Longs Peak Project (September) -- Mary's Ledges

September 4^th—Mary’s Ledges (Bailout) with Peter Bakwin

Car-to-car time: 5 hours 34 minutes

The forecast was good: sunny, clear skies, no precipitation, and low winds. That's not what happened. We started from the TH with a light drizzle, which eventually faded to blue skies. Once at the boulderfield we were greeted with snow, rain, cold, and wind. We took shelter under a big overhanging boulder for a little over an hour before deciding to bail and come back tomorrow.

Things change quickly in the alpine

September 5^th—Up Mary’s Ledges, down North Facewith Peter Bakwin. Also, descended to the top of the Trough and re-summitted via SW Ridge to scout for October.

Car-to-car time: 9 hours 39 minutes

After yesterday, Peter and I returned determined to reach the summit. So, we brought almost full-on winter clothing to ensure that shit weather wouldn't stop us again. The hike up to the boulderfield went a little quicker than yesterday. We started making our way towards the buttress between the Cables and the Keyhole. This buttress is right along the Left Dovetail, I believe. There are two ways to start Mary's Ledges: from the right (which requires crossing a significant stretch of the Dovetail snow field) or to the left (which requires some easy scrambling). We went to the left and found ourselves on a nice ledge on top of the buttress.

We busted out the rope and gear here. A frigid wind was hammering us from the east. So, we decided to put on all of our clothes for the climb. Neither of us knew the route and I couldn't feel my hands, which could make for slow going on the climb.

So, I began up the first pitch (really the only pitch of actual climbing) and eventually reached a step that I had trouble committing to. Then I realized I was off route and moved into this nice little dihedral with a fixed pin. From here the climbing was easy (5.6-7?) and well-protected (not sure why this route has an R rating). Since I couldn't feel my hands the entire pitch I just stitched it up and hoped that at least a few of the pieces would be OK.

I reached a small ledge and belayed Peter up. I still had about 15 feet of rope left, but didn't know what was above me. When I took off on the second pitch I realized that I should have just kept going and had Peter start simul-climbing. The second pitch just ended up being easy 4th class scrambling where I didn't place any pro.
Once we stowed the gear it was an easy walk to the summit through the upper North Face talus. At the summit we decided to head down the Keyhole route to the top of the Trough to scout out our planned route for October--SW Ridge--and see if we'd be comfortable soloing it.

We ended up scrambling up a bunch of 5.easy terrain until we got to a ledge with a hand-to-wide-hand crack that went for about 10-12 feet. Here, we decided to rope up and I led again. We really only needed the rope for 1-2 moves in that crack (5.6-7) before the terrain relented back to 4th Class/5.easy scrambling.

After topping out on the summit again we began our customary descent of the North Face. We rapped the Cables because we had a rope with us, but it wouldn't have been horrible to downclimb. I've downclimbed it with way more ice before.

The hike out has become one of the most tedious parts of the project. I don't think Peter and I will be "enjoying" another North Face descent for a while after December...

All smiles after climbing the first pitch

View from the top

Longs Peak Project (August) -- Ship's Prow Port Side

August 14^th—Up via Ship’s Prow Port Side/Clark’s Arrow, down via Loft

Car-to-car time: 5 hours 59 minutes

Sort of an obscure route, but a pretty easy hike, overall. Basically, just head up like you’re doing the Loft and keep an eye out for an obvious ramp heading up across the Ship’s Prow (on climber’s right side of Loft Couloir). The ramp maybe has a few hard 3^rd class moves on it, but is pretty mellow. Once off the ramp it’s an easy 2^nd class ascent on some boulders before traversing under a slabby section of rocks. After the slabs I eventually fired straight up a gully with a short 4^th class crux. From here, it was pretty smooth sailing to the Loft. The rest of the ascent was cruise control on the Clark’s Arrow route.

I descended the Loft/Clark’s Arrow route. On my way down I ran into a couple of idiots from Jersey who decided they were going to “climb” Longs Peak barefoot on their first day here from sea level. Needless to say, their feet got raw and bloody and then they had to hike in clunky boots the rest of the day. They looked like death. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I mostly hike the descent until I got back down to the Chasm Lake area.

I’d post more photos, but they’re all on my phone that broke. Maybe if I can salvage the data from the phone I’ll post them later. 

The ramp cutting across the Ship's Prow