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Pyramid Peak (Colorado)

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Pyramid Peak
Pyramid Peak as seen from Maroon Peak in 2009
Highest point
Elevation14,025 ft (4,275 m)[1][2]
Prominence1,638 ft (499 m)[3]
Isolation2.09 mi (3.36 km)[3]
ListingColorado Fourteener
Geography
Pyramid Peak is located in Colorado
Pyramid Peak
Pyramid Peak
Colorado
LocationPitkin County, Colorado, United States
RegionUS-CO
Parent rangeElk Mountains, Rocky Mountains
Topo mapUSGS Maroon Bells
Climbing
First ascent1909 by Percy Hagerman and Harold Clark
Easiest routeExposed scramble, class 4

Pyramid Peak is a fourteen thousand foot mountain in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is the 47th highest mountain peak in Colorado, and 78th highest peak in the United States. It is located in the Elk Mountains in southeastern Pitkin County, approximately 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Aspen. The summit somewhat resembles a ragged square pyramid and is visible from the Roaring Fork River valley north of Aspen along the canyon of Maroon Creek.

Like many of the peaks in the Elks, Pyramid Peak is quite steep, especially compared to more gentle fourteeners such as Mount Elbert. For example, the peak's summit rises 4,000 feet (1,200 m) above Crater Lake to the northwest in only 1.2 miles (1.9 km), and 4,400 feet (1,300 m) above East Maroon Creek to the east of the peak in the same horizontal distance.[4]

Climbing

The standard climbing routes on Pyramid Peak are the northeast and northwest ridges (the latter is also known as the "Keyhole Route"). These routes involve difficult route finding (very difficult, in the case of the northwest ridge), high exposure, and a great deal of loose rock. Hence they are two of the most difficult and dangerous of all of the standard routes on the Colorado fourteeners.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "NGS Data Sheet KL0810 for the PYRAMID station on Pyramid Peak, Colorado". United States National Geodetic Survey. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  2. ^ The elevation of Pyramid Peak includes an adjustment of +2.009 m (+6.59 ft) from NGVD 29 to NAVD 88.
  3. ^ a b "Pyramid Peak, Colorado". Summits of the World. peakbagger.com. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  4. ^ "Pyramid Peak". TopoQuest. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
  5. ^ Dawson, Louis W., II (1994). Dawson's Guide to Colorado's Fourteeners. Vol. Volume 1. Blue Clover Press. ISBN 0-9628867-1-8. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)