Longs Peak

Route: Cables
Posted On: 7/16/2025, By: dbolton
Info: The approach to the belay ledge is mostly clear of snow; or, at least the snow is avoidable. Above the climbing pitch there is no snow/ice to worry about. On the climb itself, be aware that a fair amount of water seeping down the slabs + some hard snow/ice in places raises the climbing difficulty a bit. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/14/2025, By: josephsiefers
Info: Trough is pretty much entirely melted out. Segments of snow remain on the far climbers right side but it's not necessary to divert at all from the bullseyes. Small wet areas on Homestretch but did not impact ascent or descent, solid footing. 

Route: Iron Gates, Meeker Ridge, Meeker, Clarks Arrow
Posted On: 7/13/2025, By: arthurtect
Info: Iron Gates to Meeker Ridge to Mount Meeker down to the saddle, then Clarks Arrow around to Longs Peak and then descend via Keyhole route. Mostly dry throughout the route. Only a little snow on Clarks Arrow above the Notch, but we avoided it on the downhill side. Ridge traverse from Meeker Ridge to Mount Meeker will make you pucker a few times; the Knives edge was probably more enjoyable than a few other cruxes that require you down climb around some obstacles that feel too high to climb or down climb. Clarks Arrow was more challenging than expected; gotta love those Class 4 down climbs. Shout out to whichever organization is doing trail maintenance up there. Thank you! 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/10/2025, By: walkingdonkey
Info: The trail was dry all of the way up to the trough. In the trough I decided to hike left of the bullseyes a few times due to some snow and ice. All snow and ice was easily avoided. There were some loose rocks I didn't like in the trough, this section is sketchy this time of year. I descended far right (skiers right) to avoid knocking any rocks onto climbers ascending the trough. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/9/2025, By: CEColton
Info: There’s still a decent amount of snow left in the Trough, though with careful routefinding it’s avoidable. There are a few small patches of ice in the Homestretch, but also easily avoidable. I brought ice ax and microspikes and used neither. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/3/2025, By: Paterclimber
Info: There's still snow at the top of the Trough (see picture #1). It was a little sketchy getting around it on the way up and down. A couple people turned back at this point on their way up. On my way up, I managed to avoid the snow by going high to the left, and didn't have to use the spikes I had with me. I came down the same way, and again without spikes. There are a couple small patches of snow that are melting and making little ice lines at the top of the Homestretch (see picture #2). I think it will be entirely gone soon. As is, it's all avoidable. Other than that, it was an absolutely beautiful day with almost no wind! 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/2/2025, By: Max Rubenstein
Info: Some of you might heavily judge, but this was my first time successfully summiting Longs and the trip lasted from 7:00pm to 4:15am (pitch black after the keyhole approach). Never once was there any worry or hesitation on any features due to pristine conditions and weather. Snow doesn't become a factor at all until the trough, and even then it is almost entirely avoidable except for maybe a 10 vertical foot section near the top. After the trough there is no more snow to worry about, so spikes and axes are not necessary for the time being. Seems like summer conditions are coming in! 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 6/30/2025, By: ndouglas303
Info: The trough had avoidable snow up until the final 100ft. Crampons and ice axe not necessary (depending on comfort level) but spikes were definitely required as the snow was very icy in the morning. Narrows were clear and the homestretch had slick almost invisble ice around 8:30am but it was avoidable if you find the right route around it. 

Route: Flying Dutchman and Lamb Slide
Posted On: 6/29/2025, By: slawrence2011
Info: Didn't summit, but flying Dutchman and Lamb slide are both continuous snow from around 12K to 13k. Could link snowfields to Chasm Lake at 11,8. Flying Dutchman was bulletproof when we ascended around 9. Has parts that don't get sun til noon. Both seem to be very well consolidated summer snow. Dropped FD around 11:30 and Lamb slide around 2:30. Thanks Gus and Declan for the beta on these! 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 6/28/2025, By: starfishprime
Info: Snow was avoidable until about the last 200 ft of the trough. The snow in that section was a little icy, but was quite grippy with 1/2” spikes. The narrows were clear and the homestretch had avoidable snow. We decided to go down the loft with 2 others from the peak, and the snow was almost entirely avoidable but the route finding would have been a little difficult without the experience of the person who had ascended that way and left a couple cairns. The descent from the saddle had soft snow that was navigable if you had a ice axe (I watched someone slide and self arrest) or you could navigate the rocks to descend around snow. 

Route: Kiener's
Posted On: 6/24/2025, By: Logan5280
Info: Up Kiener's and down the cables on 6/23. Kiener's is getting pretty close to summer conditions, while the north face still has a decent amount of snow to negotiate. The approach to the base of Lamb's Slide is pretty much totally dry. Due to a good overnight freeze, Lamb's Slide was in excellent cramponing condition, at least around 6am. Broadway still has one essentially mandatory steep snow crossing before the step-around move. The rest is nearly in full summer condition. So long as you start the climbing pitches a bit below Kiener's chimney, it's possible to cross the Notch Couloir while staying on dry ground. Aside from some wet rock in places on the rock pitches and an easy snow crossing, the rest of the route is in summer condition. We had the summit to ourselves, which was a nice surprise. Looking down the homestretch, there seems to still be a bit of snow/ice, but it seems to be melting fairly fast. The Cables, on the other hand, were pretty tiresome to deal with since there were still a couple long, mandatory snow crossings. A few places have some ice hidden under the slightly rotten snow. It's not quite summer on the north face just yet. The rock pitch is a waterfall right now as well. The chasm view snow field did, however, make for a nice glissade down towards the boulder field. Overall, a great day out on an awesome route! 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 6/22/2025, By: ajeski
Info: Hiked Longs Peak via the Keyhole Route on Saturday 6/21. There has been a lot of snow melt since the last Keyhole Route update from 6/9. It is dry from the parking lot to the Keyhole. Then, there are some minor patches of snow from the Keyhole to the trough. It is almost dry though. The trough & homestretch are still both holding snow. I only wore micro spikes 1 time and it was before the trough because there was a little icy section. I used others footsteps in the snow sections after that. I started a bit later and it benefitted me. The wind was horrible and several people turned around as a result. Once I got to the Keyhole, the wind went away. I ended up summitting Longs Peak and heading over to Mount Meeker to summit that as well. Phenomenal day in RMNP. I attached a photo of the homestretch for reference of snow conditions. Trough is similar conditions. 

Route: Lambs Slide + Loft
Posted On: 6/19/2025, By: Caitlin123
Info: Lambs Slide was in good shape this morning but take with a grain of salt as warm temperatures for the next few days might change things. Descended via Loft - snow is largely avoidable. I did that section in trail runners / no traction needed. There are a couple of small snow patches on the trail to Chasm Lake but there's a well trodden path across them and hikers to the lake were able to cross carefully without problems. 

Route: Keyhole Up, Cables + Camel Down
Posted On: 6/12/2025, By: nicholasjblock
Info: Getting to the keyhole was a breeze, some minor snow but all was hardpack with good steps (felt totally fine in hiking shoes) At the keyhole I put on full mountain boots and crampons, and was glad to have them. 97% of the route from keyhole to summit is still snow, and the Trough is on the firm/icy side before the sun hits it. Super fun snow climbing, glad to have the axe. Descending to the Cables raps is pretty straightforward, almost entirely steep snow downclimbing. I did 3 raps, and the last one ended up on steep snow where I continued downclimbing to Chasm View. Navigating to the Camel gulley is straightforward, and the gulley is almost devoid of snow. Lower half of rock is quite loose, and then there's a nice snowfield to walk down all the way to Chasm Lake (can still walk on the bank of the lake for all but the very end. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 6/1/2025, By: jfm3
Info: I climbed Hallett Peak on June 1 and saw the upper portion of the Keyhole route on Longs. Looks like there is continuous snow coverage in the Trough and on the North Face.