Sunlight Spire Poll

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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Would it be nice to have Sunlight Spire be considered a 14'er?

Yes! It would be nice if one of the 14'ers required technical climbing, and make completion of the 14ers more meaningful!
89
23%
Yes, because if some list include North Maroon and El Diente, Sunlight should be included.
56
15%
No, because it would make climbing the 14'ers too hard for most people.
23
6%
No, because the 300 feet rule should be set in stone, and eliminates other peaks such as North Maroon and El Diente as well.
94
24%
I really don't care either way.
124
32%
 
Total votes: 386
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Scott P
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Sunlight Spire Poll

Post by Scott P »

Sunlight Spire now has a corrected elevation of 14,000 feet. Since there have been so many threads on the subject, how about a poll? :D
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CO Native
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Post by CO Native »

The problem with this poll, is who are we expecting to count Sunlight Spire as a 14er? Those who abide by the 300' rule won't. Those who abide by the named summit rule will. Those who go with the "classics" list won't.
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Sunlight Spire

Post by ColoradoScott »

I vote no, but not for the options listed above. Granted I have never been in Chicago Basin (yet) but from all of the photographs I have seen of the spire, it is just that...a spire, not a mountain. It is nothing more than a high ridge point, similar to others that can be found throughout the state, such as on the El Diente/Mt. Wilson ridge or the Crestone's connecting ridge.

Despite that, if you feel so inclined to climb it then power to ya. I personally don't feel the draw and would rather climb something below 14K that has more "significance" as a mountain.
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Post by Scott P »

I vote no, but not for the options listed above.


Yep, sorry about that. The poll only allowed five choices. Anyway, here's a photo:

Image
The problem with this poll, is who are we expecting to count Sunlight Spire as a 14er? Those who abide by the 300' rule won't. Those who abide by the named summit rule will. Those who go with the "classics" list won't.
True. The poll is to see the percentage of each of the above, which is unknown. Unfortunately, we need more choices, but the poll is limited.
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Post by Chicago Transplant »

I voted no because my goal is the centennials and I never had Sunlight Spire on the list in the first place. Even before I knew it was a 5.10 rock pitch I didn't plan on climbing it. Basically I am one of those "300' rule people". I don't count N Maroon, El Diente, Cameron, N Eolus, Conundrum, S Elbert, NE Longs, Random bump on the ridge #27, etc. I think there needs to be a cut off somewhere and 300' seems to be the accepted standard. This doesn't mean I won't ever climb it or any other false summit for that matter. I have climbed several "unranked" peaks and will continue to do so, I'm sure N Maroon will be a great climb when I do it, it just doesn't count on my list :wink:
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Post by BillMiddlebrook »

I don't think it should count. To me it's just a close point along Sunlight's ridge. The 300-foot guideline works well in most cases and there has to be some cut-off or there could be many, many more points that are considered "peaks." The interesting discussion on the spire will take place after the real elevation is determined. When it's accurately measured using high-end gps technology - not manual triangulation methods. The recent recalculations don't necessarily give us the correct elevation. Is it 14k? The jury is still out. Will I climb it someday? Oh, I hope so...

Here's a photo from Tuesday (7/25/2006):
Image
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Post by Layne Bracy »

A minor point - "Sunlight Spire" is unnamed, similar to "North Massive", "South Elbert", etc. However, to me, whether a peak is officially named or not should be irrelevant to its status as a peak.

The way I see it, there are 53 ranked 14ers, having 300' prominence.

There are also 14 unranked 14ers which have between 100' and 299' prominence.

Conundrum Pk, Mt Cameron, El Diente, North Maroon, and North Eolus being named.

"North Massive", "Massive Green", "South Massive", "South Elbert", "West Evans", "Southeast Longs", "Northeast Crestone", "West Wilson", and "South Wilson" being unnamed.

If "Sunlight Spire" is indeed 14000', with estimated 215' prominence, it should be added to this unranked list, making it total 15.

By the way, does anyone have a link to an official source that "Sunlight Spire" is 14000'?
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Post by Floyd »

Where is the choice: "No, because I don't ever see my fat butt ever getting up that thing!!"?
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Post by gdthomas »

I voted "I don't care" because I don't care. However, I imagine if it were considered a separate 14er, it would increase the chance of pro and/or ropes/slings being left behind on it (like there is on the Bells and LB) and I'm against leaving man made items of any kind on the 14ers (or any other mountain for that matter).
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Post by Jim Davies »

Layne Bracy wrote:The way I see it, there are 53 ranked 14ers, having 300' prominence.

There are also 14 unranked 14ers which have between 100' and 299' prominence.

Conundrum Pk, Mt Cameron, El Diente, North Maroon, and North Eolus being named.
That's a very interesting list. There are 58 14ers that are either ranked or named. For some reason, I never hear anybody using that number.

I guess all the ranked 14ers are also named...

Mike Garratt undertook the project to climb all the peaks over 11,000' that were either ranked or named in Colorado. That's a project that deserves some respect for its thoroughness.

I'm not sure what the fascination on this web site with Sunlight Spire is all about, frankly. It's just a rock on a ridge.
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Post by Meteor »

class 5.10a, eh? I think that would be a blast for me to climb that point... and by "blast" I mean the sound it would make when I hit bottom a few hundred feet down! #-o
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Post by Scott P »

Bump for final results.
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