Longs Peak

I summitted via the Kiener's route on the upper part of the Diamond. The total trip time car to car was 15 hours.

We started at the Longs Peak trailhead at 1:00 am and moved quickly to Chasm Lake. The trail was pretty easy to Chasm Lake, but got slightly harder as we approached Lambs Slide. Darkness somewhat inhibited route finding, but we found our way around Chasm Lake to the Lambs Slide with no problem. The views of Longs here are nothing short of astonishing. If you climb Longs via the Keyhole make sure you check out Chasm Lake!

We started climbing Lambs Slide at around 3:00am. Lambs Slide was all ice the entire way up and took us five hours to reach Broadway. Protection is relatively easy and recommended on the rock wall to the right. WATCH OUT FOR ROCK FALL!!! Rock fall is a seriuos concern anytime in the mountains, but there was a substantial amount during this climb.

We entered Broadway just short of the top of Lambs Slide. Traversing Broadway was probably the most mellow part of the climb. It is a pretty easy traverse, but has A LOT of exposure. There were plenty of horns to keep a short rope team protected.

We found Kiener's pretty easily after traversing Broadway. The climb pretty easy with many easy Class 3 scrambles and some mellow 5th class climbing. The climg is somewhat long, but the views over the Diamond were phenomenal.

We descended via the North Face. This involved 2 repels on the old Cable Route eyebolts and an easy scramble to the boulder field. We then hiked the Keyhole trail back to the parking lot.

This was a VERY enjoyable climb with spectacular views. I can see where route finding can be very difficult, especially on the Kiener's portion. If you climb this route at this time of the year make sure you start early or bivy at Chasm Lake. The rock fall was consistent and severe. I dread to think if anyone started after us on Lambs Slide with the excessive rock fall.

Good Luck and Enjoy! JOE