{"id":24537,"date":"2016-10-03T12:19:44","date_gmt":"2016-10-03T18:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/?p=24537"},"modified":"2019-04-06T12:28:27","modified_gmt":"2019-04-06T18:28:27","slug":"death-colorados-longs-peak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/03\/death-colorados-longs-peak\/","title":{"rendered":"Death on Colorado’s Longs Peak"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the weekend the popular Colorado 14, 000 foot mountain, Longs Peak<\/a>, saw the first death of 2016.<\/p>\n

According to rangers at Rocky Mountain National Park<\/a>, \u00a0the victim was a\u00a061 year old man from Greeley, Colorado. He was on a section called The Narrows when he slipped on ice and fell approximately 100 to 150 feet. Other climbers used their cell phones to contact park rangers<\/p>\n

The rangers were flown to the summit of Longs Peak via helicopter and reached the man’s body at approximately 4 p.m. \u00a0His body was recovered by a long line helicopter operation at 5:40 p.m. and transferred to the Boulder County Coroner’s Office. His name has not been released.<\/p>\n

Longs<\/h3>\n

Longs is one of the most popular Colorado 14ers with\u00a0over 15,000 attempts each year and\u00a0a 50% success rate. It is consider attainable by the normal Keyhole route, but the Park Service provides stern warnings<\/a> about underestimating the route.<\/p>\n

In addition to the attainable routes of\u00a0the Keyhole<\/a> and Loft<\/a>, Longs\u00a0offers over a hundred of more difficult climbs including some of the big wall climbing in the world on the Diamond.<\/p>\n

I have summited Longs 42 times and use\u00a0it as my training peak for Himalayan mountains. Longs has extensive coverage on my website<\/a><\/p>\n

The section where this fatality\u00a0occurred is a relatively short section of maybe 1,000 feet\u00a0(300 meters) but as the name implies it starts very narrow, perhaps 3 feet (1 meter) in width. To the climber’s left is a 300′ vertical rock wall and to the right a 200′ drop onto rock.<\/p>\n

This section can accumulate snow and ice throughout the year, including\u00a0summer, so it is advisable to always carry microspikes<\/a> at a minimum and to turn back if you are not prepared (or experienced) or the route is extremely icy.<\/p>\n

Reports\u00a0from other climbers over the\u00a0weekend said the Keyhole route from\u00a0the Keyhole feature\u00a0upwards was “… covered in frost and ice and there was snow in the trough”<\/p>\n

About 62 people have died on Longs with falls representing\u00a060% of the casualties. There were eight deaths from falls off the extremely\u00a0technical Diamond, followed by six off the Ledges on the Keyhole route then five\u00a0off the Narrows including this event.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

\"Longs<\/a>
Looking down from the Narrows on Longs Peak<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Longs<\/a>
Crossing the Ledges on Longs peak in winter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Longs<\/a>
Longs Peak Diamond from Mt. Lady Washington in April<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On\u00a0June 6, 2013 I summited Longs for the 30th time. I climbed up via the Keyhole route and descended using the Loft route. It was spring weather with winter climbing conditions above 12,000′. This 12 minute video takes you through the climb from start to finish: 10 hours, 5500′ gain, 14 miles roundtrip.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n