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The classic rock route up the center of the Diamond and the path of least resistance on this incredibly steep big-wall. The "Casual" is one of the all-time best rock routes in North America and a climb not to be be taken lightly due to it's high-altitude and often stormy weather on the "northern- most Fourteener" in Colorado.
diamond casual route
First
Ascent:
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August, 1978
Duncan
Ferguson and
Chris Revelery
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Climbing Style:
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Traditional alpine rock |
Difficulty:
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Crux pitch of chimney and
10a crack
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Length:
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Including North
Chimney Approach-
7-10 pitches, 1700'
feet, Grade IV
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Season:
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June - September
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Longs
Peak, Colorado 14,255'
Casual
Route aka 'Integral'
Grade IV
5.10

A
topo of the route as done in 6 pitches from Broadway Ledge to Table
Ledge with a rappel down the D 7 Route.
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Route
Description and Considerations
You’ll
gain 4,850 feet from the trailhead to the summit of Rocky
Mountain National Park's highest summit.
The
route is
commonly
done in a long day from the trailhead and a high level of
fitness and
technical experience are necessary to get up
and down this route in a day just from Chasm Lake.
It
is
very common for teams to camp the night before, usually at
the Chasm Lake Bivy sites, directly below the North Face (for the
rappel approach) or for a
more protected camp, the Jim's Grove campsites are the highest tree
covered camping on Longs.
At
all bivy sited, tents are not
allowed and a
bivy permit (issued by the backcountry office) is
required.
It
is
approximately 5.5 miles each way from the trailhead to the
base of the east face of Longs
Peak via Chasm Lake and the North Chimney approach route, which
combined with The Casual makes one of the most direct paths
to the summit of Longs Peak.
Climbing
the Casual on a weekday will help in avoiding the crowds
and in the summer months, the goal is to be up and off this beast
before noon to avoid electrocution so focusing on moving at a speedy
pace when possible, especially at change-over's, anchors, etc can be
key to survival.
Crossing
the Mill's Glacier can be the first crux of the day and in
early season crampons may be necessary along with an axe if the snow is
piled deep and steep. Eventually it can be done in approach
shoes or with
lightweight crampons (aluminum) and likely without an axe as the snow
will melt down to a mild angle.
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Frank
Nederhand finishing the 5.7 traverse pitch in snowy July conditions.

Steph Davis swinging
around on the Diamond on a hot summer day.
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The
east face of Longs Peak after an afternoon deluge sent water and rocks
off of Broadway and down the lower east slabs.
Approach:
Leaving
the Longs Peak trailhead at 9,400', one ascends the rocky trail to
above treeline to reach the Jim's Grove trail
junction after 2.8 miles
and 1,600' of elevation gain. This initial section typically
takes
around 1:15 hours. From Jim's Grove it is approx. another 30
minutes to Chasm Pass and in two hours you should be at Chasm Lake or
somewhere around it's shores, aiming to be roped up at the base of the
North Chimney within three hours of leaving the car. In the
summer months, this usually requires a 2am trailhead departure to be
starting up the North Chimney by first light.
It is also
very common
for parties to do a bivouac just above Chasm Lake under some very large
boulders. Alternate bivy sites include the Chasm View and the
Broadway
Ledge. The Chasm View is the best option for getting on the
route
ahead of other parties, but it can also be logistically more difficult
unless you plan on descending down to Broadway in which case you can
take all of your camping gear down there with you when you start the
day.
At all bivy sites, tents
are not allowed and a bivy permit must be
picked-up from the backcountry office prior to your departure which
includes parking permits for the trailhead. Marmots and other
rodents
are rampant, so put everything away well-hung or buried under massive
rocks.
Allow three hours to
reach the base of the North Chimney or the
Chasm View rappels and plan to get there before sunrise to make the
most of what will likely be a long day, times can range from 12hrs.
roundtrip (car to car) or up to 15, 20 or more.

(upper
left) The rappel line down Chasm View at the base of the North Face.
(right) Looking across Broadway, with the North
Chimney the prominent cleft at center.
The approach up the
North Chimney to The Casual is a route in itself, almost 800' of
climbing up to 5.7 in difficulty although at least half of it is
easier, yet exposed. A slip anywhere unroped could be fatal
and it is often pitched out in three to four rope lengths to
Broadway.

Looking up the North
Chimney in the photo above, start on the slabs to the left and then
then follow the shadow line up and left across an exposed traverse to
pop up just below the start of The Casual which is
just 30' left of the edge of
the clean, stepped rock buttress on the left side of the
chimney.
Technical
Pitches:
P1 - (7,
50m) Begin on the left side of an easy, broken pillar,
traversing from left to right to reach a right-facing dihedral which
trends up and left to reach a two-piton belay stance below a steep
headwall and crack system. Pass some old bolts about 120' up
this pitch and move left at that point to come into the
sling anchor from the lower left.
P2- (9+, 55m)
A steep finger crack out of the belay on the left
(9) after 30' of steep jamming leads to the
infamous 5.7 traverse in which
the leader and belayer are both on the "sharp-end". At a
large angle
piton in the steep crack, another piton 10' to the left begins a
leftward traverse that goes for more than 100' across the entire
slab.
Follow the few pitons (5 in '07) and the best holds and think of it as
a gym 5.9+ and you'll be fine. There are belay stances at the
end of
the traverse both high and low. The lower one is at a rappel
anchor on
slings and the upper, 15' higher is at the base of a small box-chimney
and requires #1 and #2 camalots for the belay.
(above) Nearing the end of the 5.9 crack on pitch 2 and the start of the 5.7 traverse.
P3- (9+, 40m)
Climb straight up from the anchor into the steep
box-chimney then pull out right on good edges (crux) to work around the
overhang. The sustained climbing eases off after 30'
and is mostly
steep 5.8 up to a very nice grassy belay ledge to the
left and below the obvious dihedral with enough cracks for
medium
to smaller cams. Just above this stance to the
left is a fixed anchor
at the base of the steep corner system composed of pins and nuts and
lots of webbing. Good for bailing-off of but not so nice for
belaying.

Looking
down on climbers at the bottom of the third pitch with the grassy belay
ledge above at the sun/shadow line.
P4- (8+, 60m)
Hold on tight and climb the steep corner with hand
and finger cracks that lead to one rest at 50m then a large ledge at
60m just 5 meters short of the Yellow Wall Bivy Ledge
(YWBL)and
directly below the stem-crack system at the start of the crux
pitch.

Looking
up (left) and down (right) the enduro dihedral pitch which ends just
below the Yellow Wall Bivy Ledge. Moving the anchor up to the
YWBL makes for a better belay on the crux 5th pitch.
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P5- (5.10a ,
55m) This is the "money pitch" of the route. Move
the belay up the YWBL or fire up the first flake and onto the ledge to
start another endurance climbing pitch of stemming, chimney and jamming
to the
infamous 1 foot wide "Table Ledge". First tackle the twin
thin cracks (9+) past a few
pitons and then place a few big cams before entering the 5.8 squeeze
chimney as it is runout in the middle before a #2 camalot
protects
the exit move left and into the crux which is thin but well
protected and there are usually a few fixed nuts that make it even
easier to handle.

(Above)
Preparing to exit the chimney section of the 5th pitch, just before the
technical crux of the route.
P6- (5.8 40m) Table Ledge is little
more than a foot wide ledge or slight overlap with a few
pitons at head height as you make the traverse from the top of the Casual to the rappel anchors above D7 - From the belay directly at the top of the crux pitch, start with the crux moves below the belay (#3 camalot) which become increasingly easier as one approaches the rappel bolts on the lower of the wide ledges at the left (south) end of Table Ledge.

(Above
left) Bill pulling through the final crux of the Casual. (right)
Frank hanging out on Table Ledge, looking across the 5.8 traverse
pitch.
Descent
The quickest way down
from the summit is to descend the North Face
although the Keyhole can be just as fast. The North Face
involves a
couple of rappels from large eye bolts that are remnants of
when it
was known as "the Cables Route". If you have bivy gear at
Chasm Lake,
you will want to take the NF down to the East Ridge which leads up to
Mt. Lady Washington and about half-way across sits the rock known as
"the
Camel" from which the direct descent down to the bivy sites
begins.
This is 3rd class terrain which connects skier's left (east)
into a
slight gully, usually with a large snow drift at the
bottom which takes one
directly down to the large boulder bivy sites.
Otherwise, from the
south side of Table Ledge, do five- 50m rappels down the D7
to
Broadway. From the base of the rappels, traverse down from
the bivy cave to the bolted anchors
of 'Crack of Delight' that involve a 30m, then 3-50m rappels
down the slabs just climber's left of the
North Chimney.

(above) Looking up
the lower rappels on the east face of Longs Peak, the route known as
the 'Crack of Delight'. The bolts on this route use Metolius
rap hangers and so can be hard to see as they are very low profile,
even when you know where to look.

(above) The east
and north faces of Longs Peak in typical May conditions.
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Season:
June
through September
are typically the best months for an ascent of the
Diamond. Spring
is more likely to be wet from snowmelt or dangerous from avalanches,
the months of July and August are the worst time for thunderstorms.
By
late September, the east face of Longs quickly gives over to
mixed climbing
conditions (crampons and
tools) until the face is potentially too dangerous due to
avalanche risk
In
most winter conditions, this face is one of the more
difficult to visit as Broadway fills in with snow to a
perfect upper 30 degree angle, is unsupported, and
often wind-loaded with sensitive slabs. And with a terrain
trap like the lower east face, confidence in snowpack
strength
should be high when choosing this objective.
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Savoring
the summit of Longs Peak on a calm, quiet May afternoon.
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Permits:
No
permit is required to climb Longs Peak. Bivouac permits or
camping permits
are required and available at the Rocky Mountain National Park
Backcountry
Office (970-586-1242). Permits are strictly enforced
and must be
picked up in person, during business hours in the summer season.
Gear:
One
rope (A 60-meter length is best, but 50 meters will suffice)
and one half set of cams (6), from one-half
to three inches. Four
to five slings shoulder-length runners and a 48"
sling would be sufficient. A helmet is a always a good idea in
the
mountains
where not
all handholds have been regularly tested and tightened.
Running or
approach shoes will ideally suffice for the approach
although you may want stiff soles and waterproof boots when the
approach is still snowy. Usually boots and crampons
are ideal until at
least mid- June. The route can be wet in many places
including the
crux until July. Most folks prefer a comfortable and
supportive
all-day climbing shoe best suited for the crack and edging style of the
route
and if they can be worn along with a pair of socks, even better in this
cold environment. Storm-proof rain gear and warm layers
including a
hat and gloves plus headlamp and extra batteries are a
necessity.
A 60 meter lead rope,
ideally in the 9.3-9.5 range are nice for
these types of route along with a "tag line" of 6 or
7mm cord of the
same length for rappelling. This is a lighter and more
versatile system than a double rope system. One to two sets
of nuts and a double set of
camalots up to #3 and down to a #0 C3 would be helpful. About
15 quickdraws and
shoulder-length slings will be helpful for these very long
pitches. A
helmet is always a good idea in the mountains where rescue is far away
and there will often
be parties above you or threat of falling ice.
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