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Longs Peak - The Cables Route
May 2002
Estes Park , CO
posted by Wade
Longs Peak is a classic climb. There are several route up this 14er, but on this particular trip we chose to attempt the Cables Route. In some guidebooks it is rated at Class 5.4 in some spots.
The first day is a long 6-7 mile hike to the boulderfields. Hiking up through thick pine forest and passing waterfalls and streams along the way. You know when you have reached the alpine zone when you see the view of Chasm Lake. This is an alpine lake that is fed by the snow melt from the left side of the diamond. The diamond is the 1,000 ft face on Longs Peak.
Once in the boulderfields we set up camp for the night. The quick gain in altitude affected both my climbing partners with upset stomachs, I had a headache. There are two pit toilets in the boulderfields, but the walls on them only went halfway up at the time I was there. This was interesting since your head poked out when you were sitting in it.
We didn't get much sleep that night due to the high winds and altitude.
It was very cold the next day, being that it was May, Winter wasn't quite over yet at this altitude.
One of our party decided to stay behind and at the tent. He was feeling rough from altitude sickness so it was best for him to stay. The other two of us started up the cables route, which climbs along the right slope of the diamond. The route is not always self explanitory, so there is some route-finding to this climb as well as some "make it up as you go" climbing.
Once we got to the steeper portion we were fixing ropes alot and putting pro in where we could find good spots. This was our first alpine mountaineering attempt, so it was more practice than anything.
The cables route actually used to have cables that ran up the steepest sections. In the early 1900s climbers used these cables to pull themselves up. The cables are gone, but the eye bolts that held them are still firmly planted in some spots. We used these as anchor points several times.
As we approached the summit we had to make a decision. The clouds were getting dark and ominous. Also, the sun was in the western sky, and it was well into the afternoon. We had burned up too much time placing cams in the rock the whole way. We also needed to get down from our elevation due to the storm.
It was disappointing but we decided to turn back. We knew we were only a few hundred yards from the summit. But the 30 minutes or more it would have taken us to get up to the summit, high five, and get back to where we were was too long. We ended up hiking in the dark that night back down to the trailhead. We learned some good lessons on that trip. Start early! Be selective about placing pro, but be safe and don't take chances! And, acclimate as much as possible!
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