Mountains above 14000 feet in Colorado.

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.

RankNameHeightPrimary factorParentSaddle
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 PeakA 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 LincolnSaddle 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 HarvardRabbit Ridge, Harvard to Colombia
36** Missouri Mountain 4288 258 Mount BelfordElkhead Pass, on the connecting saddle
37** Humboldt Peak 4287 367 Crestone PeakFirst 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 PeakFirst saddle north of Sunshine

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