Flying Dutchman

Our original plan was to ascend Flying Dutchman, climb over the top of The Beaver, rapp into The Notch, and climb to the summit of Longs Peak via Stepladder.

However, I felt like crap from the get-go and was thus really slow. By the time we topped out of Flying Dutchman it was late and the weather was looking a little dodgy. We decided to bail down The Loft.
The couloir was in pretty good condition. The snow was hard styrofoam - great for crampon traction, not so good for ice axe belays. The crux consisted of about 20-30' of water ice. The quality of the ice was okay. Brian protected it with two screws and a couple of cams. Both Fabio and Brian opted for one tool and one ice axe, which I think made it feel a little more spicey to them than it was for me with two tools. Following, with two tools, it seemed pretty straightforward.

Even though we didn't execute the entire plan it was still a good day out in the hills. Any day that includes a visit to Chasm Lake is a good one in my book.

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