TR: Longs Peak(14,255'), Notch Couloir 5.30.08
We left the Longs Peak Trailhead at 3:30am and hiked in sneakers above treeline to the chasm cutt-off. Here we got our first view of the objective: the couloir that drops down from the obvious notch and traverses lookers left across Broadway to Lambs Slide, which is hidden from view(in the shadow).
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Some approach shots:
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The nice rib of rock is called the Flying Buttress(5.9) and the Dreamweaver Couloir is hidden in the cleft to the left.
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View from Chasm Lake.
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Skinning across Chasm Lake(11,800'). The snow on the approach was smooth and frozen.
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Looking up Lambs Slide.
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Looking down Lambs Slide.
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Looking up at the Lower East Face and Diamond from Lambs Slide. The nice tower-looking buttress is called the Teeter Totter Pillar(5.8). The Notch Couloir is just right of this feature.
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We climbed most of the way up Lambs Slide, then traversed right across Broadway to gain the bottom of the couloir.
Starting the traverse across Broadway. Upper Lambs Slide catching some sun.
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IH leading across Broadway. We used two 60-meter ropes and brought a thin rack of rock-protection. We simul-climbed the whole route, stopping a few times to re-rack.
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IH traversing Broadway.
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Here we caught up to a CMS guide and client. We passed them at the bottom of the couloir. The guide turned out to be a friend of ours and was nice enough to take some photos of us.
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Looking back onto Broadway from where the couloir starts.
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The three of us climbing the couloir.
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Switching over the lead before the choke.
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Climbing the couloir.
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Looking down the crux choke.
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Topping out at the Notch.
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KiltMan topping out, Chasm Lake below.
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We decided against going to the summit for a variety of reasons. Take your pick:
A) It was 12:30 and the snow was getting soft.
B) All three of us have already skied from the summit via The North Face and have climbed the Diamond many, many times.
C) We were pooped and wanted to ski.
D) Climbing/skiing to and from the summit from the top of the Notch is fairly trivial and very time-consuming.
E) All of the above.
(A proper summit ski would involve downclimbing the other side of the Notch for about 150', then following the Homestretch to the summit)
IH dropping in on the Notch Couloir with some awesome exposure.
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Kiltman making some turns near the top. Skiing with ropes on is a pain in the neck, so we made KiltMan go in the middle and get stuck with two!
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KiltMan contemplating an icy section between some rocks on the upper snowfield about 100' below the top of the Notch.
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Skiing down to the choke. Although the temps were getting warm, the entire couloir is in a deep cleft and only gets sun for a few hours in the morning so everything stayed nice and firm.
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We contemplated downclimbing vs. rappelling the crux choke. Since we were feeling behind on time, a rappel would be faster.
Rappelling the choke. On a perfect year, this could get skied completely...but bring some short skiis!
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After the rappel, we skied the rest of the couloir in the same fashion we climbed it: all three of us were roped together and skiing at the same time with a few pieces of gear between us.
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We considered the ropes mandatory, as the steep couloir ends abruptly at a 800-foot cliff called the Lower East Face.
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KiltMan at the bottom of the couloir; the Lower East Face is right below him. Even with the ropes, we were looking at large, unprotected traverses above some massive exposure.
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Skiing back across Broadway. Broadway only sees the sun for a few hours in the morning and was actually more firm on our way out.
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The final traverse off Broadway, photo taken from Lambs Slide. We had already shouldered our ropes...maybe a little too early.
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Skiing out of Lambs Slide, which had some of the best skiing on the route. The apron down to Chasm Lake had some nice corn as well.
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One last look at the "Big D" and Notch Couloir on the way out.
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We made it back to the car at 6:30. We all had a blast skiing such an exposed and exhilarating line only an hour from home.
