The Diamond is the sheer and prominent east face of Longs Peak and named for the shape of the cliff. The face has a vertical gain of more than 900 feet all above an elevation of 13,000 feet. It is a world famous big wall.[1]
In 1954 the first proposal made to the National Park Service to climb The Diamond and was met with an official closure, a stance not changed until 1960. The Diamond was first ascended by Dave Rearick and Bob Kamps that year, 1960, by a route that would come to be known simply as "D1". This route would later be listed in Allen Steck and Steve Roper's influential book Fifty Classic Climbs of North America.[2][3] The easiest route on the face, the Casual Route (5.10-), was first climbed in 1977 and became the most popular route up the wall.