Top 20 Hardest 14ers.com Routes

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
Forum rules
  • This is a mountaineering forum, so please keep your posts on-topic. Posts do not all have to be related to the 14ers but should at least be mountaineering-related.
  • Personal attacks and confrontational behavior will result in removal from the forum at the discretion of the administrators.
  • Do not use this forum to advertise, sell photos or other products or promote a commercial website.
  • Posts will be removed at the discretion of the site administrator or moderator(s), including: Troll posts, posts pushing political views or religious beliefs, and posts with the purpose of instigating conflict within the forum.
    For more details, please see the Terms of Use you agreed to when joining the forum.
User avatar
TallGrass
Posts: 2328
Joined: 6/29/2012
13ers: 26
Trip Reports (0)
 

Top 20 Hardest 14ers.com Routes

Post by TallGrass »

With #1 being the hardest, what are the Top 20 hardest routes listed here?

Best stabs are fine. Note that some like the Diamond on Longs (it could have it's own T20), Blanca-Little Bear traverse, and Little Bear NW Face (used to be a page) are not listed and thus out. Comparing numbers below it appears there's the Lost Seven, but if listed they're in for consideration.

Some links:
https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/usrpeaksrall.php users ranking standard routes
https://www.14ers.com/routes.php "contains 148 detailed routes on the 14ers"
https://www.14ers.com/routes_byexposure.php has 141 routes (I wonder what the Lost Seven are?)
I only count three Class 5 and ten Class 4, then over forty Class 3 routes.

Bells Traverse
Crestones Traverse
Ellingwood Arete/Ledges


Capitol Peak - Northeast Ridge
El Diente Peak - North Buttress
Kit Carson Peak - North Ridge
Little Bear Peak - West Ridge and Southwest Face
Maroon Peak - Bell Cord Couloir
Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Mt. Wilson - North Slopes
North Maroon Peak - Northeast Ridge
Pyramid Peak - Northeast Ridge
Sunlight Peak - South Face


Edit: Alphabetical order correction.
Last edited by TallGrass on Thu Dec 28, 2017 11:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"A few hours' mountain climbing make of a rogue and a saint two fairly equal creatures.
Tiredness is the shortest path to equality and fraternity - and sleep finally adds to them liberty."
User avatar
BillMiddlebrook
Site Administrator
Posts: 6594
Joined: 7/25/2004
14ers: 58  47  19 
13ers: 174 45 37
Trip Reports (5)
 

Re: Top 20 Hardest 14ers.com Routes

Post by BillMiddlebrook »

:iluvbeer:
Proud to be against fascism, racism, xenophobia and stupidity.
User avatar
highpilgrim
Posts: 3185
Joined: 3/14/2008
14ers: 58 
13ers: 84 1
Trip Reports (1)
 

Re: Top 20 Hardest 14ers.com Routes

Post by highpilgrim »

BillMiddlebrook wrote::iluvbeer:
Hmmm...

Let me take a stab at that.


:iluvbeer: :iluvbeer:
Call on God, but row away from the rocks.
Hunter S Thompson

Walk away from the droning and leave the hive behind.
Dick Derkase
User avatar
rijaca
Posts: 3420
Joined: 7/8/2006
14ers: 58  4 
13ers: 244 1 2
Trip Reports (1)
 

Re: Top 20 Hardest 14ers.com Routes

Post by rijaca »

highpilgrim wrote:
BillMiddlebrook wrote::iluvbeer:
Hmmm...

Let me take a stab at that.


:iluvbeer: :iluvbeer:
I'll drink to that!

:iluvbeer: :iluvbeer: :iluvbeer:
"A couple more shots of whiskey,
the women 'round here start looking good"
User avatar
TallGrass
Posts: 2328
Joined: 6/29/2012
13ers: 26
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Top 20 Hardest 14ers.com Routes

Post by TallGrass »

:-k
1) Ellingwood Arete/Ledges
2) Bells Traverse
3) Crestones Traverse
4) Little Bear Peak - West Ridge and Southwest Face
5) Capitol Peak - Northeast Ridge
6) Sunlight Peak - South Face
7) El Diente Peak - North Buttress
8) Pyramid Peak - Northeast Ridge
9) Kit Carson Peak - North Ridge
10) North Maroon Peak - Northeast Ridge
11) Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
12) Mt. Wilson - North Slopes
13) Maroon Peak - Bell Cord Couloir
14) Mt. Lindsey - North Face
15) Kit Carson Peak - Via Challenger Point
16) Mt. Sneffels - From Yankee Boy Basin
17) Windom Peak - West Ridge
18) Conundrum Peak - Via Castle Peak
19) Ellingwood Point - South Face
20) Challenger Point - North Slope
User avatar
XterraRob
Posts: 1177
Joined: 7/20/2015
14ers: 42  7 
13ers: 14
Trip Reports (4)
 

Re: Top 20 Hardest 14ers.com Routes

Post by XterraRob »

Assuming summer conditions? Veriglass on some of those can really make the difficulty jump.
RIP - M56
Re-introduce Grizzly Bears into the Colorado Wilderness™
Flyingfish
Posts: 281
Joined: 5/23/2011
14ers: 58  3 
Trip Reports (1)
 

Re: Top 20 Hardest 14ers.com Routes

Post by Flyingfish »

Hmm I would probably put Torreys via Kelso Ridge higher than both Sneffles and Conundrum
User avatar
TallGrass
Posts: 2328
Joined: 6/29/2012
13ers: 26
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Top 20 Hardest 14ers.com Routes

Post by TallGrass »

Flyingfish wrote:Hmm I would probably put Torreys via Kelso Ridge higher than both Sneffles and Conundrum
Interesting, only one of the 7 Torreys Routes (Combo isn't numbered) is listed on https://www.14ers.com/routes_bydifficulty.php .
One of 2 Sneffels, 2 of 3 Lindsey, and 3 of 5 Blanca/Ellingwood routes also aren't listed as well, so there's more than "148."
"A few hours' mountain climbing make of a rogue and a saint two fairly equal creatures.
Tiredness is the shortest path to equality and fraternity - and sleep finally adds to them liberty."
User avatar
DeTour
Posts: 672
Joined: 7/27/2007
14ers: 46 
13ers: 7
Trip Reports (30)
 

Re: Top 20 Hardest 14ers.com Routes

Post by DeTour »

OK I'll bite.

Haven't done Mt. Wilson, but based on lots of research I would expect it to be rated harder than Pyramid or North Maroon.

I would certainly put Longs and El Diente higher than any of the last seven routes on that list.

If you add Longs and the alternate ridge routes that have route descriptions on 14ers.com but aren't listed on the "routes by difficulty" page, it would bump some of the lower ones off the list, which I would call a good thing. It almost seems silly to count Windom thru Challenger Point on any "most difficult" list. Give some love to the ridge routes - Ellingood (on LaPlata), Sneffels SW, Kelso, Ellingwood Point SW, and even Tour d'Abyss.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Once torched by truth, a little thing like faith is easy.
Swede Landing, 'Peace Like a River'
The land is forever.
- Steve Almburg, Illinois centennial farmer
User avatar
highpilgrim
Posts: 3185
Joined: 3/14/2008
14ers: 58 
13ers: 84 1
Trip Reports (1)
 

Re: Top 20 Hardest 14ers.com Routes

Post by highpilgrim »

DeTour wrote:Haven't done Mt. Wilson, but based on lots of research I would expect it to be rated harder than Pyramid or North Maroon.
If you do Wilson from the backdoor, that is not the case. It's relatively easy class three, if you go through the pooper.

https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=12434
Call on God, but row away from the rocks.
Hunter S Thompson

Walk away from the droning and leave the hive behind.
Dick Derkase
21toothakerk
Posts: 1
Joined: 8/31/2020
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Top 20 Hardest 14ers.com Routes

Post by 21toothakerk »

Longs Peak diamond?
User avatar
hellmanm
Posts: 364
Joined: 8/5/2014
14ers: 58 
13ers: 57 1
Trip Reports (8)
 

Re: Top 20 Hardest 14ers.com Routes

Post by hellmanm »

I hate to be that guy, but isn't this extremely subjective? Plenty of folks would have a lot more trouble on the standard route on Pikes than they would on Wetterhorn, since the standard route on Pikes requires around 7'000 of elevation gain. Some would call San Luis more committing than Longs, because the drive time requires a lot more from you. For those strapped for cash, Culebra could be more burdensome than Pyramid. You get the idea... different people find different things challenging. None of these require world-class technical skill, so it's really about which factors challenge each individual most.
OnlineOnline