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(Above) From just
below the summit of Mt. Meeker looking down to the Loft and up the
'Beaver' on Longs Peak. From the summit of Meeker
(13,911'), I descended the 500' to the Loft
and then traversed northwest to connect with the Clark's
Arrow route on the southwest face of Longs.
I
reached the summit of Longs at 10:30am via Clark's Arrow and
the Homestretch and then downclimbed the North Face to reach the
Boulderfield by 11am, making it back to the trailhead by 1pm for an
almost exactly 7hr. roundtrip loop across RMNP's two highest summits.
 
(Above left)
Looking into the first constriction on Dreamweaver with water ice in
the adjacent gully. (Above right) The Mt. Meeker Basin and Loft at 7am
on June 17th, 2009.
(Above)
Zach Zehr and David Holmberg skiing the North Face of Longs
Peak on June 13th, 2009. Photo courtesy of Rio Roman.
Current avalanche
danger
overall for the high country of RMNP is starting LOW
each
morning, then rising to MODERATE
on the warm afternoons with most of
the danger being in the form of D1 sized loose snow avalanches (point
release) in the upper 6" of the snowpack. Although any
avalanche activity other than cornice collapses (think Y-Couloir) will
likely be small enough not to bury an individual, if you are unroped or
unanchored on exposed terrain, a D1 sized avalanche could launch you
over the edge. (Broadway, Kieners, North Face of Longs, etc.)
(Above) Two more
photos from Rio Roman taken on June 13th of an avalanche off of Kieners
over The Window and the other of Zach and David climbing into the crux
sections of the North Face aka 'Cables" Route on Longs Peak, Colorado.
At lower
elevations the avalanche danger will likely rise
more quickly due to
warmer temperatures and less solid freezes. Thick enough
cloud
cover will disrupt this ideal diurnal pattern and if the snowpack does
not lose enough heat, Avalanche Danger will start higher and rise more
quickly to potentially dangerous levels. Any significant new
snow will
potentially form slab layers which can still be dangerous in the now
"summer season".
 
(Left)
The upper ice constrictions on the Dreamweaver Couloir . Firm neve and
fresh water ice at the cruxes made for a fun outing. (Right)
The ephemeral route 'Dark Star' on the east face of Mt. Meeker, just
downhill from the often mis-identified 'Right Chimney'.
Dreamweaver was originally known as the 'Left Chimney' on Mt.
Meeker's North Face.
 
(Above
left) Looking east across
the airy summit ridge of Mt. Meeker.
(Above
right) A view of the actual
'Clark's Arrow', painted in white with a circle around the arrow in the light colored rock at right. The arrow points right indicating where the
route traverses up into the Loft.
 
(Above
left) Looking up from Clark's Arrow towards the Homestretch
and summit of Longs Peak. (Above right) The very snow covered
Homestretch leading to the summit of Longs. Snow
conditions throughout this entire traverse and climb of the south face
of Longs Peak were perfect neve' snow conditions and great cramponing.
At the current rate of sublimation, the snow at these
elevations on Longs will likely remain through July,
possibly leaving only August as a 'non-technical' month for summiting
RMNP's highest peak.
(Above)
A view down the North Face of Longs Peak at the snow covered
Boulderfield and the east face of Storm Peak.
The
campsites in the Boulderfield are snow filled and the trail is a
post-hole mess from the Keyhole down to the bottom edge of this
glacier-based plateau.
 
(Left)
The snow covered traverse of the North Face to the downclimb which was
completely snow and ice covered - only a few inches of the upper bolt
was exposed and the dihedral bolt was completely encased in snow and
ice.
(Right)
The Chasm View where some Diamond climbers descend to
Broadway to begin their climb of the upper East Face of Longs.
Currently there are approx. 4-6' of snow blocking easy access
to the rappel anchors. Broadway and the North Chimney are
completely snow covered at the moment.
(L-R)
The east and north faces of Longs Peak with ice filling the
chimneys to the right (west) of the Cables Route. In the
expanded view, my tracks are visible doing a traverse across the
central snowslope from left to right then straight down through the
technical section of the standard route up this classic mountain
hourglass feature.
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Eli Helmuth is an AMGA Certified Rock, Alpine, and Ski Guide.
