Crestones

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox mountain The Crestones are a group of four Template:Convert peaks (fourteeners) in the Sangre de Cristo Range above Crestone, central southern Colorado, comprising:

1. Crestone Peak (Template:Convert )
2. Crestone Needle (Template:Convert )
3. Kit Carson Mountain (Template:Convert )
4. Humboldt Peak (Template:Convert )

Snow is usually mostly melted by early July. Climbers can expect afternoon rain, hail, and lightning from the seasonal monsoon in late July and August.

Climbing

• Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle are rock scrambles (Class 3) with some exposure.
• Kit Carson Mountain is a walk-up (Class 2), but only if the correct route is carefully followed; it has claimed more lives than Crestone Peak or Crestone Needle. Challenger Point (Template:Convert ) and Columbia Point (Template:Convert) are sub-peaks of Kit Carson Mountain.
• Humboldt Peak is the easiest of the four, with a straightforward walk-up route. Sometimes Humboldt is not included in the term "The Crestones."

Broken Hand Peak, Template:Convert, southeast of Crestone Needle, is included within the official name "Crestone Peaks".<ref name=gnis_range/> Mount Adams (Template:Convert ) is a notable peak just to the north of the Crestones, and is quite rugged.

Note that Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle are somewhat more technical climbs than many Colorado fourteeners; caution is advised. About one person per year is killed on the Crestones; occasionally they are skilled mountaineers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• • Rocky Mountains
    • Southern Rocky Mountains
      • Sangre de Cristo Mountains
        • Sangre de Cristo Range
• Geography of Colorado
  • Mountain ranges of Colorado
    • Mountain peaks of Colorado
    • Mountain passes of Colorado
• Outline of Colorado
• Index of Colorado-related articles

External links

• The Crestones on TopoQuest
• Template:Gnis
• Well illustrated trip report of climbs of Crestone Needle and Crestone Peak via Broken Hand Pass