Mt. Lady Washington

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 12/23/2023, By: bangerth
Info: The rain coming down in Fort Collins right now (the day after the climb) may of course change all of that, but: The trail to treeline is nicely packed down and easy to walk. Above treeline, the whole Longs Peak group has not gotten much snow, and it is mostly dry. I went up MLW from Granite Pass, and down along the east ridge that connects it with Longs. All of that was dry, and the only time I ended up in snow more than an inch deep is when I accidentally stepped into a hole that swallowed me to the hip -- awkward. I walked over to the base of the Cables Route, and from there down to the outhouse; this part had a bit of snow because it receives little sun, being north of Longs summit. The rest of the way back down along the trail was dry again. Brought microspikes, but never felt the need to put them on. Didn't bring snowshoes or crampons and didn't ever found a reason to regret that. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 9/4/2023, By: L1zzz1ee
Info: Summited after Longs by traversing over from the Keyhole. There is one small false summit. The climb up has little elevation and good boulder hopping. The down climb is painful would recommend taking the gentle ridge line towards the pass instead of the more direct route down. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 6/11/2023, By: shapovalovm
Info: Packed snow patches from 10k-11.5k, from there you can easily find a dry route up the peak. Spikes are not needed, but I saw a few people use them. Snowshoes/crampons/ice axes leave home, unless you want extra weight. From the summit, looking at boulder field, seems like you can get to keyhole with no extra gear (with some route-finding). Despite this route being *almost* dry, there is still A LOT of snow in the mountains. The parking lot was mostly empty when I parked there at 6:30am. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 5/8/2023, By: NittanyLion14er
Info: Solid snow pack early am. Slushy by 9. Spikes good. Dry boulder hopping to top mostly, snow interspersed. 

Route: Via the Camel Couloir
Posted On: 5/6/2023, By: bangerth
Info: We took the criminally underrated Camel Couloir from Chasm Lake up. It may not be the best couloir ever, but it for sure has the best views anywhere in the state, looking straight at the Diamond on Longs, at the Lambs Slide, and at Mount Meeker for nearly the entire time. Truly epic views. The trail to the outhouse junction is partly snow (80%) and partly dry (20%). In the morning, the snow was nicely frozen, but the story was different in the afternoon when coming back. After the outhouse junction, it is almost all snow; the snow fields were relatively easy to traverse, and the lake itself is well frozen over and easily crossed. After that, it's all icy snow to the base of the couloir, and then hard snow in the couloir itself -- hard enough to make kick stepping impossible or at least very unpleasant, and side stepping was the name of the game; great conditions nonetheless. The snow in the couloir runs out about 60% of the way up to the Camel (roughly where the steepness eases), and from there it's an easy scramble to the saddle, and from there to the summit of MLW. We descended the east ridge, which is always a nuisance, but there are snow fields one can string together for 75% of the distance all the way down to the trail where one can mostly plunge step to make one's life easier. Very nice day overall! I wore microspikes all day with the exception of the time in the couloir. One other member of the group didn't wear them at all. We all used crampons and an ice axe in the couloir. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 4/30/2023, By: Ryan987
Info: Trail was snowed in all the way and used microspikes. Brought snowshoes but didn't use them. Climbed straight up from the trail junction. Fantastic views of longs diamond face! 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 4/12/2023, By: jeffmpls
Info: The trail from the parking lot to the Chasm Lake cut-off is firmly consolidated most of way, although I did occasionally pole-hole. I brought snowshoes, but never bothered to use them. From the cut off, the slope up Mt. Lady Washington is about 50% wind blown and clear of snow, and the snow that remains is easily manageable. A gorgeous bluebird day, although brutal winds at the summit. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 1/7/2023, By: Carl_Healy
Info: As you might expect, there's enough of a bootpack from the ranger station to not need flotation. Above tree line there wasn't enough snow to need floatation there either. East side of Lady Washington was also dry enough to summit via direct "summer route" without any concern. We hugged the north ridge most of the way down though since it wasn't as steep. Traction and ice axe not needed either. 

Route: Longs Peak Trail to Ridge from Chasm Lake Junction
Posted On: 11/25/2022, By: bryanpeck3
Info: Packed snow to the Chasm Lake Junction is good for the ascent and probably allows a faster (walking) descent than in the summer. Boulder hopping along the ridge from Chasm Lake Junction to the peak made me never even consider using microspikes today. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 6/3/2022, By: SnowJunkie
Info: The snow is melting fast. I brought snowshoes and ended up stashing them when I got above treeline and saw much of what had been deep snow last week was gone. Microspikes were super helpful especially below treeline where the trail was icy. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 5/26/2022, By: edmdais1
Info: Tons of snow-needed snowshoes from Chasm Junction to the summit. Postholing/slush nightmare on the way out. Great weather today. No wind! 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 5/15/2022, By: Nathan Hoobler
Info: Great snow. A little ice. Started at 3 am from Longs Peak Ranger Station. Climbing Martha at 7 am. Finished technical at 10:30 am. Summit at noon. Back to the trailhead at 3:30 pm. The hike down Lady Washington in sloppy snow was tedious but safe. Note: we had to break through the ice at Chasm for water. There wasn't any easily accessible running water below the lake. 

Route: Martha’s Couloir
Posted On: 4/21/2022, By: desertdog
Info: The Couloir is filled in with snow. There are some short rock sections. No ice to speak of. What ice there is, is crap. The snow was in good shape for 2/3 of the climb, but it began to soften near the end. We left the TH at 430am. Probably should have gone an hour earlier. The approach trail is booted. Minor post holing on the hike out. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 4/2/2022, By: Gumby420
Info: As previously stated, very windy. I wore spikes all day and was glad to have them, but you could get by without. Great trail to the junction, then boulder hop to the summit. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 3/26/2022, By: Paddy6069
Info: Really windy day! Summited via the east ridge direct and descended toward the boulder field with the intention to do storm peak, but decided against it because of the wind. The trench to the Chasm lake junction was solid, no need for snowshoes. The ridge was mostly dry, brought microspikes but didn't use them. Of note, on the standard Long's route back from the boulder field there are a few snowfields that need to be traversed, so you may be more comfortable crossing with an ice axe (but you'd probably have one with you anyway if intending to do Longs). In the afternoon the snow was softening from Chasm lake junction to treeline, but the trench was still pretty supportive. Great spring day in RMNP!