Ron Olsen's description of the Casual route
For another view on things, here is a description of
the Casual Route and a trip report put
together by Ron Olsen from when he climbed it in 1988:
We did the North Chimney approach and the North face descent.
The second carried the pack, and hung it down on a sling in the
squeeze section on the crux pitch. We did the climb in one (very
long) day without a bivy.
Ron Olsen
rgo@dr.att.com
Boulder Colorado
---------- Route description -------
The Casual Route IV 5.10-
Approach A: From Mills Glacier, climb the 500-foot
North Chimney: Climb a short snowfield onto slabs left of the
chimney, getting onto rock as soon as possible. Climb the slabs
into the chimney/gully, and continue up 3rd-class, taking care
to avoid loose rock. Near the top of the gully, bypass a short
headwall on the right (5.4) to reach easier ground that is ascended
to Broadway. Walk left on a narrow grassy ledge across the top
of the chimney to reach the base of the D1 pillar. The headwall
can also be bypassed on the left, 5.6. With care, this can all
be done unroped; allow 45 minutes.
Approach B: From Chasm View, do three double-rope rappels
to Broadway, landing on ledges with anchor slings around big blocks.
Watch for loose rock. Scramble 2nd class across Broadway to the
North Chimney, and do the exposed traverse across its top (belay
if desired) to the base of the D1 pillar. Allow at least 1.5 hours.
Climb:
1. (5.8, 155') Start up a short left-facing corner in the
center of the pillar, go up a thin crack (5.8), and step right
to easier rock. Continue up toward the top of the pillar, belaying
as high as possible. You can also climb the left side of the pillar
(4th class) or start further right (5.6).
2. (5.9, 155') Work up left to a finger crack, and climb it
past a pin (5.9) to a small stance at a pin and fixed nut, 30'
up the crack. Belay here if you belayed too low on the pillar.
Traverse left 20' on flakes and ledges to a pin, then work left
and up (5.7) to a second pin. Continue left to the base of a right-facing
corner. Belay here, or if there is enough rope, continue up 20'
to a slightly better stance.
3. (5.8, 145') Climb the corner, bypassing a squeeze on the
right, then go left up slabs to a big alcove. Belay here, or if
there is enough rope, climb the left wall of the alcove 20' to
a ledge below a long right-facing corner.
4. (5.9, 155') Climb the sustained corner via hand and finger
cracks and laybacks. Belay on a small ledge 20' below the top
of the corner, or if there is enough rope, continue to a good
ledge at its top. A cave here can be used as shelter in case
of bad weather.
5. (5.7, 50') Go left and up a corner, past a huge detached
flake, to the Yellow Wall bivy ledge.
6. (5.10-, 140') Climb a sustained, shallow stemming slot
(5.9+) past a number of fixed pins. Continue up a squeeze chimney
(5.8), somewhat runout. Work up to a bulge, clip a pin, and pass
the bulge (5.10- or A0) on the right. Continue to a stance at
Table Ledge crack.
7. (5.8, 120') Hand traverse left (5.8) past two pins, and
climb down and left to a ledge. Work left across the ledge, then
back up past a pin (5.7) to Table Ledge. Continue left until the
ledge widens to a secure width.
Walk across Table Ledge to its left end, and scramble up several
little corners to the scree gully on Kieners; stay roped up for
this if you wish. Follow a trail up the Kieners gully toward
a gray cliff band. Bypass this on the right, and mantle up blocky
ledges toward a red tower on the right skyline. Skirt this to
the right on a high ledge which traverses above the top of the
Diamond, then climb several hundred feet up talus to the summit.
To save time, you can skip the climb to the summit and traverse
directly over to the North Face descent.
Descent:
Descend the North Face down 2nd-class rock, staying prudently
left of the Diamond's right edge. Follow a faint trail down toward
a rock formation shaped like a raised hand with curved fingers
which is located at Chasm View. Steeper ground several hundred
feet directly above Chasm View bars further progress. Locate the
iron eyebolts of the Cables Route and do one long or two short
rappels down a low-angle, wet corner and slabs. Carefully downclimb
a short corner and slab (or else do another short rappel from
an eyebolt) to easier ground at Chasm View. In bad weather or
darkness, the Keyhole descent might be a better choice.
Pro: Rocks to #3.5 Friend, plus 12 quick-draws and several
longer slings.
----------- Trip Report -----------------
DATE: 8/20/88 Sat.
PARTNER:Wyant Clover
AREA: The Diamond, Longs Peak
ROUTES: The Casual Route (5.10-)
COMMENTS: A great day and my first climb on the Diamond!
GEAR: one backpack (MountainSmith Wall Wizard carried
by second; one fanny pack (carried by leader, with raingear, hat,
and gloves)
The hike in went well - a bit of route-finding getting around
Chasm Lake in the dark, but not too bad. The talus field beyond
Chasm Lake was strenuous, as usual. We angled up toward the Diamond,
and skirted some snowfields on the right, eventually getting to
the base of the North Chimney while it was still dark. A guy ahead
of us was a short way up the chimney and knocked down some rock,
hitting Lynn in the elbow. Lynn took our approach shoes and headlamps,
making our pack a lot lighter. We waited 15 minutes for first
light, then six of us headed up the chimney. Crossing the snow
wasn't bad - it was quite short. We climbed the slabs to the left
as far as possible, then carefully climbed the gully up to the
headwall. I bypassed it on the right, the others went left. A
traverse on a narrow grassy ledge led to the D1 pillar and the
start of the climb.
Wyant led the first pitch, up a short left-facing corner to
a face with a thin crack. It was a lot harder than we expected,
at least 5.8. Wyant then stepped right to easier rock and rambled
up a full rope length near the top of the pillar. When I got up
there, we saw the party ahead of us climbing the second pitch
- one of them had taken a 25' fall at the start of the second
pitch and was moving very slowly. They had bivied on Broadway,
and had started up the climb at first light. We waited for them
to get past the finger crack, and I started to lead the second
pitch. I scrambled up left to the crack, and worked up it past
a pin to a stance by a fixed pin and nut. I belayed here, even
though I had enough rope to do the traverse, because the party
ahead of us was too close.
Wyant led the third pitch, across the traverse past two pins
to the base of the long corners. He set up a semi-hanging belay
at the end of the traverse, with the party ahead of us belaying
on a stance 20' further up. I led the fourth pitch, up the corner,
face climbing right past a squeeze, then up left on slabs to a
big alcove. The party ahead of us was waiting there to let us
climb through. It was quite cold in the shade of the alcove, a
big change from the warm sun of the earlier pitches. It was good
to get past them here - there were three parties behind us as
well, and the climb was really getting jammed up.
Wyant led the fifth pitch, up the left wall of the alcove,
then up a long steep corner with hand and finger cracks and sections
of sustained laybacking. He climbed a full ropelength to a small
ledge just below the top of the corner. The rock was very cold
and there were some wet spots on this pitch. The crux was definitely
5.9 - I found it difficult with a pack. I led the sixth pitch,
up to the top of the corner to a good ledge with a little cave,
then left to another corner with a huge detached flake, and up
the corner to the Yellow Wall bivy ledge. We hung out here for
a while, eating, drinking, taking pictures, and getting psyched
for the crux pitch.
I led the seventh pitch, up a sustained stemming slot with
a bunch of fixed pins, then up a runout squeeze chimney, and finally
past a bulge with twin thin cracks (the crux) to Table Ledge
crack. It took me a long time (45 min) to do this lead. Wyant
followed fairly slowly as well, aiding the 5.9+ stemming slot
crux and the 5.10- bulge crux.
By now, there were at least six people on the Yellow Wall
bivy ledge. Wyant led the eighth pitch, hand traversing along
the crack, down to a ledge, across the ledge, then back up to
Table Ledge. He walked across the ledge and belayed after a full
rope length. We stayed roped up and walked to the end of the ledge,
and scrambled up some blocky corners to the Kieners scree gully,
where we unroped and packed up our gear.
We followed a trail up Kieners, passing a gray cliff band
on the right, then up blocky ledges toward a red tower on the
right. Just below the tower, we traversed right on a ledge system
leading out above the top of the Diamond, then climbed up a talus
field to the summit. I found the talus to be very tiring, and
went slowly. We wandered around the summit, took some pictures,
and headed down the north face. We got too far west, over by Spearhead,
and had to traverse across lichen-covered slabs to get back on
route. We found a faint trail and followed it down, eventually
getting to the eyebolts on the Cables Route. We did a long rappel
down low-angle slabs - it was a pain to untangle the rope, and
there was some loose rock. We then downclimbed a short corner
and slab to easier ground at Chasm View. It was good to have
rock shoes on for this. Lynn met us here, and gave us our approach
shoes. We stopped for some drinks and munchies, and then headed
down the trail. Wyant had the big pack, and took off at a fast
pace, while Lynn and I moved much more slowly. We got back to
the trailhead just after dark - I'm glad Wyant was driving.