Kieners Route
Kieners Route - Class 5.4
Partners: Kristi Henes, Dan Hamann, Andrea
On August 25th Kristi Henes, Dan Hamann, Andrea Wennersten and I climbed the Kieners Route on Longs Peak. The weather was perfect and the day was long. We had an incredible time. We were celebrating Kristis birthday and it was Andreas first 14er. The route goes at 5.4, so we used an alpine rack . . . Nuts, hexes and a few cams. Some parts were a little challenging in boots, but super classic route. Full value, got our moneys worth! 15.5 hour day . . . We were on the trail for sun rise and sun set.
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Kiener's Route on Long's Peak
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Alex layering up just above treeline
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The sunrise was amazing
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Alex approaching the cut off to Chasm Lake
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Andrea hiking towards Chasm Lake with the Diamond and the Notch in sight. — with Andrea Wennersten.
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Long's Peak basking in the sunrise.. the Diamond and the Notch.
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Long's Peak.. the Diamond and the Notch
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Alex and Kristi pose with Longs in the distance — with Kristi Floyd Henes.
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Chasm Lake and Longs Peak
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Long's Peak... The Diamond
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Dan and Andrea hiking a bolder field just below Lamb's Slie — with Andrea Wennersten and Dan Hamann.
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Alex and Dan approach Lamb's Slide — with Dan Hamann.
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A view up Lamb's Slide. Between the bullet proof ice and rocks of all sizes randomly buzzing down we decided to climb on the loose rock on the left side of the ice.
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When parallel with Broadway's entrance, we attempted to cross Lamb's Slide. However the ice proved too hard and the consequences too high... so we decided to climb up and around the ice and then descend to Broadway. — with Dan Hamann.
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Climbing up and around Lamb's Slide — with Dan Hamann and Andrea Wennersten.
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Once above Lamb's Slide the descent to Broadway proved to be one of the day's cruxes. The combination of loose rock, extremely steep terrain and the exposure to Lamb's Slide gave the descent a gnarly feel. It wasn't our favorite.
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Alex and Dan discuss options for getting down the last steep and exposed section of Lamb's Slide to Broadway's entrance — with Dan Hamann.
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Andrea finding her way down Lamb's Slide to Broadway's entrance — with Andrea Wennersten
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Kristi and Dan evaluate options for getting down to Broadway's entrance — with Dan Hamann and Kristi Floyd Henes.
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Alex stoked be be off Lamb's Slide
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Kristi and Alex celebrate the end of the Lamb's Slide phase of the day — with Kristi Floyd Henes.
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Kristi making her way to Broadway — with Kristi Floyd Henes.
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Dan on the first section of Broadway
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Alex, Dan and Kristi getting getting ready to start the narrow and exposed section of Broadway
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Kristi all fired up for Broadway's "crux"
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Kristi opts for going under the rock at Broadway's Crux. For me... this move was not the crux of Broadway. A little further along the ledge there was a much narrower section that required an exposed step around... a move that seemed much more committing to me. — with Kristi Floyd Henes.
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Kristi making her way across Broadway. The exposure was exhilarating — with Kristi Floyd
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Andrea starts Broadways "crux" — with Andrea Wennersten.
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Andrea and Kristi making their way across Broadway — with Andrea Wennersten and Kristi Floyd Henes.
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Dan getting ready to tear down the anchor and start Broadway himself — with Dan Hamann.
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Andrea and Kristi on Broadway — with Andrea Wennersten and Kristi Floyd Henes.
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Andrea pretty excited to be in this amazing place — with Andrea Wennersten and Kristi Floyd Henes.
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A view from Broadway to Mills Glacier and Chasm Lake
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Looking up from the same spot as the previous picture
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After an exciting stroll down Broadway we reached the Notch Couloir.
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A view of Mt. Lady Washington and Chasm Lake from the Notch Couloir.
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Dan starts the first 5.4 pitch of Kieners. The start of the climb was just outside of the Notch Couloir to climbers right. — with Dan Hamann.
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Kristi belays Dan as Andrea watches him climb. Chasm Lake in the distance — with Andrea Wennersten and Kristi Floyd Henes.
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Alex starting the first pitch of Kieners
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Andrea starting the first pitch of Kieners... Alex above. Alex, Andrea and Kristi simul-climbed most of the day. — with Andrea Wennersten.
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Andrea climbing higher on the first pitch with Alex above. We climbed what has been described as two pitches in other trips reports as one pitch. — with Andrea Wennersten.
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The same spot as the previous picture with the Notch Couloir to the left. Thought this might be helpful in identifying where the route is with respect to the Notch — with Andrea Wennersten.
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Andrea climbing on our first pitch — with Andrea Wennersten.
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Andrea entering into a room that would be the end of our first pitch. — with Andrea Wennersten.
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Kristi... standing in the room at the end of our first pitch... excited to see what lies ahead. We made a critical route finding mistake here. The correct move was to go hard right and scramble to some grassy ledges. However Dan climbed climbers center/left to get dead ended. — with Dan Hamann and Kristi Floyd Henes.
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Dan setting up a rappel after getting dead ended. It was an exciting move as many of the rocks available for anchor were loose. Dan descended back to the room at the end of our first pitch like a pro. — with Dan Hamann.
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Kristi making her way onto the grassy ledges after our first pitch. — with Kristi Floyd Henes.
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A view from the grassy ledges. Lamb's Slide sure looks nasty and STEEP!
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Lunch Buddy
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Dan climbing some low 5 above the grassy ledges. There were smooth slabs on either side of this crack. — with Dan Hamann.
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Kristi above the crack system — with Kristi Floyd Henes.
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Andrea and Kristi negotiate some 3rd/4th class — with Kristi Floyd Henes and Andrea Wennersten.
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Our target for most of the day was the pyramid looking rock in the sun on the right
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Kristi with the Notch in the distance — with Kristi Floyd Henes.
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Dan and Alex climbing the blocks — with Dan Hamann.
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This block was to the right of the black dihedral. The move seemed a bit exposed so we roped and climbed one by one.
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Alex makes his way around an extremely exposed corner. This was another easy single move section we roped up for.
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Alex and Kristi with Chasm Lake in the distance — with Kristi Floyd Henes.
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Dan and Alex ready for the final scramble to the summit — with Dan Hamann.
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Dan and Alex approach the summit
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Summit Group Shot... pretty excited crowd — with Kristi Floyd Henes, Dan Hamann and Andrea Wennersten.
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Hey Kristi... where are we? — with Kristi Floyd Henes.
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Awwww... — with Kristi Floyd Henes.
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The summit of Long's is massive and flat — with Dan Hamann and Andrea Wennersten.
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Getting ready to rappel down Long's North Face to the bolder field aka the Cable Route — with Kristi Floyd Henes.
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Andrea and Dan finishing up the rappel as Alex looks on — with Andrea Wennersten and Dan Hamann.
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Kristi and Andrea make their way through the boulder field — with Kristi Floyd Henes and Andrea Wennersten.
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An awesome view of the Key Hole
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Longs Peak... the Diamond and the Notch
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Long's Peak... the Diamond on the left... the Key Hole on the right
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"Hey... Can you spare a square?" Dan enjoy's the privy in the boulder field — with Dan Hamann.
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On you mark... get set... — with Dan Hamann.
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awww... Alex and Kristi in the boulder field... getting ready to close out an amazing adventure — with Kristi Floyd Henes.
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Alex and Dan... "there's nothing to see here" — with Dan Hamann.
