Mt. Lady Washington

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 4/21/2019, By: Wildernessjane
Info: Did Martha's couloir on 4/20. Snow was generally stable but there were some soft spots. Center rock section had thin ice with minimal snow. Could bypass on the snow to the right and then either up the rock rib to the snow on the left or travel straight up a narrow snow/ice filled section (sorry no pics of this section). The crux section (see pic below) has much less ice than when I did it a few years ago the first week in June. I used a 13 cm ice screw and a small cam on the left side of the wall. This section wasn't hard but it was a bit awkward. Much of the rock had a thin layer of ice where I wanted to use it as a handhold. The crux was the only section we felt we needed to protect. Also, we did not use snowshoes at all. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 1/28/2019, By: LSUExplorer03
Info: Nicely packed trail all the way up to tree line. Snowshoes were helpful for traction, but not required (microspikes would have been OK for 95% of the trail). The trail near treeline was a little difficult to follow as several tracks led in various directions. Just above treeline, I was able to locate the trail again and it was mostly windswept with mixed sections of packed snow. I took my snowshoes off at this point. The trail was consistent and mostly windswept up to the Chasm Junction. I took the East Ridge up Mt. Lady Washington. The lower 1/3 of the ridge was lightly snow covered with grass showing in a lot of spots and talus in others. The 2nd 1/3 of the ridge consisted of larger talus with snow in between -- this area was the most annoying as the snow unexpectedly collapsed at times in between boulders, and I sunk down to knee or thigh deep. The top 1/3 of the ridge was the steepest and contained very large boulders and snow in between. The boulders required difficult class 2 / easy class 3 scrambling. Some of them were slightly ice covered and dusted with snow, so this made things very slippery in spots. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 1/11/2019, By: Giant hills
Info: Dont know how accurate this will be now because of the storm. Packed snow to treeline easy to follow. Trail to junction has patchy snoweasy to follow. Little harder in the dark. Ridge to summit is dry minus some snow in between rocks. No flotation, no traction needed. Great sunrise! 

Route: Camels couloir
Posted On: 12/24/2018, By: Giant hills
Info: Attempted camels couloir. From the trailhead to treeline snow in trees but packed down and no need for snow shoes. From treeline to chasm junction patchy snow drifts but mostly avoidable. From chasm junction to the lake we used axe and crampons. There's one slope on the ledges that require caution. Wind loaded from the day prior storm. From the lake to the base of camels we stayed to the right and boulder hopped Because the lake had huge snow drifts and didn't look like the ice was that thick. Not a good idea it was long and tedious and had to watch for massive trapdoors in the snow sometimes being 5-6ft deep in between the huge boulders. Got to the base of the couloir and the snow was super variable with in 10ft it was hollow,hard, sugary. The couloir was also getting snow loaded in it with super insane winds easly 60mph+ gusts at times making it a wind loaded funnel with the snow that fell the day before. With all those factors we called it. Crossed the lake on the way back and stayed to the outside of it and it was the way better option. Got back to the junction went up northeast ridge got 15min from summit,but had to turn around because of needing to be back for a Christmas I was already going to be late for lol. Ridge was easy and bone dry minus some snow in between rocks here and there. When we decided to turn around we sat on a rock real quick and had a swig of water. When we did a gust of wind came over the ridge and literaly lifted us off our asses and tossed us on the rocks next to us. Some of the craziest winds I've ever experienced up there and it was non stop all day long. Other than that great day, def. Going back to try that route in better conditions. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 10/22/2018, By: LetsGoMets
Info: Trail to Chasm Lake junction is a mix of dirt, ice and consolidated snow. I used spikes here and there. Didn't use them on the ascent of Lady Washington - powdery non-consolidated snow filling in the boulders that is inches to feet deep. Some areas of post-holing required but most of the route I took was on exposed boulders and rocks, just check them beforehand. No axe needed, poles are helpful. Great peak, great views. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 7/2/2018, By: ksroqclimber
Info: Trail to junction is clear and free. From that point on it is a pick your path adventure. I chose a more direct route from junction sign up the east slope to the summit. Rock was solid and weather was great. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 4/3/2018, By: nickle
Info: Route was packed from Longs Peak ranger station all the way to the scrubline. Snowshoes were helpful about 1/2 mile in the scrub trees before breaking out above treeline where it was wind scoured and frozen hard. The scramble from the Chasm lake trail junction to MLW had lots of exposed rock and was easy to travel. On the descent, warming temps made for a slushy trail below treeline, microspikes were helpful in some places but not required. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 9/9/2017, By: emgordon
Info: Perfect conditions. Dry and light wind, sunny and warm. Ascended fairly direct from the junction and descended to Chasm Lake. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 7/23/2017, By: flagship47
Info: All clear of snow to the summit of Mt Lady Washington. Took East Longs Peak trail to 11700 and went up NE part of mountain. Storm Peak traverse had a large snow field on the SE approach but looks like the NE part of the route was snow free. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 12/24/2016, By: alpha
Info: Summer trail is hard packed. Winter shortcuts are in, mostly...not hard packed though. Coverage is thin above treeline. Windy. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 10/24/2016, By: Bombay2Boulder
Info: All snow can be avoided. No need for any traction. About to change though with the recent weather moving in. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 8/27/2016, By: jasayrevt
Info: Also, traversed over to Storm Pk B (13,326'). Clear and very nice enjoyable trip w/ reaching summits. Great, beautiful 13er mountains. This quality, classic route is a unique undertaking and lightly traveled. Incredible views of RMNP. Prime, excellent, and bluebird summer conditions up high for navigating slopes and ridge line extremely well. Trail runners and light pack were good. Climb safely / swiftly in the hills folks. Pictures included as beta 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 12/14/2015, By: Kevin Baker
Info: There is a solid track on the Longs Peak trail all the way to the 4.5 miles to go sign in the meadow above treeline. Beyond that, there was some wallowing, but you can get by without snowshoes. We put them on for the way down. The east ridge of Lady Washington from Chasm Junction is currently a wallow fest in tricky trap door snow. I was able to rock hop quite a bit of it going up, but the descent was brutal. 

Route: From Longs Peak ranger station
Posted On: 12/6/2015, By: LarryM
Info: No snowshoes needed. Microspikes were a help below tree line, but above tree line it was so wind scoured that none were needed. Took the east ridge route. Mostly sheltered from the wind, except on the summit - very windy on the summit. 

Route: Martha
Posted On: 3/29/2015, By: JohnnyDangerous
Info: Climbed Martha yesterday. I had hoped for some solid sticks after last weeks snow, and a few days of freeze/thaw cycle. My hunch was rewarded. There were 3 solid ice steps that will take screws and we got 2 good screws in at the crux. Good snow in between, and another good day in the mountains.