The last week of January 2024 had record-breaking spring-like temperatures in Colorado, with highs near the 70's in Boulder and 60's in Estes Park. The warm weather lasted only a few days, from Monday to Thursday. I was going a bit stir crazy sitting inside working. So when Lisa Foster invited me to join her and her friend Tommy on a winter ascent of Longs Peak on Thursday (they had a third who couldn't make it last minute), I was all in.

This climb marked my first winter ascent of Longs Peak and my 19th time to the summit of Longs Peak (all previous ascents had been in the summer, via various routes, including multiple times via the vertical face of the Diamond). But for Lisa, who had done over 200 (!) ascents of Longs Peak, this climb marked her 50th month (!) in a row summiting Longs Peak. (She actually holds the record for consecutive months, having surpassed legendary climber Jim Detterline’s record of 30 months long ago. Quite impressive. Especially since for a good proportion of the year conditions can be rather gnarly on Longs.)

We climbed the Cables Route on the North Face of Longs, which is the most common ascent route in the winter. This route is the most direct of all the moderate routes on Longs Peak, and is mostly 3rd class apart from a short technical crux (5.4 in summer, usually M2 in winter). It is a popular descent route since you can keep it at 3rd class if you rappel from eyebolts to get past the crux. There was just a little ice on the route and the temperatures were mild, so I felt like I got off easy for my first winter ascent of Longs. Tommy led the roped pitch. We basked in the sun on the summit for almost an hour.

(Note: Although I had never ascended the Cables Route before this trip report, I have descended it several times. Two of these times are documented in trip reports—Kiener's to Cables Route link-up in July 2022 and Meeker to Longs link-up in August 2022—since both these times I solo downclimbed the route rather than rappelled past the crux. In the summer of 2024, I soloed the Cables Route multiple times (a couple of those times later on this page).

Our entire adventure took just over 12 hours car to car. It was an awesome day out, the kind of day I wish I could repeat over and over. Thanks Lisa and Tommy for inviting me along!

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

Update: The following month, March 2024, I joined Lisa for her 51st month in a row climbing Longs Peak. We climbed the Keyhole Route. It was technically early spring but conditions were more wintery than on the Cables ascent in February.

This was the third month in a row that I joined Lisa for her monthly ascent of Longs Peak (her 52nd month in a row!). It had been a cold but sunny week, and snow was quite stable in the mountains. The forecast was stellar. A perfect time to climb the Cables Route!

We left the Longs Peak trailhead at 1:30am. It was a touch windy on the approach, but nothing out of the ordinary. By the time we started to climb, the north face was basking in the sun. Snow conditions were perfect (where was everyone?). We enjoyed a long break on the summit. Our entire adventure took just under 14 hours car to car. It was another awesome Longs day with Lisa!

Below are some photos from the climb. Several of them were taken by Lisa, with credit given (it's always great to have a partner who takes photos as well!).