22% normal route
22% South Face
13% Northwest Couloir
9% Treverse from Crestone Peak
9% Crestone (Needle>Peak) traverse
9% Down to Colony Lakes from Broken Hand Pass
9% Ellingwood arete
4% Crestone Peak summit first, then Needle, no traverse
Crestone Needle
Crestone Needle is a Colorado 14er in the heart of the Sangre de Cristo Range. It is part of a group of four fourteeners known as “the Crestones”, headed by Crestone Peak and also including Kit Carson Mountain and Humboldt Peak. While not as high as Crestone Peak, Crestone Needle is a more difficult peak to bag. The easiest route is the South Face usually accessed via Broken Hand Pass from South Colony Lakes. This is a Class 3 exposed scramble with a few tricky moves and is one of the more difficult standard routes among the Colorado fourteeners. The classic route is the Ellingwood Arete, a steep ridge on the northeast side of the peak leading directly up from the Upper South Colony Lake basin to the summit. It is a 5.7 technical rock climb and is particularly popular because of its inclusion in the well-known book Fifty Classic Climbs of North America by Steve Roper and Allen Steck. Crestone Needle is connected to Crestone Peak by a difficult ridge, one of the four great Colorado 14er traverses.
Crestone Needle SUMMIT LOG peakery first ascent by scott
23
people report climbing or hiking to the summit,
most recently on Aug 18, 2012.
Below are trip reports and shared pictures from their climbs.
Others who’ve claimed Crestone Needle
Routes Used trails & approaches
Comments
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Elevation
14,203 ft / 4,329 m
Prominence
Height Rank
457 ft / 139 m
#24 in Colorado
#45 in United States
Sangre de Cristo Range
Location
Peak Lists
Claimed by
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Highest peaks within 250 mi / 400 km
-
Mount Elbert
14,440 ft / 4,401 m
-
Mount Massive
14,428 ft / 4,398 m
-
Mount Harvard
14,427 ft / 4,397 m
-
Blanca Peak
14,351 ft / 4,374 m
Nearest peaks see on map »
-
Crestone Peak
14,294 ft / 4,357 m
0 mi / 1 km away
-
Crestolita
13,270 ft / 4,045 m
1 mi / 1 km away
-
Broken Hand Peak
13,569 ft / 4,136 m
1 mi / 1 km away
-
Humboldt Peak
14,070 ft / 4,289 m
1 mi / 2 km away
-
Columbia Point
13,986 ft / 4,263 m
2 mi / 2 km away
-
Pico Aislado
13,605 ft / 4,147 m
2 mi / 3 km away
- Highest peaks within 250 mi / 400 km
- Mount Elbert
- Mount Massive
- Mount Harvard
- Blanca Peak