March 2010. My previous winter attempt ended between the Keyhole and the Trough on wind loaded slopes. Very different conditions that January 2013.
Wind!
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Snow!
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Longs Peak via North Face
January 19, 2013
Crew: Glen, Pete
Car-to-car: 10 hours
The morning air was cool and crisp in the very familiar Longs Peak parking lot. We left the trailhead at 4:30 and moved up the well-packed trail. The winter shortcuts are always a pleasant surprise on the way down but prove a stiff warmup first thing in the morning. Treeline soon came and so did the winds, creating a frosty subzero coat to what would be a "warm"winter day. We quickly added some layers and contiued moving up into the quiet terrain. A ptarmigan came schreeching out from under Glen's feet and gave us the reminder that they don't see many visitors this time of year. Fortunatley, this was a trail we had all walked many times and we soon were standing in the boulderfield marveling at Longs glowing in alpenglow. We stopped below the final snow up the to the north face to don crampons and harnesses. I flaked the rope and trailed it up to the base of the crux, enjoying some nice cramponing along the way. Glen soon arrived, and I volunteered to lead as my feet were beginning to freeze. Although low-angled, the pitch contained slabs covered in a thin layer of ice making for slightly more awkward climbing. Being used to climbing dry rock, it felt odd to trust my crampons skittering on the slabs but I soon clipped into the top eyebolt.
Glen and Pete climbed simulteanously and we soon were all at the belay. We left the rope tied to the eyebolt and scrambling upward. Some hard snow gave way to rocky scrambling and we met the sun on the summit. It was marvelous being the only people on the usually crowded summit and it was all of our first time on the top in winter. The familiar summit looked bare without the hordes of people and we sat and basked in the sun for about forty minutes. After watching somebody breeze over Meeker, it was time to head back down. The upper face went smoothly and we arrived at the eyebolt as another climber was leading the pitch. We waited for him to arrive and were surprised to find out that it was Joe that I had climbed South Sixshooter with the previous year. This was sure a change of climate from the desert! He agreed to let us rappel down on a single strand and then untie it for us once we were all down. We thanked the large party from 14ers.com for waiting on us and made for the car. The descent cruised by, especially by taking advantage of all the winter shortcuts (too bad it can't be like that in the summer!). It was a glorious day, Longs had been kind to us.
Crew: Glen, Pete
Car-to-car: 10 hours
The morning air was cool and crisp in the very familiar Longs Peak parking lot. We left the trailhead at 4:30 and moved up the well-packed trail. The winter shortcuts are always a pleasant surprise on the way down but prove a stiff warmup first thing in the morning. Treeline soon came and so did the winds, creating a frosty subzero coat to what would be a "warm"winter day. We quickly added some layers and contiued moving up into the quiet terrain. A ptarmigan came schreeching out from under Glen's feet and gave us the reminder that they don't see many visitors this time of year. Fortunatley, this was a trail we had all walked many times and we soon were standing in the boulderfield marveling at Longs glowing in alpenglow. We stopped below the final snow up the to the north face to don crampons and harnesses. I flaked the rope and trailed it up to the base of the crux, enjoying some nice cramponing along the way. Glen soon arrived, and I volunteered to lead as my feet were beginning to freeze. Although low-angled, the pitch contained slabs covered in a thin layer of ice making for slightly more awkward climbing. Being used to climbing dry rock, it felt odd to trust my crampons skittering on the slabs but I soon clipped into the top eyebolt.
Glen and Pete climbed simulteanously and we soon were all at the belay. We left the rope tied to the eyebolt and scrambling upward. Some hard snow gave way to rocky scrambling and we met the sun on the summit. It was marvelous being the only people on the usually crowded summit and it was all of our first time on the top in winter. The familiar summit looked bare without the hordes of people and we sat and basked in the sun for about forty minutes. After watching somebody breeze over Meeker, it was time to head back down. The upper face went smoothly and we arrived at the eyebolt as another climber was leading the pitch. We waited for him to arrive and were surprised to find out that it was Joe that I had climbed South Sixshooter with the previous year. This was sure a change of climate from the desert! He agreed to let us rappel down on a single strand and then untie it for us once we were all down. We thanked the large party from 14ers.com for waiting on us and made for the car. The descent cruised by, especially by taking advantage of all the winter shortcuts (too bad it can't be like that in the summer!). It was a glorious day, Longs had been kind to us.
Thanks to Pete and Glen for the photos!
