Mt. Langley via North East Couloir

April 17 2022

Mt. Langley is generally viewed as one of the easier 14ers when approached via the hiking trail from the Cottonwood Pass Trailhead. The approach from Tuttle Creek is more direct, but includes a bigger climb and requires going up the NE Couloir. Above is the view from the trailhead.

After learning that another group of climbers was seeking to attempt Langley that weekend, I decided to join them. I wanted to stick to my single push approach, and therefore decided to meet them early in the morning rather than camp with them. Alarm set to 1:50 am, up at 2:00 am, moving at 2:20 am.

Hiking in the dark sucks. Previous knowledge of the route is handy when your brain is still half asleep. I had scouted the first 3 miles of the route the day before, which allowed me to move quickly.

The route past my scouting mission was awful. After some crappy bushwhacking, I moved past the treeline. The alpenglow is always welcome, and a treat.

I finally found where my fellow climbers were camped, at around 11,000ft. I wasn't sure if they were still asleep or not, but then some headlamps high above in the mountain caught my eye.

I scrambled to catch up. At this point, I had climbed ~4000ft. Crampons on. Ice axe out.

I moved across patches of snow, snow fields, and boulder fields. The entrance of the couloir started to appear. It was huge, bigger than Whitney's mountainnering route, or the Crescent moon couloir.

I saw a person above, and kept pushing. Climbing became slower. The slope became steeper. Effects of elevation started to kick in.

I noticed two climbers coming towards me. They decided to turn back, as there was a lot of fresh snow above, and it was concerning. This late in the season, a wet loose avalanche is not out of the question. The sun was in full force now. I made a decision to keep going until it stopped making sense.

I finally reached the junction at the top. I could go left or right. I decided to go right as it looked like I would hit the ridge line sooner. It wasn't the best choice. The right side seemed to be more exposed to the sun, and lacked a base layer of snow. Only snow from the most recent storm covered the surface. My crampons were going through all the snow and digging into the rocky and sandy talus.

I pushed towards the summit. It's more of a traverse than I had expected. I notice the other entrance to the couloir, as well as another couloir that is supposed to be a no-go zone. I eventually make it.

The summit was beautiful. I snap a few photos, sign the register, and get going. I had to go back down before it gets any warmer.

I chose to go down the alternate route. It was very steep. I was doing my best to move fast, but not make any mistakes. I descended facing the slope for the most part, and encountered three small rocky cliff down-climbs. They weren't extremely difficult, but I knew a mistake would be costly. I finally linked up to where I diverged earlier. I had moved past the difficult part. Phew.

Once I was out of the couloir, I moved faster. Soon I removed my crampons and was able to make good pace. I found a stream to filter water (which I finished coming down the couloir), and stopped for food.

The rest was fast going. It took me 12 hours and 40 min total. I was happy with my time, and relieved to be back.