Week Summary: June 11 - 17

6/11/2012
Mon-AM: 1:34, 3500' ~ Quandary Peak (14,265')
First time I've ever done this peak in dry (non-winter) conditions.  57:30 from the trailhead. Lots of people on this route for a weekday.

6/12/2012
Tue-AM: 2:32, 4500' ~ Mt. Elbert (14,433')
Pretty standard outing up and down the NE ridge from Halfmoon Creek.

6/13/2012
Wed-AM: 2:16, 4000' ~ South & North Arapaho Peaks (13,397' & 13,502')
Started from the 4th of July TH above Nederland, straight north up an avy chute to the ridge, and then out and back on the Class 3 traverse between the two peaks. Perfect morning weatherwise. Some fun, moderate exposure out on the traverse, 15min between peaks, in both directions.
PM: 0:51, 1500' ~ 2nd Flatiron
Quick evening ascent of the flattie w/ Joe. Downclimbed it, too, which was good practice.

6/14/2012
Thu-AM: 1:16, 3000' ~ Green Mt.
Up 3rd access and down 1st Flatiron w/ Joe.  Missed the mountain, good to get back on it. Crazy how lush everything is down here on the Front Range.
PM: 1:00, 1500' ~ 2nd Flatiron
Evening ascent of the flattie w/ Marissa. Dropped my camera maybe 50ft off the deck and it exploded at the bottom. Big bummer. I like taking pictures.

6/15/2012
Fri-AM: 5:10, 5000' ~ Longs Peak (14,259')
Up Kieners and down the North Face (Cables). Got out with Buzz and Peter for some product testing during an introduction to the uber-classic Kieners Route on the East face of Longs. Snow conditions in the Lambs Slide couloir were perfect, and any snow on Broadway was easy to step around. Psyched to find a rope already fixed for the rappel down the Cables, but was sorta bummed to carry a 60m rope all day and never use it.

6/16/2012
Sat-AM: 2:38, 5000' ~ Longs Peak (14,259')
Up Kieners and down the Cables w/ Joe. Hiked all the way up the mountain, but found a nice groove on the way down below the Cables and ran back to the trailhead.  Did a fair bit of stopping for pics and video. Incredible day out w/ clouds and mist high on the mountain.

6/17/2012
Sun-AM: 2:28, 5000' ~ Longs Peak (14,259')
Up Kieners and down Cables. Went back yet again today to go for a quick time on this line, no stopping. After yesterday, I thought I could hit something decent. Unfortunately, today was extremely windy and my climbing legs were flat, no energy all-around.  I still had what I think is a solid time of 2:28:31 for the round-trip with a 1:41:37 ascent and a 46:54 descent.  I can definitely take that uphill under 1:40 with fresh legs and on the way down I bumped into Andy Anderson (absolute roundtrip record holder on Longs), so had to chat with him for a couple of minutes before continuing down. If I hadn't done that, I think I would've been close to his 44min descent from his record run last summer.  But, there was a fixed rope on the Cables slabs that he didn't have during the record, so the time probably evens out.  All in all, a great day out, but a bit low-energy. Hit one gel before the snow traverse, didn't carry any water.

For those interested, full splits:
Goblin sign - 12:30
Battle Mt sign - 26:45
Chasm turn-off - 37:50
Chasm Lake (east end) - 47:30
Bottom of Lambs Slide ridge - 59:40
Start of snow traverse - 1:12
Entry of Broadway - 1:17
Base of Notch Couloir - 1:23:10
Diamond Step - 1:38:15
Summit boulder - 1:41:37 (left summit at 1:42:00)

Top of Cables (fixed rope) - 1:48
Chasm View - 1:50:40
Crossing of standard trail (below Granite Pass) - 2:05:40
Crossing of Battle Mt CG trail - 2:14:50
Goblin sign - 2:22:25
Pavement - 2:28:31

Just like Saturday, I used every shortcut I know of below treeline, and instead of crampons and ice axe I scrambled the ridge just to the left of Lambs Slide before traversing the snow over to Broadway.  Credit goes to Buzz Burrell for this bit of beta; it's nice not carrying all that gear/metal.

Hours: 19h45
Vert: 33,000'

A solid week, but I made the decision this week to not run Hardrock.  I'm not willing to push my training to include 3+ hr runs and continually reaggravate my shin.  At this point, I'm planning on the Speedgoat 50K as my return to competition at the end of July.  Hopefully, by then, the shin will be strong enough to endure the long training runs needed to race 100mi at the end of the summer (Leadville).

South (left) and North Arapaho Peaks on Wednesday.

North Arapaho summit.

The LA Freeway: A term coined by Buzz Burrell to describe a journey from Longs Peak (high point, left-center horizon) to Arapaho Peak via the Continental Divide. The mother-of-all-traverses on the Front Range if one sticks to the ridge.

Topping out on Kieners on Longs Peak Friday morning. Photo: Buzz Burrell.

Traversing Lambs Slide high on Longs Peak, Saturday morning. Photo: Joe Grant.

No place quite like Broadway. Photo: Joe Grant.

Starting up the Crux Cracks at the base of the Notch Couloir. Photo: Joe Grant.

Photo: Joe Grant.

Heading up towards the Diamond Step. Photo: Joe Grant.

Ledges above the Diamond Step. Photo: Joe Grant.

Negotiating the wet Cables slabs on the North face with the help of a fixed rope. Photo: Joe Grant.