Rocky Mountain National Park

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The entire park west of the Continental Divide is terra incognita to most climbers. However, those weary of the east side trade routes and throngs of...

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The following five routes are located near the end of the Chasm Lake Trail. All but one of them are ice climbs. Approach: Chasm Lake Trail - This...

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Mount Lady Washington (13,261’) is located 0.75 miles northeast of Longs Peak, 0.5 miles northwest of Chasm Meadow, and encloses the north side of the...

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Mount Meeker (13,911’) is the second highest summit in Rocky Mountain National Park. Its broad-shouldered mass rises immediately to the southeast of...

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Longs Peak is the highest summit in Rocky Mountain National Park, and perhaps the most characteristic landmark in Colorado. Its broad profile and flat...

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The Ships Prow is the long northeast ridge between the north cirque of Mount Meeker and the Chasm Lake Cirque. The ridge begins at 12,200 feet with a...

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The cliff band below Broadway spans nearly a mile and is known collectively as the Lower East Face. It is bound on the left (south) by the long snow...

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This is the broad, tawny face between the right end of Broadway and Mount Lady Washington. The wall is perfectly continuous from the North Chimney all...

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The terrain above Broadway, between the the top of Lambs Slide and the Diamond, is known as the Upper East Face. This is actually the east side of the...

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The Diamond is the most famous alpine wall in the United States. Its imposing plane towers above Chasm Lake like a giant movie screen: one million...

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The north face of Longs lies between the north edge of the Diamond and the Keyhole Ridge (the northwest ridge), and harbors a perennial snowfield...

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The west face of Longs Peak would bask in eternal obscurity were it not directly above the Trough on The Keyhole route. Yet, for the thousands of...

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The sweeping, serrated southwest ridge of Longs Peak presents a very dramatic skyline from the Black Lake Cirque. There are seven towers, all above...

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The cliff is visible from the Glacier Gorge Parking Area, on the east face of the East Glacier Knob (10,225'). It is reached by an easy hike (1.4...

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Several short, steep ice flows sometimes form to the left of the approach, between Jewel Lake and Black Lake. Among these are the following routes.

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The cliffs below and east of Black Lake, and the cliffs surrounding the lake provide excellent ice climbing.

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Half Mountain (11,482’) forms the terminus of the extensive north ridge of Longs Peak. Its west face rises 1,600 feet above Mills Lake, and with Longs...

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Pagoda Mountain (13,497’) casts an imposing image at the head of Glacier Gorge, between the Keyboard of the Winds and Chiefs Head Peak. The first asce...

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Chiefs Head Peak (13,579’) is located between Pagoda Mountain and McHenrys Peak along the southern rim of Glacier Gorge. The Continental Divide climbs...

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(12,575’) is the striking spire in the center of the cirque above Black Lake. It is steep on three sides and has a dramatic, pointed summit that is...

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This is a short, northwest-facing cliff below the west face of Longs Peak, the Trough , and Keyboard of the Winds . It is about 0.5 miles east of...

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McHenrys Peak (13,327’) towers above Black Lake at the western extreme of the Black Lake Cirque. It is one of the few mountains along the Continental...

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Arrowhead (12,645’) is a summit on the Northeast Ridge of McHenrys Peak, in the manner of Spearhead on the North Rib of Chiefs Head Peak. Arrowhead...

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Powell Peak (13,208’) lies along the Continental Divide between McHenrys Peak and Taylor Peak and is south of Sky Pond. It has an impressive East Face...

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Thatchtop (12,668’) is the large, bulky mountain that separates Glacier Gorge from Loch Vale. Its summit is about a mile northeast from Powell Peak, ...

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Taylor Peak (13,153’) lies west-southwest of Sky Pond and is the highest peak in the cirque. Its long spine runs along the Continental Divide from the...

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The Sharkstooth (12,630’) is the highest and farthest west of the free-standing towers in the Cathedral Spires, and has the most elevation above any...

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The Petit Grepon is named for The Grepon, a famous spire in the French Alps above Chamonix, though its shape more resembles the Eiffel Tower in Paris....

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Viewed from Sky Pond, The Saber is the long narrow buttress to the right of The Petit Grepon. Viewed from The Gash, its pyramidal summit is seen to ...

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The Foil is the narrow spire just east of The Saber. Its routes are not recommended for the casual weekend warrior. Approach: Begin from Sky Pond and...

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The first tower east of the Southeast Descent Gully (p301) is an owl-shaped formation with a prominent chimney and left-facing dihedral in the middle...

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The Jacknife is located down and right, across a narrow gully from The Moon. It is easily identified by its flat, reddish south face that is split by...

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The Cathedral Spires run northeast from Taylor Peak for nearly a mile to terminate in a massive buttress called Cathedral Wall. The imposing 900-foot...

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Otis Peak (12,486’) resides along the Continental Divide, roughly midway between Point 12829 and Hallett Peak, and immediately northeast of the A...

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The upper east face of the West Glacier Knob pesents a wall, roughly 500 feet long and 100 feet high. The wall is partially visible from the open...

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This is a “mixed cliff” near Bear Lake. Look for an overhanging wall 300 feet above the lake, just left of the inlet stream.

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Look for this inconspicuous cliff above the Emerald Lake Trail, maybe 150 yards beyond Nymph Lake, where the trail makes a switchback to the south....

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There is a small buttress southwest of Nymph Lake with a few routes of interest and a short, but arduous, approach. The buttress and the top of an ice...

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The sharp northern profile of Hallett Peak is a hallmark of Rocky Mountain National Park and is surely among the most photographed features in...

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Flattop Mountain (12,324’) is unique in Rocky Mountain National Park in that a major hiking trail leads all the way to its top, which is so broad and...

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Notchtop Mountain (12,160’) resides near the head of Odessa Gorge, just east of the Continental Divide. The summit is lower than the crest of the...

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Knobtop Mountain (12,331’) is the next named summit along the Continental Divide to the north of Ptarmigan Point (12,363’). It is a peak of three...

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Little Matterhorn (11,586’) is a large buttress and satellite peak on the serrated Northeast Ridge of Knobtop Mountain. It is an impressive feature...

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Gabletop Mountain (11,939’) is 0.8 miles north of Knobtop Mountain, and 1.5 miles east of Sprague Pass. The mountain has three ridges and presides...

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The East Ridge of Gabletop Mountain has a phalanx-like spire near its midsection (11,160’) that has been visited by the occasional cavalier of the...

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The Gable (10,920’) is a striking tower, with a long triangular south face, above and north of Odessa Lake. The Gable is located at the northeast end...

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Castle Rock (10,640’) is a promontory on the long, curving North Ridge of Gabletop Mountain. The rock appears in its best profile looking west across...

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The Lost World is a group of domes and buttresses on the mountainside north of The Pool. The Orange Arête, a spectacular out-leaning prow, is the...

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Rock of Ages sits high on the slope above Arch Rocks Campsite. The small buttress at lower left is easily recognized by a smooth and steep south face...

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“Fern Canyon” (not an official place name) refers to the short stretch of valley between The Pool and Moraine Park along the Big Thompson River. It is...

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Hayden Spire (12,480’) is the highest tower on a complicated buttress that projects northeast into Hayden Gorge from the west ridge of Sprague Mountai...

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Iceberg Lake Wall is a 300-foot headwall in the Lava Cliffs, just west of Iceberg Lake. This area is not properly in the Mummy Range, but is listed...

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Mount Chiquita (13,069’) rises to the northeast of Mount Chapin and is about one mile south of Ypsilon Mountain. It is an easy ascent from any side o...

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Ypsilon Mountain (13,514’), though not the highest peak of the range, stands out because of its high visibility from the east and its great southeast...

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Fairchild Mountain (13,502’) rises to the northeast of Ypsilon Mountain and is among the most remote and least frequented of all peaks having tech...

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Hagues Peak (13,560’) is 1.4 miles northeast of Fairchild Mountain and is the highest summit of the Mummy Range. It features relatively gentle slopes...

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Mummy Mountain (13,425’) is the eastern outpost of the Mummy Range. Its familiar profile may be seen from many high places along the Front Range as...

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Rowe Mountain (13,184’) lies 0.5 miles northwest of Rowe Peak. The traverse between the two summits is an easy hike, all above 13,000 feet. The two...

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Comanche Peak (12,702’) presides over the east side of the Mirror Lake cirque, across the void from Point 12232. Its summit lies in Roosevelt National...

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Fall Mountain (12,258’) is located along the northern boundary of Rocky Mountain National Park, 1.7 miles southeast of Comanche Peak.

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The rugged Elk Tooth is located southeast of Cony Lake, about a mile east of Ogalalla Peak, along a ridge that forms the divide between Cony Creek and...

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Ogalalla Peak straddles the Continental Divide along the southern boundary of the park. The northeast and southeast faces are precipitous and offer...

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Mount Copeland lies 1.3 miles east of the Continental Divide, and about one mile north-northeast of Elk Tooth. It is a large mountain, similar in...

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Ouzel Peak lies along the Continental Divide roughly midway between Ogalalla Peak and Isolation Peak. It rises only 300 feet or so along the Divide, a...

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Mahana Peak is located 0.5 miles east of the Continental Divide, midway between Tanima Peak (to the north) and Mount Copeland (to the south); it is...

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Isolation Peak straddles the Continental Divide some 1.3 miles north of Ouzel Peak and can be seen to have three summits aligned on an east-west axis....

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The Cleaver is a small pinnacle on the Continental Divide, 0.5 miles south of BoulderGrand Pass, along the north ridge of Isolation Peak. It is best...

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Eagles Beak is a satellite peak on the east side of the north ridge of Isolation Peak. This minor summit resides north of Frigid Lake (11,800’), below...

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Tanima Peak sits midway between Isolation Peak and Mount Alice, and 0.6 miles southeast of Boulder-Grand Pass. The Continental Divide does not quite...

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This steep, smooth wall lies to the rightof Boulder-Grand Pass and due west of Falcon Lake. It is the cleanest stretch of rock in the cirque and canno...

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Pilot Mountain is a minor summit along an eastern spur of the Continental Divide, about 0.7 miles south of Mount Alice. Its 900-foot south face forms ...

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Mount Alice is the monarch of Wild Basin, and is among the highest and most striking peaks in the park. It would be a very popular summit, but like...

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A few ice climbs exist up the Wild Basin Trail (Thunder Lake Trail). Unlike the transitory ice on the lower east face of Longs Peak, these formations...

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Looking for some Front Range ice without any of the crowds? You’re guaranteed to be alone here due to the extremely long approach. More routes await ...