October 24th, 2008  

The last two weeks in the high country of Rocky Mountain National Park have been mostly characterized by dry, warm weather and a few short storms, one of which this last Wednesday dumped another couple of inches of snow above 11K.  But dry has been the strongest theme to the recent weather pattern and even the snowfall we've received has been composed of very light, faceted grains which contain minimal water and are prone to being easily blown in the air and which tend to sublimate (return to vapor form) very easily.  

                               Ptarmigan on Longs Peak dressed for winter in their camouflage plummage..

This is unfortunately the worst kind of snow for ice formation (see Dan's weather report) and it will also result in a weaker base layer in the snowpack which will be prone to continued faceting (depth hoar formation) and potential avalanche danger in the months to come.

  Climbers on the one and only crux ice pitch of the Flying Dutchman Couloir nearby Longs Peak.  Photo courtesy of Jeff Shafer

Trail conditions yesterday to Chasm Lake and the Longs Peak Cirque were mostly dry with minimal accumulations of new snow but above treeline some drifts run across the trail, obscuring it in sections and requiring some postholing up to mid-shin.  Gaitors would be helpful for keeping the socks dry through the hike-in and around the lake, there were just  few inches of snow filling in between the boulders (below Mt. Lady) and without adequate ice on the lake, this part of the approach is the only painful part.  Winds were moderate to low (10-20mph) for most of our time above treeline and it was even calm and sunny for much of our time up high.

 Crazy ice climber near the top of the first pitch of "Duncan's Drip" on the north face of Mt. Meeker.

Unfortunately, there is mostly bad news for those of us ice climbers who were hoping for a banner year in the Longs Cirque as it seems the dry, cold snow and mostly windy conditions up high have nullified most of the ice growth.  The result is that the Smear of Fear and the adjoining routes of Crazy Train and Wrecking Ball are unlikely to form this year as there is almost no water flowing down any sections of the Lower East Slabs of the Diamond and even Alexander's Chimney is mostly dry at the moment.  So it's probably not worth the hike-in unless you're looking for some good drytooling above 12k and there are probably better areas in the state with shorter hikes to accomplish this goal?

 A topo of the known mixed routes up the north face of Mt. Meeker, under current ice and snow conditions.

The good news from the Longs Cirque is that there is some ice and solid enough snow in the Dreamweaver Couloir to make for good conditions in what is normally just a May/June seasonal route and the testpiece ice route between the Right Chimney and Darkstar on Mt, Meeker, which I've tentatively named Duncan's Drip in honor of its likely first ascensionist, Duncan Ferguson.  Topher Donahue and I climbed this route in Oct. of 1999 and although it is rarely in its current form, it has had at least three other complete ascents this year by very competent parties.  The route rating I've given in the topo is just a "ballpark" figure- I remember it being a very serious lead in spots with good rock gear but below runouts on very, very thin ice- 1 inch thick for sustained sections.  It's currently looking fatter than how we experienced it and hopefully it sticks around for a few more weeks at least before becoming another victim to the RMNP sublimation monster (that loves to steal the ice.)  Martha by the way was snow and ice free yesterday.

                   Looking across Chasm Lake at the east face of Longs Peak on Oct. 20th, 2008.

The Flying Dutchman is currently in great form although the new snow this week added another 6-12 inches of lightweight fluff to the couloir which will make the 1000' snow approach a bit of work for the first party to kick steps up it.  There was a wind-formed snow slab of a medium density and 2-3' thick that could cause slab avalanche potential in the Flying Dutchman or Lambslide Couloir this week and it would be prudent to ascend at least Lambslide by hugging the couloir sides to minimize exposure to this potential.

A topo of the routes above the Broadway ledge system on the east face of Longs Peak in current shape.

There is decent ice at the Loft between Longs and Meeker (very long approach for 100' of ice), on the Columbine Falls below Chasm Meadows, and a bit of interesting looking stuff stuck to the upper wall of the far right (north) end of the Ship's Prow above Chasm Lake.  This latter route is more often "in-shape" and could be worthy of a FA effort as it is likely unclimbed.

            Climbers on the final "homestretch" to the summit of Longs Peak on Oct. 20th, 2008.  Photo courtesy of Jeff Shafer.

Other than the aforementioned ice, there is little else if any significant ice in the high country of RMNP, partly due to the dry atmosphere which has been reabsorbing much of the snow on the ground and causing it to evaporate (sublimate) rather than melt and contribute to the alpine water ice season.  Other routes that are more spring-fed and less dependent on snow melt for their formation such as the West Gulley, All Mixed Up, and the Deep Freeze are primarily needing colder weather to freeze-up as the daytime highs have been too warm for growing ice at these lower elevations (11k).  That said, there is currently some substantial ice in the gulley just left of Dark Star on the north face of Thatchtop.  Due to a relatively strong inversion the last few weeks, it has been warmer and sunnier in Estes than down in the Front Range many mornings and nightime lows at the homestead (9k) have only been in the upper 40's and low 50's.

       Columbine falls below Chasm Meadows on the east side of Longs Peak on Oct. 23rd, 2008.

Most of the other alpine routes in the park are either dry (south-facing) or slightly snow covered as the majority of the snow we've received in the last few months has been primarily up high and in the southern end of the park (Longs and Meeker).  So routes like the classic East face of Notchtop are not quite there due to a lack of snow and others like Vanquished are still too dry to form ice.  The ridges on Mt. Ypsilon (Donner and Blitzen) are mostly dry and trails below 11K are also free of most snow. 

                        An unclimbed mixed line on the north face of the Ship's Prow above Chasm Lake.

Rock climbing at Lumpy Ridge has been dreamy for the last month with daytime highs in the low 70's and light winds, it is arguably a much more pleasant and climber-friendly conditions for sticking to some of Colorado's best granite.  Sundance may be the only cliff on the ridge to be a bit cold as it stays in the sun for the morning and its exposed location generally means a bit more wind than the rest of the ridge.  Areas at the Book and Crescent Wall can almost be "hot" when the sun is overhead but who's complaining?

    The new ranger cabin in Chasm Meadows with the Loft at left and the east face of Longs at center.

Please feel free to contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you would like to arrange a private or small group training session in any of the climbing arts or to do a special ascent at Lumpy Ridge or in the high country of Rocky Mountain National Park.  Eli guides exclusively through the Colorado Mountain School Concession in Rocky Mountain National Park. 

Safe travels and great adventures to you all!

-Eli