Crestone Peak

The awe-inspiring Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle tower above the surrounding Sangres and exude a palpable sense of adventure. The standard routes up these peaks require considerable scrambling, with the Crestone Needle the tougher. Routefinding is essential, especially on the Needle with its couloir-hopping standard route. Wrong ways here quickly become class 5. The summits are both fully panoramic with a sense of extreme airiness and excellent views of the Great Sand Dunes off to the south. A hard day hike from South Colony Lake, over Broken Hand Pass, and up and down the south sides of both peaks. Traversing the ridge between the two peaks is a more difficult option, one of the four great Colorado 14er traverses.