As I waited for the sun to crest over Colorado’s Front Range, adjacent to the sprawl of Denver–Boulder–Fort Collins, a west wind gusted, sending a shiver down my spine. With temperatures around freezing on a rocky ledge at 13,700ft, I searched for reprieve on the lee side of a boulder. I could see the city lights in the distance, but was more concerned with two headlamps approaching quickly, a few hundred feet below.
Between us lay a slab of coarse granite, known as the Cables Route. It’s the most direct way to the summit of Longs Peak, but is less travelled because it’s rated a class 5 rock climb and often carries a river of verglas – black ice – running down it, which climbers must navigate.
