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Kendrick, pbakwin and I climbed Lamb's Slide, to the Broadway Traverse, to the Notch Couloir; summiting via Homestretch this last Friday. Long day in the mountains for a trio that's used to running up and down the hill. Very deep snow out there, but conditions were safe enough. Really a thrill to lead both the Broadway Traverse, and Notch Couloir. I'll let the photos do most of the talking,
Ascending towards Lamb's Slide. We left the trailhead just after 3:00am, which is a not-so-common experience for any of us,
Longs Peak, complete with rime ice
Broadway Traverse, can you pick out my two partners?
Conditions deteriorated quite a bit by the time we sumitted, as a small snow storm moved in, leaving us in mostly white-out conditions
Group Shot! The beards say it all.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Just to add to the condition update: Nighttime temps were well below freezing all week, so snow has set up quite well. But, there has been several inches of snow over the past week, leaving somewhat "strenuous" conditions where you need to kick each step in to punch thru the soft snow to good crust underneath. This was true pretty much everywhere from Lambs on up, the Homestretch, and the N Face. Notch Couloir is completely filled & we climbed a thin strip of snow on the left in the narrow part. The crux pitch of the N Face is mixed - snow & rock - & bolts are exposed. Tricky DC. Lots of snow still in the Boulderfield, but it was thankfully firm when we trundled thru in the afternoon. It's still full winter above 11,000-12,000'.
Good job considering 10 military folks had to get plucked off with a helicopter.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/03/us/rocky-mountain-army-personnel-rescue/index.html
The larger the party, the slower the party, in my experience. Also, when we were in the Notch Couloir, I could see the conditions on Kieners - lots of snow, lots of ice - just lots of mixed conditions. I thought to myself, "Glad I'm not doing Kieners!" And I love that route, and have done it many times. But the conditions looked pretty serious. Pitching that thing out would have been a nightmare and you can't simul a lot of it, because the route keeps changing direction. There's also no really great place to bail. It's committing.
If you remember your history, this is the route Anges Vaille lost her life on an Winter ascent. They built a memorial for her.
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