PeakMind

One of my unofficial missions in life is to climb to the summit of Longs Peak and its adjacent peaks in as many different ways I can imagine and am physically capable of completing.  In this quest, I count “significantly” different route (vs. completely different) and different seasons as “different ways” so the possibilities are nearly endless.  It isn’t a list I expect to complete.  Instead, this mission just adds a bit of drama to an already dramatic peak, which is also my favorite peak:  Longs Peak.

Longs Peak Massif

The core of the Longs Peak Massif is what I call The Great Cirque:  the semi-circle of rock around Chasm Lake formed by Mt Meeker, Longs Peak & Mt. Lady Washington. And since they are within the semi-circle, I also include the Ships Prow, Glacier Ridge, and The Loft. Beyond the Great Cirque, the Longs Peak Massif arguably includes the following peaks and terrain features: Storm Peak, Key Board of the Winds, Pagoda.  And that is where I draw the line to avoid being drawn into including every peak in the Front Range.

I’ve broken down the various climbs into categories of “difficulty” simply because I couldn’t think of any other manner that would make sense.  I’ve also noted when a climb was a repeat done simply because it was fun enough to forgo progress on my mission. Not all of the trip reports are ready; but I’m working as fast as I can.

Challenging (at most one of: route-finding, technical climbing, or weather/conditions related difficulties)

• 11/96 – Longs Peak Keyhole
• 05/97 – Pagoda Snow Swim
• 12/97 – Mt Meeker Ice Scramble
• 08/99 – The Ships Prow via Old Unnamed (5.8)
• 04/01 – Mt Lady Washington East Slope Loop [Camel descent]
• 08/01 – Long’s Southwest Ridge (5.4)
• 07/07 – Ships Prow/Glacier Ridge Traverse
• 07/08 – Meeker Traverse Loop

Hard (two of: route-finding, technical climbing, or weather/conditions related difficulties)

• 07/94 – The Diamond via The Casual Route (guided ascent)
• 09/98 – Gorrell’s Traverse with a direct finish of  The Notch
• 07/99 – Stettner’s Ledges (5.8) & Kiener’s Route (5.3)
• 07/00 – Longs NW / Keyhole Ridge (5.6)
• 08/01 – Longs West / Southwest Ridge (5.5)
• 07/05 – Repeat: Longs NW / Keyhole Ridge (5.6)

Desperate (all of: route-finding, technical climbing, and weather/conditions related difficulties)

• 06/96 – Partial Notch Couloir w/ Upper Kiener‘s Finish
• 07/98 – Kiener’s Route
• 08/98 – The Diamond via The Casual Route
• 09/98 – Mt Meeker’s Flying Buttress [not to summit](5.9+)
• 08/99 – Mt Meeker’s Moe Fo [not to summit](5.8+)
• 02/00 – Winter Longs (Cable Route plus the “igloo experiment”)
• 04/02 – Loft Whiteout

See other RMNP Trip Reports