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Long's Peak Snow Climb, Colorado 14er

11/12/98

Author: Mike Sullivan

Participants: Mike Sullivan, Andy Grieder

I sometimes snicker a little when I think of the Keyhole Route on Long's Peak. As the easiest way up one of Colorado's most popular summits, it gets trampled by hundreds of hikers every Saturday in summer. (Yeah, I freely admit that I've somehow turned into an alpine snob.) But I've also thought that - just maybe - this cattle trail might be a cool route in the off-season. Soooo... I talked Andy into trying it as a training climb on a recent Thursday in November, shortly after a good snowfall. The trailhead parking lot had one other car when we pulled up at 7 AM. Good sign...

We stowed crampons and ice axe in each of our packs and set out on foot. The trail had been broken by 2 or 3 sets of tracks in the days since the snow fell, so travel was relatively easy up to tree line. From there, we picked our way between scoured rocks, windslab, and a few deep drifts of perfect posthole snow. Nearly all traces of any human passing were gone by the time we reached the Keyhole. It was wonderful - Long's Peak was a true wilderness, and we had it all to ourselves. The route from the Keyhole to the summit was quite fun and challenging. Most trail markers were obliterated by snowdrifts, and there was plenty of rime ice and slabby snow covering the route. Additional challenges were provided by a riproaring wind, which scoured the western flanks of the mountain. We topped out about 1 PM, giddy with the feeling of winter solitude on this well-trodden peak.

Then - much to our amazement - a lone figure soon wandered up to our summit from the other direction! He introduced himself as Jim Detterline, the Long's Peak climbing ranger. He had rope-soloed up the North Face, and told us it was the 126th time he'd climbed the peak. He was a blast to talk to, telling us stories about climbing pioneers like Zumwalt, the Stettners, and Kor, and giving us info on dozens of different routes and variations. He then invited us to rap down the rope he had left fixed on the North Face. We gladly agreed, since it would save us well over an hour of contouring around on the windy side of the peak. He showed us a great shortcut route down the upper face, which zigzagged to our right as we descended to the rappels, coming almost to the brink of the Diamond at one place.

The rest of the afternoon was a walking tour, as Jim showed us several more shortcuts and gave us one history tidbit after another. We finished the descent by headlamp, making it back out to the lot around 6:30. We happily concluded that even a "cattle trail" can make for a really great climbing outing - it's just all in the timing.

 


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