There are 550 ranked (primary factor of 91 meter) summits in Colorado
exceeding 4000 meter! But "only" 53 of those exceed 4267 meter.
These are the "famous" Fourteeners,
peaks exceeding 14.000 feet measured with a primary factor
of 300 feet. (One foot is 0.3048 meter.)
A "real" mountain (in the USA) is defined to have a minimal drop (before one can ascend something higher) of at least 300 feet, or about 91 meter. This is quite in agreement with the use of 100 meter for mountains elsewhere. The "parent" is the closest higher peak that can be reached with the least loss of elevation (ie., with an elevation loss equal to the peaks primary factor).
Note that there exists "An Official List of Fourteeners" in Colordao,
this list includes two peaks with a lower primary factor and excludes
one peak, Challenger Point, that meets the 300 foot primary
factor requirement. This is noted
in the table below, listing the two peaks in question as unranked (NR).
It should be noted that one peak, Culebra, poses unusual difficulties.
The peak is on private land and the owner does NOT permit climbers access.
The only exception is a yearly group hike with limited participation
organized by the Colorado Mountain Club (CMC). They conduct
a lottery to pick the people that may participate. I climbed this peak
with the CMC group in August 2003.
This situation is, in my opinion, completely unacceptable, it is a sharp
contrast to the laws of Norway, where
Every Man's Right guarantees that hikers and climbers can access
wilderness areas regardless of private ownership. Fortunately, most
private land owners in Colorado have a greater social awareness than
the owners of Culebra.
Good references for information about primary factors and parents are the books "Colorado's Fourteeners" and "Colorado's Thirteeners" by Gerry Roach and "Colorado's High Thirteeners" by Mike Garratt and Bob Martin. These books are hereby strongly recommended for anybody interested in the Colorado high peaks.
Two stars behind the rank means that I have climbed it (55/55).
As can be seen, I have completed the Colorado Fourteeners. Starting with Mount Elbert in July 1997 and ending with Culebra Peak in August 2003, spanning a period of 6 years and one month.
Rank | Name | Height | Primary factor | Parent | Saddle |
1** | Mount Elbert | 4399 | 2772 | Mount Whitney | N37:23.020, W117:50.000 |
2** | Mount Massive | 4396 | 598 | Mount Elbert | SE of Mt. Champion, W of Fresco |
3** | Mount Harvard | 4395 | 719 | Mount Elbert | Independence Pass |
4** | Blanca Peak | 4372 | 1623 | Mount Harvard | Poncha Pass |
5** | La Plata Peak | 4370 | 560 | Mount Harvard | NW of Pear Lake |
6** | Uncompahgre Peak | 4361 | 1293 | La Plata Peak | Cochetopa Pass |
7** | Crestone Peak | 4357 | 1388 | Blanca Peak | Mosca Pass |
8** | Mount Lincoln | 4354 | 1178 | Mount Massive | Tennessee Pass |
9** | Grays Peak | 4349 | 844 | Mount Lincoln | Boreas Pass |
10** | Mount Antero | 4349 | 763 | Mount Harvard | Williams Pass |
11** | Torreys Peak | 4349 | 171 | Grays Peak | A single saddle to Greys Peak |
12** | Castle Peak | 4348 | 715 | La Plata Peak | Taylor Pass |
13** | Quandary Peak | 4348 | 343 | Mount Lincoln | tbd |
14** | Mount Evans | 4348 | 842 | Grays Peak | N39:35.786, W105:41.620 |
15** | Longs Peak | 4345 | 896 | Torreys Peak | Berthoud Pass |
16** | Mount Wilson | 4342 | 1227 | Uncompahgre Peak | Lizard Head Pass |
17** | Mount Shavano | 4337 | 493 | Mount Antero | Between Tabeguache Peak and Carbonate Mountain |
18** | Mount Belford | 4327 | 408 | Mount Harvard | tbd |
19** | Crestone Needle | 4327 | 139 | Crestone Peak | Connecting saddle to Crestone Peak |
20** | Mount Princeton | 4327 | 664 | Mount Harvard | Browns Pass (N38.85, W106.36) |
21** | Mount Yale | 4327 | 578 | Mount Harvard | N38:53.259, W106:19.595 |
22** | Mount Bross | 4320 | 95 | Mount Lincoln | Saddle to Mt Cameron |
23** | Kit Carson Mountain | 4317 | 312 | Crestone Peak | tbd |
NR** | El Diente | 4316 | 79 | Mount Wilson | tbd |
24** | Maroon Peak | 4315 | 712 | Castle Peak | East Maroon Pass |
25** | Tabeguache Peak | 4314 | 139 | Mount Shavano | A single saddle to Shavano |
26** | Mount Oxford | 4314 | 199 | Mount Belford | The connecting saddle |
27** | Mount Sneffels | 4313 | 930 | Uncompahgre | Red Mountain Pass |
28** | Mount Democrat | 4312 | 234 | Mount Lincoln | Saddle to Mt Cameron |
29** | Capitol Peak | 4307 | 533 | Maroon Peak | tbd |
30** | Pikes Peak | 4301 | 1686 | Mount Evans | tbd |
31** | Snowmass Mountain | 4295 | 351 | Capitol Peak | tbd |
32** | Mount Eolus | 4292 | 655 | Uncompahgre | N38:00.832, W107:32.296 |
33** | Windom Peak | 4292 | 312 | Mount Eolus | tbd |
34** | Challenger Point | 4292 | 92 | Kit Carson Mountain | Single saddle to Kit Carson |
35** | Mount Colombia | 4289 | 272 | Mount Harvard | Rabbit Ridge, Harvard to Colombia |
36** | Missouri Mountain | 4288 | 258 | Mount Belford | Elkhead Pass, on the connecting saddle |
37** | Humboldt Peak | 4287 | 367 | Crestone Peak | First saddle west of Humboldt |
38** | Mount Bierstadt | 4285 | 219 | Mount Evans | The connecting Sawtooth ridge |
39** | Sunlight Peak | 4285 | 122 | Windom Peak | tbd |
40** | Handies Peak | 4282 | 582 | Sunlight Peak | On Continental Divide, NE of Highland Mary Lakes |
41** | Culebra Peak | 4282 | 1471 | Blanca Peak | La Veta Pass (railroad) |
42** | Ellingwood Point | 4280 | 104 | Blanca Peak | Single saddle to Blanca |
43** | Mount Lindsey | 4280 | 470 | Blanca Peak | tbd |
44** | Little Bear Peak | 4278 | 115 | Blanca Peak | Blanca-Little Bear ridge |
45** | Mount Sherman | 4278 | 273 | Mount Democrat | tbd |
46** | Redcloud Peak | 4278 | 443 | Handies Peak | tbd |
47** | Pyramid Peak | 4273 | 463 | Maroon Peak | tbd |
48** | Wilson Peak | 4272 | 267 | Mount Wilson | Wilson Peak to Gladstone Peak saddle |
49** | Wetterhorn Peak | 4272 | 498 | Uncompahgre Peak | tbd |
NR** | North Maroon Peak | 4271 | 71 | Maroon Peak | Saddle to (South) Maroon Peak |
50** | San Luis Peak | 4271 | 949 | Redcloud Peak | Spring Creek Pass |
51** | Mount of the Holy Cross | 4269 | 643 | Mount Elbert | 1.2 km NW Hagerman Pass or 1.2 km N of Lyle |
52** | Huron Peak | 4268 | 458 | Missouri Mountain | tbd |
53** | Sunshine Peak | 4268 | 153 | Redcloud Peak | First saddle north of Sunshine |
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