Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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Veory wrote: ↑Tue Apr 28, 2026 4:28 pm
Aside from the keyboard of the winds area (which has towers up to 5.8 ) what technical towers are at 13k? Maybe a couple unnamed rocks around the remainder of glacier gorge?
You've got a lot of stuff in the Palasides and around the corner on the east face: Zumie's Thumb, you can find some 5.10 routes on the Flying Buttress as well and yes on the Keyboards as well. The West Face has some towers too to check out.
And if you want to stretch your definition even further (why not), you've got the Cathedral Spires: Petite, Zowee, etc as well as stuff you'll find on the divide like Notchtop, Cracktop, etc and of course all the wonderful stuff in Glacier Gorge.
Much of that makes the one, one pitch crack climb on Sunlight Spire seem kinda diminutive.
Boggy B wrote: ↑Tue Apr 28, 2026 9:24 pm
Scott is right about the Cimarrons hosting a very high concentration of wild unclimbed choss towers, at least some of which have over 100' of prominence, though not many near 13K. The west side of Sheep and the other main Cimarron ridgelines are bonkers.
Yes. The west side of Sheep and Peak 13,102 to the south are wild and full of striped choss towers. It's one of the coolest places in Colorado; it's kind of the San Juans version of Bryce Canyon (though the colors are different).
The other forks of the Cimmaron have them too but not quite in the same concentration.
Precipice Peak has at least one tower that is almost certainly more than 5.10 since it's capped by a balanced rock and is over 13K.
I'm old, slow and fat. Unfortunately, those are my good qualities.
Boggy B wrote: ↑Tue Apr 28, 2026 9:24 pm
RE: Hard towers over 14K, there's a decent amount of rugged terrain over 14K on Crestone Peak and Uncompahgre, though probably not many independent towers. Windom has a bunch of smallish towers on its S ridge but not sure any are over 14K.
Using a Python script I've thrown together using LiDAR derived 1m DEMs, it looks like there are 19 points on the Crestones (the Peak and the Needle) with 20ish+ feet of prominence above 13990 feet.
Using a score metric of prominence squared divided by area above the saddle, the tower in with the red arrow scores pretty high. Its located roughly at 37.9657527N, -105.5853834E and has ~50ft of prominence.
Crestones_Labeled.png
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As far as towers in the Crestones - there are plenty of fun ones with lots of prominence, but if you're looking for something where the easiest route up is 5.10 or harder, that's going to be harder to find.
If you're open to gratuitous class 5 (where you intentionally target a class 5 line up something you could otherwise do at class 3 or 4 - or sometimes less) then there are all sorts of options. But most people seem to snub gratuitous class 5 (which to me feels like snubbing free dubai chocolate...)
Playing around with the LPC's I counted 42 towers on the west slopes of Sheep Mtn (Cimarrons) with >= 100' prominence, from just south of High Mesa down to just south of 13102.
I don't think any are over 13k. Two have 200'+. Tallest 228' here: 38.18569, -107.47911
7 towers around Precipice and Dunsinane with >= 100'. The big one east of Dunsinane is 165'. Another big one east of Precipice has 160'. Both appear in photos in my recent TR.
The pointiest one is west of Dunsinane, 173' tall: 38.13278, -107.54125
I'm sure there are a ton more on the remaining Cimarron ridges. Trying to find a ranked one..
Just out of curiosity, other than height and prominence, is there any minimum mass / size requirement for something to be designated as a mountain or peak?
For example, let's say another spire is found that's over 14,000 ft, but it's only 3 inches wide but has 300 ft of prominence. Doesn't seem like that should be considered a mountain nor a peak, even though technically it could be a legitimate "high point" above 14k.
nyker wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2026 9:18 pm
Just out of curiosity, other than height and prominence, is there any minimum mass / size requirement for something to be designated as a mountain or peak?
For example, let's say another spire is found that's over 14,000 ft, but it's only 3 inches wide but has 300 ft of prominence. Doesn't seem like that should be considered a mountain nor a peak, even though technically it could be a legitimate "high point" above 14k.
For ranked sunnits in Colorado, the only criteria is the 300 feet.
As to the definition a mountain, people have been arguing that for hundreds of years and likely will be until man is extinct.
There are named "mountains" in Florida less than 100 feet high and named hills in Colorado over 13,000 feet high.
I'm old, slow and fat. Unfortunately, those are my good qualities.
Edwardteach wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2026 5:09 pm
images (4)~4.jpgDunsinane_Mountain~2.jpgfile~2.jpg
Yes and Yes. The West Tower Boggy measured at 175 ft and the East at 165 ft prominence. I looked at the Lidar for both towers and got the same numbers.
What about this 13er peak on gash ridge between mt Lindsay and Blanca peak? Does anyone know if it is has 300' of prominence? I know it's not quite a spire but there's climbing and bouldering near by it and Google earth indicates that it is right at 300' or above the saddle low point being 13,012' and the peak being 13,314' [attachment=0]Screenshot_20260901-103152.png
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