Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Longs Peak - 14,259 feet
Date Posted	07/26/2015
Modified	06/16/2016
Date Climbed	07/25/2015
Author	Brian C
Additional Members	JohnWilliams

Kiener's
Longs Peak via Kiener's Route (5.4 Mod. Snow) 7/25/2015 Partner: John Williams 14 miles 5,100' gain Getting up for Longs Peak never seems to get any easier. It amazes me how people can crank up Longs over and over again, especially when thinking about how much sleep you miss out on. It's true that I could get in awesome shape and run up there in half the time, but I'm lazy and it's never going to happen. I woke up promptly five minutes before the alarm went off at a wonderful 1:10am and proceeded to stumble through the process of getting ready. As I backed out the driveway, I thanked whatever inspiration I had to pack everything the previous day instead of my usual shovel crap into the car as I was leaving. We met in Loveland and drove sleepily up the canyon to arrive at the already full parking lot at 3:00am. Thankfully we were able to park right down the road, and soon were hiking up the familiar trail. Uphill progress went slowly and smoothly, but it was obvious that I hadn't been above 8,000 feet in more than a year. Small groups leapfrogged up the trail and I was not surprised to see a variety of hikers heading up the trail. Chasm Junction came before we knew it and we took a short break to watch headlamps working into Dreamweaver. We arrived at Chasm Lake just as daylight was beginning to creep into the day. As we worked our way around the lake, I slowly remembered how much I did not enjoy this part the previous time I had done Kiener's. Our progress was low and sunlight hit before we arrived at the base of Lamb's Slide. There were several climbers heading up toward the lower east face and chasm view wall and high up in Lamb's Slide was a lone climber. Taking a break at the base of the couloir was a nice chance to take in the view while strapping crampons onto my trail runners. As we started up Lamb's Slide, the snow was in good shape for cramponing, but my shoes were a little more flexible than I would have liked. The other climber had topped out at the top of Lamb's Slide, and other than his prints, it did not seem that anybody else had been up yet for the day. One foot in front of the other, stopping occasionally to wheeze proved a decent way to gain elevation and about 30 minutes later I happily clawed up the scree onto the start of Broadway. My memory was that crossing Broadway was the highlight of the climb, and it did not disappoint. We decided to simul-climb our way across and roped up at the nice ledge at the start. I led across the wonderfully easy, yet exposed ledge and enjoyed the position. The boulder step-around was just as great as I had remembered and we cruised until the base of the notch arrived. I led up a long pitch up steep, yet positive rock up the right edge of the notch couloir and belayed John up into a fun little chimney-like gully. We moved the belay a bit further up, untied and scrambled the second 5th class section up to the easier terrain above. The climbing was easy, the position was great and the rock grippy. We moved slowly toward the summit stopping to admire the exit from the Casual Route and the so called Diamond Step. The summit came abruptly and it was nice to be back on Longs again as it had been several year since I'd been on top. There were a handful of people on the summit, but a shockingly low number for a Saturday in the middle of the summer. We hung about for a while and chatted with a few other people on the top before deciding it was time to head down. Starting down the north face was a nice reminder that we were done with the uphill for the day. Unfortunately, it was also a reminder that we were far from the car. Other than one short section of snow above the rappels, the decent was dry and we made two rappels down the north face and scrambled down to Chasm View. The hike out went smoothly and we took advantage of the good shortcuts on the descent. Longs is probably my favorite 14ers and the climb had been an excellent reminder why. More photos and route description can be found here...http://www.brianinthewild.com/longs-peak-kieners-repeat.html Also, an interesting article on the FA...http://www.reporterherald.com/columnists/colorado-history/ci_28342716/tragedy-haunted-longs-peak-climber-walter-kiener Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Kiener's

Longs Peak via Kiener's Route (5.4 Mod. Snow)

7/25/2015
Partner: John Williams
14 miles
5,100' gain

Getting up for Longs Peak never seems to get any easier. It amazes me how people can crank up Longs over and over again, especially when thinking about how much sleep you miss out on. It's true that I could get in awesome shape and run up there in half the time, but I'm lazy and it's never going to happen. I woke up promptly five minutes before the alarm went off at a wonderful 1:10am and proceeded to stumble through the process of getting ready. As I backed out the driveway, I thanked whatever inspiration I had to pack everything the previous day instead of my usual shovel crap into the car as I was leaving. We met in Loveland and drove sleepily up the canyon to arrive at the already full parking lot at 3:00am. Thankfully we were able to park right down the road, and soon were hiking up the familiar trail. Uphill progress went slowly and smoothly, but it was obvious that I hadn't been above 8,000 feet in more than a year. Small groups leapfrogged up the trail and I was not surprised to see a variety of hikers heading up the trail. Chasm Junction came before we knew it and we took a short break to watch headlamps working into Dreamweaver.

We arrived at Chasm Lake just as daylight was beginning to creep into the day. As we worked our way around the lake, I slowly remembered how much I did not enjoy this part the previous time I had done Kiener's. Our progress was low and sunlight hit before we arrived at the base of Lamb's Slide. There were several climbers heading up toward the lower east face and chasm view wall and high up in Lamb's Slide was a lone climber. Taking a break at the base of the couloir was a nice chance to take in the view while strapping crampons onto my trail runners. As we started up Lamb's Slide, the snow was in good shape for cramponing, but my shoes were a little more flexible than I would have liked. The other climber had topped out at the top of Lamb's Slide, and other than his prints, it did not seem that anybody else had been up yet for the day. One foot in front of the other, stopping occasionally to wheeze proved a decent way to gain elevation and about 30 minutes later I happily clawed up the scree onto the start of Broadway.

My memory was that crossing Broadway was the highlight of the climb, and it did not disappoint. We decided to simul-climb our way across and roped up at the nice ledge at the start. I led across the wonderfully easy, yet exposed ledge and enjoyed the position. The boulder step-around was just as great as I had remembered and we cruised until the base of the notch arrived. I led up a long pitch up steep, yet positive rock up the right edge of the notch couloir and belayed John up into a fun little chimney-like gully. We moved the belay a bit further up, untied and scrambled the second 5th class section up to the easier terrain above. The climbing was easy, the position was great and the rock grippy. We moved slowly toward the summit stopping to admire the exit from the Casual Route and the so called Diamond Step. The summit came abruptly and it was nice to be back on Longs again as it had been several year since I'd been on top. There were a handful of people on the summit, but a shockingly low number for a Saturday in the middle of the summer. We hung about for a while and chatted with a few other people on the top before deciding it was time to head down.

Starting down the north face was a nice reminder that we were done with the uphill for the day. Unfortunately, it was also a reminder that we were far from the car. Other than one short section of snow above the rappels, the decent was dry and we made two rappels down the north face and scrambled down to Chasm View. The hike out went smoothly and we took advantage of the good shortcuts on the descent. Longs is probably my favorite 14ers and the climb had been an excellent reminder why.

More photos and route description can be found here...http://www.brianinthewild.com/longs-peak-kieners-repeat.html

Also, an interesting article on the FA...http://www.reporterherald.com/columnists/colorado-history/ci_28342716/tragedy-haunted-longs-peak-climber-walter-kiener

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Mike Shepherd	excellent 7/26/2015 6:47pm I appreciate the write up about the descent (starting the repel from the second bolt) on your webpage. We will be attempting this next week.
dillonsarnelli	yeah Brian! 7/26/2015 10:07pm nice work man. You got a great day out there for this. Owen must really be on his game if your alpine start practice is off :) well done to both of you and nice write up!
youngk2844	One of the Best Routes 7/27/2015 6:03am Kiener’s is a great route, one of the best in Colorado. Congrats on a successful climb. Sounds like you really enjoyed it.
Dave B	5th picture.... 7/27/2015 7:50am Man, the position on that route is awesome. The picture of the cables raps with zero T-storms in the back ground sure feels cozy too. Looks like you guys had an awesome day!
jmanner	Nice write up 7/27/2015 8:50am Enjoyed reading this! Thanks! What happened around Chasm Lake there?
Brian C	Thanks everybody 7/27/2015 10:49am Mike – Enjoy! It’s a fun day out. Dillon – Sleep is so hard to come by these days! Haha. YoungK – I did enjoy it. I actually was not impressed at all the first time I did the route and had a buddy talk me into giving it another chance. It is pretty fun. Dave – Let’s go climbing one of these days! I need to go repeat Keyhole Ridge now again... Jmanner – Thanks. In the gps track? I have no idea. Bizarroland up against the cliffs I would think.
JohnWilliams	Thanks B Man 7/29/2015 11:01am Awesome day buddy, what’s next?
FireOnTheMountain	cool 7/29/2015 12:11pm you never know man, it may happen one day :)
Monster5	Cool 7/30/2015 12:52pm Good little tour. Nice beta there.

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Longs Peak via Kiener's Route (5.4 Mod. Snow)

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