|
July 12th Conditions Report |
Up-to-date information by Eli Helmuth on climbing route and trail conditions in Rocky Mountain National Park and throughout the Estes Valley. Avalanche forecasts and skiing conditions in the alpine region are also reviewed.
Cory Sargent hanging out on the Continental Divide on July 11th, 2007
Warning:
Route conditions change constantly, especially in the mountains. Climbing is dangerous. Be flexible in your climbing plans and always prepare for the worst. Be experienced enough for what you are doing. Seek qualified instruction and use proper equipment. We accept no liability for your decisions in the peaks.
July 12th Conditions Report
It's been a stormy week here in the Estes Valley with the cumulo-nimbus clouds building early and more than a couple of days have had lightning storms releasing before noon over Lumpy Ridge and in the high peaks. These seem to be particularly violent storms and so a super-early start and a watchful eye towards the western sky will be particularly key to survival if this trend continues.
Notchtop Spire in the Ptarmagin Valley of Rocky Mountain National Park
Despite the recent storm activity, all of the major rock faces in the high country are dry and only Chiefshead, Spearhead, and Notchtop require some snow travel to reach their bases. Night-time temperatures here at 8,700' have been reaching the high 40's the last few nights and so the snow above treeline is solidifying well at night and making for excellent cramponing on those couloirs and slopes that will hold snow throughout most of the summer. These include the Ptarmagin Fingers, Taylor Headwall, and Lambslide Couloir on Longs Peak.
On an ascent of Hallet's via the Love Route this last week, we found just 20' of easy snow to cross on the approach to the face and the route dry except for a few easily avoided holds. The rappel anchors on the east end and the scrambling descent were all in good order and the total roundtrip for our party of 3 on the face was 5 hours which was good as the storms rolled in by noon that day and we were already back in the parking lot by this time.
Lumpy Ridge has seemed relatively quiet this summer so far although the new parking lot has been filling-up early with the new influx of hikers who are finding out the beauty of that "ugly rock pile" as one of my earlier not-yet-a-climber clients once told me they thought about Lumpy. Below is a diagram which shows some of the best moderate crack routes at the Book formation including (L-R) Country Boy (13d), Osirus (7++), Pear Buttress (8), Loose Ends (9), Cheap Date (10a), J-Crack (10a), and Femp (9). All are highly recommended and I will be climbing at least two of these multi-pitch classics today with my guest who is training for an upcoming ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley.
The Book Formation at Lumpy Ridge
Jeff Land pulling over the crux of Cheap Date (10b) on the Book Formation at Lumpy Ridge
What snow is left has been solidifying well at night and on July 11th, I spent the day with a climbing team from Denver doing a glacier travel and crevasse rescue seminar on some of the more accessible steep snow in the park. As you can see from the photos, the juxtaposition of snow and very green tundra was an eyeful and we found perfect cramponing conditions for the entire day on this 400' vertical slope around 12,000' near the Continental Divide, just off of Trailridge Road.
Setting up a 6-1 mechanical advantage raising system after "catching the fall" and "escaping the belay" on a simulated crevasse fall.
Climbing out of our "crevasse" near the Continental Divide
The Diamond has been getting lots of traffic so now there is chalk to follow on the popular routes for those who are unsure of the way. The Chasm View rappels worked great for our ascent of the Diamond last week although it would be nice to see these somewhat ancient and environmentally abused bolts replaced soon as these anchors are prone to rope-snagging due to the type of pressed-link's at the rope connection point on these all-steel anchors. Be aware of this issue when using these anchors and make sure the rope can't get caught in the middle of one of these pressed links or your rope may not pull down.
Snow and tundra at the Continental Divide on July 11th, 2007
Leftover hail on the trail into Lumpy Ridge on Friday the 13th, 2007
The Keyhole route on Longs Peak has been pronounced "dry enough" by the CMS guides who have been up there regularly every week and we are no longer carrying ice axes or crampons for this classic "3rd class hike" up the west and south faces of Longs Peak. The Park Service will likely qualify the route as "technical" for another week or so until it is completely dry between all of the "bulls-eyes", but it is easy enough to avoid any of these leftover sections of winter snow.
Looking at the North faces of Mount Meeker and Longs Peak from Lumpy Ridge on July 13th, 2007
Avalanche conditions are currently "LOW" in all snow-covered locations above treeline and the North Face of Longs is probably just another week away from being completely melted out and dry. I will be making an ascent with some experienced climbers of Stettner's Ledges to upper Kiener's or the Notch Couloir this upcoming weekend and will report on what we find up there on one of the earliest "cutting-edge" routes done in Rocky Mountain National Park way back in the 1920's.
 |
