Kieners 6/21

An unplanned bivy on a fantastic route!

I have stoodon the summit of Longs Peak twice since my move to Colorado from Tennessee in 04 and both times going up were exciting and a little interesting with storms coming in, suspect snow (the North Face) and exposure that I have never found in Tennessee. To say my confidence has built up since my move here would be putting it lightly. I guess I just love the excitment or like my friends say, "a glutten for punishment". That may have proved to be true after the trip up Kieners Route on June 21st. This is my first actual trip report so bear with me. Here goes..

We pulled our permit to bivy near Chasm Lake on the 20th of June and researched the pics of the route at the ranger station at Longs Peak campground. We headed up the trail to the bivy site in pretty good weather with an occasional rain spurt here and there. This was my first bivy and my partner, Stephanie's as well. Just bought a bivy sack two days earlier and was excited to use it for the first time. We had a great location under a rock I believe the ranger had called "the Hilton". The weather was fair all night with temps in the 40s and 50s. I slept better than I thought I would considering.

We woke up around 5:30 and enjoyed some hot cocoa and some granola with blueberries (Mountain House freeze dried) that was just excellent! We started up toward the Lambslide and began our journey around 7:30 or so. The conditions on Lambslide were really good for an hour or so until things started softening up in the sun and the snow was balling up a little in our crampons. We climbed past our exit to Broadway and had to down-climb a little to get back to it. One of the first errors which made our trip a longer one.

We got onto Broadway around 9:00 or so and cruised across pretty good to the crux, a corner called 5.4 corner that has about 800 feet of air below it. The move was not that hard at all and I actually enjoyed the exposure a little. Being afraid of heights in the past I guess my new hobby has tapered that down a little and I now look forward to it more and more. There are three options here. You could climb up and over it on class 3 terrain or step across it with fairly good hand holds or do what we did and crawl under it. Just make sure your pack is not too big! We roped up here just for the peace of mind but I dont beleive I would haul that heavy inconvinence up there again. Then we came to a spot where the ledge narrowed down to approx. a foot wide but did have fixed pins for your rope. This was a little unsettling but I dont think it would be if I did this route again. We then arrived at the bottom of the Notch Couloir and crossed over the snowy bottom around 10-10:30 to the proper part of the route, a chimney to the right of the Notch with some 5.4 climbing on it.

This is where we had our issues that led to what you will read later. The easiest path is NOT the most obvious. We would climb a pitch, then down-climb or rappel to try to find the correct route. I should point out the "exit" to another ledge that is only about 4' wide on the right after the first or second pitch. It is like a passage or doorway to where you need to be. There was some fixed gear in a line that we tried to follow that I think was left there by others who made the same mistake as us and had to bail to get back on track. Stephanie, more of a climbing enthusiast, volunteered to lead the more technical climbing. I think considering she does more rock climbing that we naturally picked some of the harder lines up. After climbing into what seemed like a 5.8ish area and seeing a nut in a crack we knew we would have to down-climb or rapp down to the ledge again. This was about the time we heard some voices. Some folks who had done the route before had arrived, put us on the right track, and passed us up without hesitation. The next hour was spent on 5.4 terrain up to the class 4 upper half of the route. We were pretty slow going up this area and dehydrated a little not to mention hungry. This was when I started getting concerned with the time and knew that we would most likely not make it back home that night. We finally arrived at the rock formation the ranger had shown us in the pics the day before with the mantles and the spot known as the "Diamond Step" which I would put at class 2 (not 5.4). This was great. You are at the top of the Diamond with 1500 feet straight down to the Mills Glacier below. Great spot to absorb the scenery. After this move it was easy class 2-3 cruising on the North face to the summit although I would'nt say we were "cruising" too fast.

We had finally arrived at the summit at a very late 7pm. No time time hang out and enjoy! We made our way across to the descent route of the North Face. I had already climbed the North Face last year and figured I would not have too much trouble finding the rappel bolts left there from when they had the cables but I was wrong. When the rangers tell you to look for the "dihedrals", you had better know which ones. We spent an hour or two down-climbing on some pretty steep stuff trying to find the right dihedrals that had the old bolts on them. Now it was starting to get dark and even worse, COLD! We had rapped all the way down below all of the rapp stations, in the dark, and ended up just above Chasm View. Time to bivy!! We ould probably have made it all the way down that night but there was no way we were going to chance it in the shape we were in.

We both squeezed into a bivy sack made for one and shiverred the whole night on a ledge about 50 feet above Chasm View the whole night listening to marmots and a big black bird that sounded like a stealth bomber flying over the top of us. I think we may have been on his perch. The lightning across the sky was like a concert style light show but not very settling on our nerves after climbing all day and not having enough the energy to get down not to mention the daylight. Things were interesting the whole night. I have not had to worry about hypothermis in the past but I did tonight.

Finally around 5:30 or so, the sun came up. It took us at least 2 hours to get warmed up and motivated enough to start heading down. We did'nt really get any sleep so we were still exhausted. We headed down and around to Chasm Lake to retrieve our sleeping bags and cookware that I wished we had taken up with us. I took a couple pics of where we had stayed overnight and it was far from the Hilton.

My recommndation would be to out and back this route although its a long day, you would certainly have to carry alot less. Soloing the route would not be all that bad in the summer either as the rope we had was a 10.2mm HEAVY NUISSANCE! Know your route. If I could be of any help with this page I would mention again, the "exit" or "passage" to the second ledge where you continue the 5.4 climbing. It is on the right and only about 4' wide and you cannot see what lies on the other side of it until you climb up and through it. Some people take the Notch Couloir up and then go right. Might be a good idea considering you are more likely to see tracks and what you do not want to climb into. That is not the original route though. Dont spend too much time trying to figure it out either. It is more simple than what we though it was. Take and drink lots of water and gels too! And stuff a down jacket in your pack too if you have one that stuffs small. I wish I'd taken mine! Unless you go in July or August. That would'nt be a good time for the Lambslide though. And make damn sure that you know where the proper dihedrals are for the rapp bolts one the North Face. I would suggeest doing that route first to familiarize yourself with it. It has some pretty steep downclimbing on it.

Overall, it was a great experience for both of us and I would definately do this route again now that I know it. I think a winter ascent would be fun and alot more challenging but I would consider it with the right partner (s). I would at least go get a lighter, alpine rope though. Do this classic though. It is well worth it. Happy trails!

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