In February, I had joined Lisa Foster on a winter ascent of Longs Peak via the Cables Route on the North Face. This marked my first winter ascent of Longs Peak, and Lisa's 50th month (!) in a row summiting Longs. I had a blast, and I told her to keep me in mind for any future Longs Peak ascents. So I was psyched when in late March, she called me and asked if I was interested in making a summit bid on Longs the next day. She had been up there the previous day but had turned around at The Trough due to deep snow. But she wanted to know if I was interested in an early spring ascent of the Keyhole Route with lots of trail-breaking. I was all in. This was worth a PTO day for sure.

This was my 20th time reaching the summit of Longs, and my first spring ascent. I have climbed Longs Peak via the Keyhole Route more than once in the summer (see other trip reports on this page), when it is merely a 3rd class scramble, but in the winter/spring it is an entirely different experience. To be honest, I almost bailed out when we reached the Boulderfield, when my hands became so cold and useless that I was worried about frostbite. I had two electric and two chemical hand warmers per mitt too! But Lisa offered to exchange mittens with me for awhile, which was a lifesaver. I rallied and we continued. I am so glad we did. (Thanks Lisa!)

Our entire adventure took just over 17 hours car to car. The way up took 12 hours and the way down took just under 5 hours. Most of the terrain was snow-covered, and the snow was deep at times, slowing down the ascent significantly. We wore snowshoes from treeline to The Keyhole, and crampons from The Keyhole to the summit. It was a gorgeous day and I reveled in every bit of it (except maybe the cold hand episode).

The following page gives overlays and photos from my first spring ascent of Longs Peak. Enjoy.

(And I am going to buy a pair of mittens more capable of keeping my hands warm at 12,000-14,000 feet in the winter. A couple of hundred dollars is worth keeping all 10 digits.)