during the scrambling portion while you are in the trough. | ||
| Posted Jan 15, 2002 9:15 am | ||
| Nelson | Route Climbed: Keyhole, Kieners, Loft, Cable Route, Trough (from Glacier Gorge) Date Climbed: Seven attempts, 6 summits, in 5 different months, since 1996 | |
| I'm lucky to have this mountain in my backyard! | |
| Posted Jan 4, 2002 8:23 pm | ||
| nader | Route Climbed: Longs Peak Ranger Station Trailhead Date Climbed: July 1992 | |
| Made it to Keyhole | |
| Posted Dec 26, 2001 4:42 pm | ||
| dshoe | Route Climbed: Keyhole Route Date Climbed: 08-98 | |
| The Keyhole Route is an awesome experience! It is long (16 miles round-trip), but very well worth the effort. Took about 12 hours to do the round-trip, car-to-car. From the trailhead to the Keyhole, it is just a "hike." From the Keyhole to the summit, it is a nice, long "scramble." Saw quite a few people who got sick from altitude as well! Would definitely do this baby again!!! | |
| Posted Dec 21, 2001 9:11 am | ||
| Zeke | Route Climbed: Keyhole Date Climbed: Aug. 1998 | |
| Long day, got snowed on in August. Very windy at the Keyhole, the finish is fun, but very, very crowded. | |
| Posted Nov 28, 2001 1:29 pm | ||
| schadik | Route Climbed: East Face, Pervertical Sanctuary. Date Climbed: july 1993 | |
| The ascent was fantastic 5.11 climbing. The descent on the other hand was a total epic. Never trust the forcast, we were caught unprepared in a fluke blizzard and spent a long time on the north face in our climbing tights looking for the rappel anchors. Thank god there were others in the same situation thât knew where they were when we heard their voices. A humbling experience. | |
| Posted Nov 23, 2001 2:06 am | ||
| mconnell | Route Climbed: Keyhole Date Climbed: August, mid 70's | |
| Fun climb. While on top met people who had come up the cables route. Talking to them is what got me started with technical mountaineering. Sat there watching the clouds build below us. Decended in snow, whiteout, and lightning. (Stupid climber!) | ||
| Posted Sep 14, 2001 12:47 pm | ||
| dkeating2112 | Route Climbed: Keyhole Route Date Climbed: 07/01/2001 | |
| A long strenuous hike/scramble/climb starting at Goblins Forest campground. About 13 miles round trip. Used the East Longs Peak trail to the Keyhole, then followed the Keyhole route to the summit. Lots of travel above treeline on this route, so had to start heading down early (9:30 am) to avoid the typical afternoon thunderstorms. The route after the Keyhole is tough, and pretty exposed in places, but the rewards at the summit were worth it. Started at about 2:00 am. | |
| Posted Aug 24, 2001 6:45 am | ||
| Peter Eliassen | Route Climbed: Keyhole Date Climbed: 7/30/99 | |
| A true classic...wake up early and bring a helmet, as the trough can produce some nasty falling rock if there are people ahead of you. Watch out for lightning, as you are exposed for quite some time... | |
| Posted Aug 16, 2001 11:34 am | ||
| miztflip | Route Climbed: Cable Route Date Climbed: June 10, 2000 | |
| What a sunrise. We saw the sun rise from the top of the boulder field. One I will never forget. The cable route was very fun. | |
| Posted Aug 8, 2001 2:57 pm | ||
| Jim Clarke | Route Climbed: Keyhole, Keiner's, Cable Route Date Climbed: 7/14/96, 5/20/01, 7/14/01 | |
| Keyhole for first ascent, then 21 hours on Keiner's in a blizzard and darkness, followed by an easy ten hour trip up the North Face. | |
| Posted Jul 23, 2001 6:25 pm | ||
| climbcolorado | Route Climbed: Date Climbed: | |
| I have climbed Longs twice both times using the Cables Route. This route is rated at 5.4 rock climbing and a rope and climbing gear is needed. I used the Keyhole route to get down, however you can rappel the Cables Route also. The avantange to this route instead of 100's of climbers you will be lucky to see 5 or 6 climbers. This route is about 3hrs. faster then the Keyhole route. | |
| Posted Jul 17, 2001 11:23 am | ||
| theplugger | Route Climbed: Keyhole Route Date Climbed: 08-23-90 | |
| My husband, J, and I started out from the Long's Peak TH at around 5am...not the first climbers of the day by a long shot. Can't remember just what time we summited, but I do remember it was a long 14 hour day (pun intended). There was one move, getting out of the trough, which would have stopped me coming and going, but for some slight assistance and much encouragement and patience from my hiking partner. I remember being totally amazed at how some folks made (even completed) this climb...in tennies with no gear but for a bottle of pop and a granola bar in a 7-11 bag!! | |
| Posted Apr 6, 2001 10:00 am | ||
| Josh | Route Climbed: Keyhole Date Climbed: July, 1996, August, 1998, and July, 1999 | |
| In early July, 1999, I did the Keyhole Route on Longs Peak. This was my third ascent in as many years. I climbed on a Sunday (a day that the Rocky Mountain NP trail crew doesn't work) to ensure that I wouldn't run into anyone I knew from my 1996 summer trail crew experience ;-). At 4:45am, I left the 9,400 ft trailhead parking lot in running shoes, shorts, and a t-shirt (not recommended). I took a look at the trail register and saw that there were several parties ahead of me -- some had started as early as 3am (for the Keyhole route). Soon I arrived at the "Keyhole" -- the route's namesake. This opening allows easy access between the east and west sides of Longs. The wind was howling, but the sky was clear, and the air was warm, so I pressed on. After a few minutes of 3rd class scrambling, I reached the "Trough" (a 500 ft gully), which was filled with snow. The snow was still hard (not good running shoe terrain!), so I climbed on the rock on the left side of the snow. This turned out to be very enjoyable 4th class and easy 5th class climbing. After a few minutes of scrambling, I tagged the summit, then headed down. The round trip took 5 hours and 15 minutes. | |
| Posted Mar 30, 2001 12:28 pm | ||
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