The Diamond, Casual Route

July 28, 2019

Longs Peak

The Diamond, Casual Route 5.10

Gearing up at the base of the North Chimney

I’ve heard the diamond on Longs Peak called the premier alpine wall in the lower 48. I had never climbed anything like it and knew it would be a huge challenge – lots of vertical pitches climbing on a sheer face of almost 1,000 feet in height. Laura had wanted to climb the diamond for years, so when she asked, I knew it would be some work but that I had better put in the effort to make it happen. The goal was set and we added the casual route, 5.10a to the list on the refrigerator at home. I knew the climbing would be well within my range, but a 5 mile approach, leading every pitch on a demanding wall, moving quickly and efficiently and being 100% confident in every gear placement with 500+ feet of air below me would be important to make it an enjoyable experience rather than a stressful one. Neither one of us took the route for granted. We knew we would need to work on some things before committing to going for the diamond. We started climbing at Turkey Rocks, improving our wide crack technique as well as our chimney climbing abilities. We went to Eldorado Canyon and placed as much gear as we could on routes that pushed us. Lastly, we worked to be in good physical shape knowing that Longs is well, just long!

Looking up from inside the North Chimney

As the summer progressed and the snow eventually melted from the diamond, Laura and I would begin to watch the weather to seek out a nice day to go for our big objective. We would both take the day off work Monday but actually end up going for the climb a day early despite a forecast with high winds. We knew that sometimes you just have to go for things and hope for the best. Since we bailed on the Grand Teton just a month ago due to indecision, we were determined not to be wishy washy in our decision making on this one. There was rain on Saturday but with only a 20% chance for moisture on Sunday, we headed for the Longs Peak trailhead Saturday evening and planned to catch a few hours of sleep in the back of the Jeep before setting off around 2am.

Sun coming up over Chasm Lake

Our alarm went off at 1:30 and we were quickly awake, packed and ready for the 4.5 mile hike to Chasm Lake at around 12,000 feet. We went light and each carried a small backpack. I would carry the gear – a set of cams #.2 and #.3, doubles #.5 - #3, a set of stoppers and 12 alpine draws. Laura carried the rope and we each had a liter of water to get us through the day. Leaving the trailhead at 1:45 am, we made good time and were at the Chasm Lake junction and getting everything we would need for the day into just one backpack at 3:15 am. We ate and headed toward Chasm Lake, making our way around the east side of the lake and reaching the hard packed snowfield that leads to the North Chimney as the morning light approached. I commented that the walk around the lake was much more pleasant with snow rather than boulder hopping but we make it nonetheless.

Justin topping out of the North Chimney

The North Chimney is about 500 feet of 5.4 climbing so we put on our rock shoes, roped up and simulclimbed the 3 pitch approach to Broadway as Laura lead in one continuous block. We reached the base of the casual route just before 6 am and looked around for storm clouds before setting off up the wall.

Start of the Casual Route

Laura would lead the first 5.4 pitch. I handed the gear to her and we tied into the rope, ready to set off up the sheer and imposing east face of Longs Peak. We were the first group on the casual route this day, which we had expected to have a line at when we arrived. It was nice to set off and be able to climb the route at our pace. Following the first pitch of the route, I made quick work of the 5.4 climbing. Laura handed me the remaining gear as I passed by and started up the 5.9 finger crack.

Justin half way up pitch 2

I chose to link this pitch with the traditional 3^rd pitch of the route, making the 5.7 traverse and setting a belay at the base of the wide chimney system with just 15 feet of rope left. This gave us some space from the group that showed up as Laura lead the first pitch and we never had anyone waiting on us or joining us at belays the entire day.

Looking over at Chasm View, watching the clouds fly by

While Laura cruised the long pitch toward me, I noticed rain begin to fall. I looked across the wall to a group on Pervertical just to the left of me and asked if they thought we were going to get wet today. He said that they were on the wall yesterday and then replied no and gave a long winded explanation about moisture in the atmosphere and some other factors. By the time he explained his thoughts the raindrops would stop. This process continued off and on throughout the day but never became heavy enough to consider bailing off the wall.

sloping belay ledge

I would lead the remainder of the day so when Laura arrived at the belay, I pulled the gear from her harness as she snapped some pictures. A quick transition and I was off again, pulling up and through a chimney for a few feet and out onto the face for the remainder of the long pitch ending at a nice sloping ledge. It was 8:25 as Laura reached me at the ledge and we felt like we were making great time, now about half way up the route. I had a snack and took off on what is regarded as the best pitch of the route.

right facing dihedral

Looking down from good belay ledge

Continuous 5.8 climbing in a right facing corner for 200 feet, all with a perfect hand crack for jamming and gear placements. I ended on a comfy ledge relaxed in the sun while Laura again followed. This was the best belay of the climb and gave me an opportunity to look around and enjoy the surroundings. The exposure here is intense! Looking down to Chasm Lake over 1,000’ below is crazy.

Having climbed all morning at altitude, we were both tiring and decided to chill out a bit before heading up the crux pitch of the route. We had put over an hour of space between us and the group below and knew we had a few minutes to relax.

Justin starting up the crux pitch

Squeeze chimney

After eating and taking a drink of water, I proceed up the 5.9 finger crack with the 2 foot wide squeeze chimney looming above. I was tired as I reached the chimney but was comfortable once I shoved my body in it having had good practice from last weekend at Vedauvoo. After the 30 foot long and accurately described “grovelfest”, I was able to pull through the crux moves of the route and continue on to set a belay just to the right of Almost Table Ledge.

Trying to figure out the ledge traverse

Laura followed up to the chimney and I lowered a loop of rope and hauled the backpack up to me. It would be impossible to climb that chimney with a pack on! She reached me at the belay and we organized the rope before sending her off on the final traverse pitch to Almost Table Ledge.

Justin making his way to Almost Table Ledge

She stopped here as to not go around another group and I followed across and worked my way across and up 50 more feet to Table Ledge. It was 11:30 am and we had just climbed The Diamond! We were both excited but knew we had some climbing left to do.

Summit

We didn’t want to rappel the route but rather chose to cross over onto Kieners and climb to the true summit of the mountain. At a relaxed pace, we made the summit at 1:30. We had thought there would be a lot of people up there but it turned out that we were the only people on the summit. We had achieved our goal and now it was time to make the long slog out.

Rappelling on the North Face

Down the north face/cables route, we descended and rappelled eventually reaching the main trail leading back to our pack stashed at the Chasm junction. The remaining 4 miles back to the car held true to the Longs is just long saying as we slogged our way back to the trailhead at 6 pm. It’s pretty great to achieve a goal that takes commitment and that you put a concerted effort into. I feel like this was a good progression for Laura and for me. Hopefully it will lead to more great experiences on alpine walls in the future!

Great day on an amazing mountain!

A few climbers were still out there as we were headed down (taken from Chasm View)