Once More into the Trough, Dear Friends!

Longs Peak in Winter, Take II

I hate having unfinished business! A little over a year ago, Chris and I, along with Chicagoans Bill and George, attempted Longs Peak in winter via the west face Trough route. We lugged in a truely staggering amount of gear (most of which never got used) to Black Lake, then tackled the peak the next morning. Though conditions were great, we were hampered by a very late start (9am) and were forced to turn back around 13,300'. Chris and I retreated all the way back to the trailhead in the dark while Bill and George spent a second night at the lake. The leaden death-march back to the car under a 60+ pound pack is one I won't soon forget!

I've been thinking about this all year, planning a return trip with a strong and motivated group. After a good deal of flux in the roster, we ended up with eight people and some semblance of a plan. Brian and Eric, the Fort Collins contingent, would arrive early on Saturday morning, and ski in to Black Lake (or above) to scout the route and start building a bivy site. Meanwhile, Chris, Fabio, Peter, Mike, Marella, and I would rendesvous at the Backcountry Office when it opened (8am), secure permits, and follow on at a leisurely pace.

...and that's about how it happened. We'd organized pretty extensively beforehand so as not to have too much duplicate and extraneous gear. Most of us were betting on good weather and brought bivy gear only. Still, the packs were quite heavy and we arrived at Black Lake quite tired. The weather was gorgeous; unseasonably warm with fierce sun and a gusty wind. Brian and Eric had arrived an hour before and scouted above Black Lake. They reported that there wasn't much snow up there and camping down out of the wind would be a better option.

Mike, Marella, and Peter crossing Mills Lake.

Bivy Sweet Bivy

We set to work digging a bivy trench, setting up a kitchen, and generally lounging about. Fabio, Brian, and I scraped together crampons, screws and ice tools and went out for some mellow ice climbing on the slabs above the lake. I was delighted to find that my new crampons are much better than my old at technical ice. Fabio performed his first ice lead and I followed, cleaning the short, 25m route (WI2-ish). Then we returned to camp where water production was underway. Dinner was produced, each to his own pouch, and we passed the late afternoon with margs, scotch, and good company.

Fabio embarks on his first ice lead above Black Lake.

Meanwhile, something's cooking in the kitchen. Snow!

By 5:30, we'd geared up and started the climb out of camp to the plateau above. It had gotten colder in the night and the soft snow of yesterday afternoon had become hard styrofoam. By first light an hour later, we'd climbed 1200' to the base of the route and paused to put on all our gear. Amazing alpenglow lit up the peaks to the west. It was still quite gusty, despite our early start, but we were making good time so far and the mood was optimistic.

At first light, we're already a mile and 1200' above camp gearing up at the bottom of the Trough (photo by Fabio).

Despite the early hour, Eric posesses the correct attitude (photo by Chris).

The first 1000' of the couloir was pretty slow going for me. Chris and Brian scampered ahead while Fabio, Eric and I fought to get our climbing legs powered up. It's been a long winter mostly spent skiing rather than climbing, so I for one, am quite out of shape. Snow conditions were great for cramponing and we made steady progress despite the periodic gusts of strong wind and blowing spindrift.

Alpenglow on McHenry's Peak. Black Lake is in that hole at the lower right. (photo by Fabio)

Working through the upper Trough at 13,500' (photo by Eric)

We paused at 13k for some food. My single pop tart breakfast wasn't really cutting it, but a caffienated energy gel did the trick. Maybe it was the caffiene or maybe it was the excitement of seeing new terrain (we'd only made it to 13,300' last time), but I was soon at the head of the pack all the way to the top of the Trough at 13,800'. The broad snow slope gave way to ledges and large rocks poking up all over the place. We managed to stay on snow most of the time as the walls of the Trough closed in around us. Between the wind and the shadowed west face of the mountain, it was surprisingly cold. We were looking forward to the Narrows ahead when the route would be sheltered and in the sun.

The final moves into the Narrows were definitely the crux of the route. I pulled through a short dihedral with my lovely new crampons skittering and screaching, points dulling alarmingly on hard granite. The sudden exposure on the other side was pretty breathtaking and I made a very dicey move around a large block onto the narrow ledge of the Narrows. Legs already tired from 2000' of snow climbing and unused to the feel of crampon points on bare rock, this made it a little exciting! Nor was the wind calmer over here or the sun brighter.

Chris negotiates the dramatic Narrows.

Fabio on the south face traverse.

Everyone else soon appeared and we pushed on another 30' to a sunny ledge where we rested for a bit. The new view to the south was stunning with full views of the Wild Basin, the Indian Peaks, and the mountains all the way south to Pikes Peak. We revelled in the realization that the summit was only a few hundred feet higher and it looked like we were going to put this thing to bed! This was only my second attempt at a winter summit, but Chris's sixth or seventh. Motivation was high.

Crampons on or off? Most of the ledge connecting the Narrows to the Home Stretch across the south face of the mountain was bare rock with occasional icy patches. I hated to keep grinding the points off my crampons, and bare boots would have much better purchase on the rocks. But the occasional snow/ice patches and the hassle of switching in and out of points made me mutter, but keep the crampons installed.

Chris, Fabio and Eric climb the last 200' up the Homestretch to the summit plateau.

Eric tops out.

We traversed around two ridges before the final 200' climb up to the summit came into view. In summer, this is apparently a set of low-angle slabs with a set of parallel cracks. In winter, we found a nice snow gully with a set of wandering boot prints already placed; a real stairway to heaven. Chris lead the way up the final pitch and located a sheltered spot in the middle of the startlingly flat and expansive summit boulder field. The time was 9:45 and we'd taken slightly more than 4 hours to climb 3600'. The sun and wind were both fierce, but we basked on the summit for half and hour before heading down.

Brian arrives on the summit for the 30th time.

Obligatory Summit Photo (by Eric)

My energy levels on the descent were pretty low and I consistently brought up the rear. I told myself it was to enjoy the scenery and the solitude, but who am I kidding, really? I was bonked and feeling pretty spent. Looking down from the top, the Trough is remarkably tall and steeper than it seemed on the way up. Still, plunge-stepping doesn't take much energy and I got back to the bottom of the snow in a little over an hour. We wandered across the sunny plateau and down to camp by 12:30.

It was actively hot down at the lake! After a very brief pause for lunch, we packed up and shipped out. Chris and Eric donned skis and zipped out in record time. Fabio and I shouldered our packs, Brian hitched up his sled, and set a more modest pace on the long trudge out. It wasn't nearly as horribly a retreat as the last time when we spent 2 1/2 painful, dark hours. This time it was 2 hours of sunlight and pain, though not as much as last time. When we arrived back at the trailhead, we discovered that Peter had left buried treasure for us. Very classy! After imbibing the buried treasure, we adjourned to Ed's for more calories, then headed back to town.

It was a great trip with amazing scenery, great camradery in camp and on the climb, and compatibility all 'round! After three months of no significant activity in the mountains, it felt really great to get out there and do something. Technically, it was a winter ascent (which is pretty cool), but it felt more like spring. Certainly, it was warmer than last time.

The Wilderness Journal

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