Region
Highlights
- Pyramid Peak is a Colorado 14er in the Elk Mountains.
- 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. The peak's summit rises 4,000 feet above Crater Lake in only 1.2 miles.
- The standard climbing route on Pyramid involves difficult route finding, high exposure, and a great deal of loose rock.
- Hence it is one of the most difficult and dangerous of all of the standard routes on the Colorado fourteeners.
Routes
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12 summits • 9.9 mi • 2,912 ft gain • 7 hr 51 min • Class 4
1 summit • 4.5 mi • 728 ft gain • 4 hr 12 min • Class 4
Latest summits
"Uggh pretty much zero minutes of sleep after a big day yesterday climbing Snowmass and motoring over Buckskin Pass in face of thunderstorms. Gotta figure out a more comfortable sleeping setup.
Despite this felt fine after a smashed Pop Tart in the early am darkness. We set out at 5:45am on the short walk from Crater Lake to the Pyramid Peak climber's path. Huge gratitude to the CFI for constructing this trail up through the first 1000' vert of scree slopes -- massive energy saver. At the end of the path, the talus-filled ampitheater provided some good-natured tedium before the steep/loose 1000' vert gully to the 13,000' saddle. At this point finally we were in position to tackle one of the most amazing routes of the 14ers.
The classic Northeast Ridge route proved to be a masterwork; kudos to the mad genius who pieced this puzzle together. We lived cairn by cairn as we scrambled over boulders, hugged ledges, lept gaps, and climbed the crux greenish rock. The last few hundred vert was a tiramisu of cliff bands that you weaved back and forth and up and over like a rat scurrying through a 14er maze.
Felt great to stand on top of the pyramid by 10:45am. The ridiculous vertical..." — scott • Jul 26, 2021
"This is the most difficult Colorado 14er we've done according to my fiancee and I would agree. The approach through the talus field and steep slope to the ridge are tiring but pretty straight forward. I found my excitement level increase once we started moving through the summit ridge and had a blast scrambling through the loose but all there terrain to the top. I imagine the first accent must have been somewhat epic in 1909. " — Yosemike • Aug 18, 2013
"Fresh powder snow made this the most dangerous 14er I've ever done. Pyramid is steep and dry tooling with a mountain axe can get a little dicy. The descent had some exciting slides above short cliffs too. " — ChrisMeloche • Oct 10, 1998
Photos
Awards
Challenges
About peakery awards
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Peak Badges: Earn a special badge for each unique peak you summit. See all of your badges on your Badges page.
First Ascent Award: Only 1 available per peak. Goes to the first peakery member to log a successful summit of a peak. Snag this award and the peak will forever bear your name.
King of the Mountain Award: Only 1 available per peak. Summit a peak more times than any other member. Beware: this award can be lost!
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