Technical climb: Class 3 with Class 4 moves and serious exposure
The Keyboard of the Winds is a row of rock towers below Longs Peak. The route climbs 1,200 feet of loose scree, a Class 4 slot through a dark cliff band that is hard to find again from above, and an exposed Class 3 tower. This page is an outline, not a move-by-move guide.
DifficultyClass 4
Round trip13.8 mi
Elevation gain5,800'
TrailheadGlacier Gorge (Rocky Mountain National Park)
Trailhead elevation9,265'
Conditions on the summit
LoadingFetching the forecast for 13,307'…
—Summit temp now
—Sustained wind
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Day three
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Afternoon storm risk is the line that matters. Everything else is comfort. In summer, plan to be off the ridge before the build-up starts, not as it starts. Forecast for the summit point, adjusted for its elevation · data from Open-Meteo.
Colorado 13er · Pagoda-Keyboard Couloir from Glacier Gorge
Overview
The Keyboard of the Winds is the row of spires on the ridge between Pagoda Mountain and Longs Peak. From Glacier Gorge you hike to Black Lake, cross a confusing glacial shelf, grind up the Pagoda-Keyboard couloir, climb through a dark cliff band by a slot with one or two Class 4 moves, and scramble up the highest tower.
The couloir is 1,200 feet of steep, shifting scree and dirt. Every other notch in the cliff band is Class 5, so mark the slot with a GPS before going higher. The top of Tower 1 is exposed Class 3.
The round trip is about 13.8 miles with 5,800 feet of gain.
Plan of the day
Start by
By 4 a.m.
Turnaround
Be at the top of the couloir by 10 a.m.
Crux
The Class 4 slot through the dark cliff band, and finding it again on the way down.
Route-finding
Difficult. Look back often on the glacial shelf so you can retrace it. Mark the top of the cliff-band gully with GPS; it sits where the top edge of the cliff changes from nearly flat to dropping south.
From Estes Park, enter Rocky Mountain National Park at the Beaver Meadows entrance and drive Bear Lake Road to the Glacier Gorge trailhead. The lot fills very early; a park shuttle also stops here.
The park charges an entry fee and may require a timed-entry reservation in summer. Dogs aren't allowed on trails. Check the park website.
Glacier Gorge (Rocky Mountain National Park). Road conditions near the trailhead change after storms. Check your clearance and have a backup plan for a lower lot.
ScramblingTrail in the treesExposed to lightning
The line is elevation, the band underneath is the ground, and the numbered dots match the steps below. Mileage and elevations are approximate.
1
Glacier Gorge trailhead 9,265' · 0 mi
Just past Chaos Creek, go right, then immediately left toward Mills Lake.
2
Shortcut 9,500' · 0.45 mi
About a tenth of a mile on, past two small bridges, an easy-to-miss path climbs from behind a small split rock by a house-sized slab. It skips Alberta Falls and saves half a mile.
3
Mills-Loch junction 9,825' · 1.7 mi
Back on the main trail, take the left fork, signed for Mills and Black lakes.
4
Mills Lake 9,950' · 2.3 mi
Cross two bridges and follow the lake's south shore, past Jewel Lake and an area of trees flattened by a 2011 windstorm.
5
Black Lake 10,600' · 4.3 mi
Pass the campground turnoff, climb beside Ribbon Falls, and reach Black Lake.
6
End of trail 10,900' · 4.6 mi
Follow the trail south of the lake, hop across Green Lake's outlet stream and climb a rock gully. The trail ends here.
7
Glacial shelf 11,300' · 5 mi
Link rock slabs and paths through brush past marshy streams to grassy tundra. Cairns lead several ways.
Watch for: Easy to get lost coming back. Look behind you often.
8
Couloir 13,075' · 6.1 mi
Wind around cliffs and slabs to enter the Pagoda-Keyboard couloir at about 11,850 feet, then climb 1,200 feet of steep, loose scree and dirt.
Watch for: Rocks come loose easily. Helmets.
9
Cliff band 13,200' · 6.4 mi
Scramble Class 3 to the base of the dark cliff band. Where water channels come out, find a slot against the wall, often with a trickle of water, and climb it with one or two Class 4 moves. Continue up the gully and exit right.
Watch for: Mark this spot with GPS.
10
Summit 13,307' · 6.9 mi
Head to the base of Tower 1, go right up one ramp to another, and climb the tower as exposed Class 3.
Watch for: Serious exposure.
Getting down
Find the cliff-band gully again (cairns mark its top; others farther north lead nowhere), down-climb it, descend the couloir and pick your way back across the shelf to Black Lake.
If things go wrong
Below the cliff band, go back down the couloir.
3D flyover
No 3D flyover for this peak
Past Black Lake the route is trailless and technical. A flyover only works when there is a set trail to trace. Without one, the line would be a guess, and a guess could send you the wrong way on the mountain. Use the step-by-step route with a good map and GPS track instead.
See the trail on video
No video yet
We haven’t found a good video of this route that matches the way we describe it. The route strip, junctions and 3D flyover show the way in the meantime.
Other routes
Every way up Keyboard of the Winds we list, with its class.
This describes the route on a dry summer day. Most 13ers see few people, so there may be no one along behind you. Check recent conditions the week you go, carry a map, tell someone your plan, and turn around when the day tells you to.