North Face of Longs Peak

On July 1, Russell Hunter and I guided a group of 4 guests up the North Face of Longs Peak (14,256ft).  We left the trailhead at 1am and made quick time of the approach, reaching the Boulderfield at around 6am.  We then headed up the initial snowfield to the base of the crux pitch.  We encountered wet rock climbing to start, followed by a section of hollowed ice and finally some moderate snow.  There had been enough melting to leave a few of the old eye bolts exposed for great belay anchors.  We traversed across the upper snowfield and back into rocks where the summit was just a few hundred feet away.  There was a euphoric feeling amongst my group as we summitted just after 9am.  We rested and ate on the summit before beginning our descent at around 10am.  After an exhausting day we reached the trailhead just before 430pm and grinning ear to ear.