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.  

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.  

November 8th,  2007    

We are still in this "Indian Summer" which has been characterized by dry and warm weather.  Daytime highs have been in the mid to upper 60's F and with lows in the 40's F it has still been t-shirt weather here in the Estes Park Valley.  Up high in the peaks, low to no winds with highs in the 30's at 10,000' and low's in the 20's seems to be perfect for forming ice as many of the flows above treeline are in peak shape.

                Kathy McMinn after a safe and successful climb of "All Mixed Up" on Nov. 7th, 2007

Trails in the high country have been melting dry or icing over with a thick glaze.  Not busting one's butt on some of the slick spots can be the crux of an alpine day.  We made it up to All Mixed Up with very little snow climbing although a short pair of gaitors were nice for the few over the boot spots.

  Looking up at the All Mixed Up cirque with the approach to AMU in red and the 3rd class descent in blue

We did this mega-classic route in four pitches of 50m, 60m, 35m, and 50m.  The ice was in the best shape I've yet seen it!  Despite the sun, everything seemed well frozen and our cold hands were evidence of the temp.'s

                                    Kathy McMinn coming over the crux bulge on the 2nd pitch

                        Looking down the first pitch WI 2 slab with the mostly dry talus approach below

                                     The route "Organ Pipes" in somewhat dry but climbable conditions

                                 Another view of the east side of the All Mixed Up cirque

Otherwise, there are some drifts in the trees and in pockets above treeline and potentially dangerous slabs on the east-facing cirques as we have already had significant cornice formation with so far just a minimal snowpack (1-2 feet) which would indicate lee loading and there are often slab-avalanche crowns along the top of the Tyndall, Ptarmagin, and Taylor Glaciers for this reason as they are all perfect 35-40 degree lee slopes- to be clear, perfect for avalanches.   Further up the Glacier Gorge, the Black Lake cirque is also doing well for ice formation and with the trail in "cruiser shape" at the moment, it could be a good time to make the long (2hr.) trek up to Black Lake to enjoy routes like the West Gully for fresh ice in a remote and wild setting.  The Glacier Gorge is one of the more majestic mountain cirques in the lower 48 states.

Looking up the Glacier Gorge with the west face of Longs Peak, Pagoda and Chiefshead (L-R).  The ice climb "Reflections", which is wide enough to contain at least 3 separate routes is in "FAT" shape under the arrow.

A close-up of the west face of Longs Peak.  The Trough Couloir on the right side of the face fills-in with enough snow to provide great mid-winter cramponing or skiing depending on your tastes.

Many of the lower elevation, south facing routes fell down in last week's heat wave and the lack of snow on these south-facing hills is curtailing the formation of new ice on the classic's:  Jaws and the Squid.  We'll keep our fingers crossed that these two come back around later this winter.  Any place that has snow above it seems to be forming ice well as the melting/refreezing effect is a key component of the ice formation in many spots.

Avalanche Danger has overall decreased in the high country this last week due to warm days, cold nights, low winds, and no new moisture.  On above treeline slopes that have lee aspects such as E, SE, NE, N the avalanche danger rating is MODERATE.  On all other slopes above, at treeline, and below, the current avalanche danger rating is LOW with pockets of MODERATE on steeper slopes where there has been wind-loading.  Faceting is occurring due to our colder nights and the resulting temperature gradient between the air and the still-warm ground.  As well, the low humidity (below 20%) is helping to pull moisture out of the snowpack resulting in a very weak and large grained layer in somewhat sheltered locations (forest, lee slopes, below treeline) that extends from just below the surface all the way to the ground up to 60cm deep in spots.  This layer is less of a concern now than it may be when new snow begins to cover-it and provides a load that could cause slab failure so this will be something to remember as the winter progresses.  There have been numerous avalanche fatalities in November and December in Colorado due to failures of this basal facet (depth hoar) layer and there is some good DH formation happening at this point in time.

Other alpine routes worth skipping work for are the East Face of Notchtop which is in some of the best shape in years and requires a moderate rack of screws and cams and the route Kieners on Longs Peak which is always a solid alpine challenge this time of year.  Both of these routes are plagued by higher avalanche danger during the winter months and so the key to success on these and similar alpine climbs can be timing- getting there while conditions are good and the avalanche risk is lower.

The east face of Notchtop in more typical January mid-winter conditions - this route is one of the worst locations for avalanche danger in RMNP due to it's aspect, angle and terrain configuration and should be avoided when avalanche danger conditions are greater than CONSIDERABLE.

With trail conditions so good at the moment and if the winds remain low, it could be a great time to consider some classics such as the Keyhole Ridge, North Face, Clark's Arrow routes on Longs Peak.  The Blitzen Ridge and Y Couloir routes on Mt. Ypsilon could also be in prime "alpine shape" meaning that they may provide more interesting but very climbable conditions, especially for this time of year.

                             The Y-Couloir and Blitzen Ridge on Mt. Ypsilon on November 7th.

Be safe and enjoy!

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