Capitol Peak (Colorado)

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Capitol Peak

Capitol Peak, from Capitol Lake
Elevation 14,130 feet (4,307 m)[1]
Location Colorado, United States
Range Rocky Mountains, Elk Mountains
Prominence 1,750 feet (533 m)[2]
Coordinates 39°09′01″N 107°04′59″W / 39.15028, -107.08306
Topo map USGS Capitol Peak
First ascent 1909 by Percy Hagerman and Harold Clark
Easiest route Northeast "Knife" Ridge: exposed scramble (Class 3/4)

Capitol Peak is the thirty-second highest mountain in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Elk Mountains in southern Pitkin County west of Aspen, within the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness. It lies on the long ridge connecting the heart of the Elk Mountains with Mount Sopris to the northwest.

Capitol Peak is one of the most difficult of Colorado's fourteeners to climb. The only non-technical route, the Northeast Ridge, requires crossing the famously exposed "Knife Edge," the northeast ridge of Capitol.

Capitol Peak Knife Edge
Capitol Peak Knife Edge

Fatalities have occurred on this route. Other routes require technical rock climbing, for example, the Northwest Buttress Route (Grade IV, Class 5.9). These routes have significant rockfall danger due to a great deal of loose rock; however the rock is substantially more solid than on the more famous Maroon Bells or on Pyramid Peak.[3]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Capitol Peak on Topozone
  2. ^ Colorado high-prominence peaks
  3. ^ Louis W. Dawson II, Dawson's Guide to Colorado's Fourteeners, Volume 1, Blue Clover Press, 1994, ISBN 0-9628867-1-8
  • Walter R. Borneman and Lyndon J. Lampert; A Climbing Guide to Colorado's Fourteeners; Pruett Publishing Company; ISBN 0-87108-751-0 (1992)

[edit] External links


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