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Long's Peak


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Submitted By: Leo Paik on Sep 8, 2006
Administrators: Ben Mottinger, Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst
Elevation: 14,256 feet
Views: 260,676 page views

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Long's Peak from the East.


Description 

This is the highest peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. It is one of the 54 14,000-foot peaks of Colorado. It is a prized playground for the budding hiker/mountaineer, the intermediate to advanced rock climber, the intermediate to advanced mixed/ice climber, the middle-altitude big wall aid climber; and it even sports a few high-end rock routes. Some still come to try to free some of the old aid routes here. Most adventures involve most of a day to a multi-day affair.

The peak itself consists of a variety of different subsections for which it may be more helpful to reorganize this section. There is the vertical arena of the Diamond, the Lower East Face, The Upper East Face, Chasm View Wall, the North Face/Ridge, The Southern Ridge(s), the West Face, Ship's Prow, Keyboard of the Winds, & The Palisades.

A hike up to the eastern cirque of Long's is probably one of the more scenic hikes in the Front Range.

Despite the popularity of the peak and the associated heavy travel, there is still plenty of loose rocks in here. Some have lost body parts to this. Be careful.

The weather here can be the crux. Often storms will surprise the unwary as it comes hidden by the bulk of the peak. Some have lost a few toes, some have lost more.

Getting off the peak can be an adventure in and of itself. There is the Keyhole route around the West side, the North Face scramble & rappel(s), the D7 rappels, and even Keplinger's Couloir.


Getting There 

There are many ways to access this peak. This peak lies NW of Denver by 70 miles/1.5 hrs. From Denver, take US 36 to CO Hwy 7 in Lyons, and head N at the top of the canyon or US 36 into RMNP. Likely the most common is from CO Hwy 7, aka Peak-to-Peak Hwy, and the Long's Area trailhead. This approach will be at least 5 miles. You can approach via Glacier Gorge, Storm Pass, Boulder Brook/N Long's Peak Trail/Granite Pass, & even the Wild Basin entrance.



Featured Route For Long's Peak
Eric Everson on the Table Ledge traverse at the top of the Casual Route on the Diamond.

Casual Route 5.10a  CO : RMNP - Rock : The Diamond
An incredible climb at high altitude on the most famous wall in Colorado. This is the easiest route on the Diamond, but that doesn't mean it's not world class. The route includes incredible climbing with awesome exposure and high alpine weather. Although I have heard the route described as both stiff, and easy for the grade, I think that the published ratings are quite accurate.P1: Start in the middle of the wall at a less than vertical broken pi...[more]


Add Photo Photos of Long's Peak
West Face on the Left.

West Face on the Left.

Long's Peak-Autumn.<br />Photo by Blitzo.

Long's Peak-Autumn.
Photo by Blitzo.


Long's Peak.<br />Photo by Blitzo.

Long's Peak.
Photo by Blitzo.


Pika near Long's Peak.<br />Photo by Blitzo.

Pika near Long's Peak.
Photo by Blitzo.


Sunrise on the Diamond.  Photo by L Smith

Sunrise on the Diamond. Photo by L Smith

On the way to Chasm Lake

On the way to Chasm Lake

Legendary Czech climber Petr Practel's topo of his 8 hour traverse of the mountain at age 67<br /><br /><br />

BETA PHOTO: Legendary Czech climber Petr Practel's topo of his...

Early morning light

Early morning light

Long's Peak as seen from the approach to Arrowhead and McHenry's. Also the scene on the CO state quarter dollar.

Long's Peak as seen from the approach to Arrowhead...

Long's Peak seen at left, from Mills Lake

Long's Peak seen at left, from Mills Lake

A look at the North Face

A look at the North Face

East face of Longs in early June

East face of Longs in early June

The East Face of Longs at Sunrise.

The East Face of Longs at Sunrise.

The south side of Longs as seen from the Loft.

The south side of Longs as seen from the Loft.

The summit of Longs showing both the Homestretch and Kiener's Route, as seen from the east summit of Meeker, 6/23/07. Climbers can be seen on top.

The summit of Longs showing both the Homestretch a...

Rap ring on Cable Route (north side)

Rap ring on Cable Route (north side)

Looking straight up the N. Chimney and Diamond.  The Mills Glacier is pretty cooked by now.  Aug 15,2007

BETA PHOTO: Looking straight up the N. Chimney and Diamond. T...

Sunrise over Chasm Lake from Mill's Glacier

Sunrise over Chasm Lake from Mill's Glacier

A nice fall day.

A nice fall day.

After an October snowstorm...fluffy, windy  and cold! :)<br />

After an October snowstorm...fluffy, windy and co...

The Key Hole<br />Photo: Dave Fiorucci

The Key Hole
Photo: Dave Fiorucci


Conditions on 8 June 08. Looks like we'll be waiting for The Diamond to warm up for another couple weeks...

Conditions on 8 June 08. Looks like we'll be waiti...

Summit register.

Summit register.

The Keyhole.

The Keyhole.

Watching a storm over Estes from the Boulderfield. 2004

Watching a storm over Estes from the Boulderfield....

The summit of Long's Peak.

The summit of Long's Peak.

Long's Peak from Lumpy Ridge.  Photo by James Beissel, September 2008.

Long's Peak from Lumpy Ridge. Photo by James Beis...

The Diamond at sunrise.

The Diamond at sunrise.

The Diamond, late September.

The Diamond, late September.

The boulder field.

The boulder field.


Add Comment Comments on Long's Peak
Show which comments
By Nate Oakes
Apr 5, 2007

Thinking of doing an overnight/full-moon ascent of the cables route, does anyone know of the snow conditions?

By Chris O'Connor
From: Boulder, Co
Jun 26, 2007

Conditions on the Diamond and in RMNP are available on Colorado mountain school's web site www.totalclimbing.com under park conditions.