D1 (Longs Peak)

D1

East face of Longs Peak also known as "The Diamond" .
Location Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA
Climbing Area The Diamond, Longs Peak
Route Type Trad/Alpine
Rating 5.7 A4 or 5.12a
Grade V
First ascent Dave Rearick and Bob Kamps, 1960.
FFA Bachar/Westbay; Achey/Briggs

The D1 is the original technical climbing route up The Diamond of Longs Peak. In 1954, when National Park Service was petitioned to allow climbing on The Diamond they responded with an official closure. Climbing on The Diamond was banned until 1960. When the ban was lifted in 1960, Dave Rearick and Bob Kamps were the first to climb the Diamond via a route that would come to be known simply as D1.[1] This route would later be listed in Allen Steck and Steve Roper's influential book Fifty Classic Climbs of North America.[2] Today the route is not necessarily regarded as the best of its grade on The Diamond, some consider other routes to be of higher quality. The easiest and most popular route on the face, the Casual Route (5.10-), was first climbed in 1977.

References

  1. ^ Gillett, Bernard (2001). Rocky Mountain National Park: Estes Park Valley: The Climber's Guide (1st ed.). Earthbound Sports. ISBN 0964369842. 
  2. ^ Roper, Steve; Allen Steck (1979). Fifty Classic Climbs of North America. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books. pp. 201–205. ISBN 0-87156-292-8. 

External links