Mount Massive

Mount Massive
Mt. Massive
Elevation	14,428 ft (4,398 m) [1]
Prominence	1,941 ft (592 m) [2]
Listing	Colorado Fourteener
Location
Mount Massive Colorado
Location	Lake County, Colorado, USA
Range	Sawatch Range
Coordinates	39°11′15″N 106°28′33″W / 39.1875°N 106.47583°W / 39.1875; -106.47583Coordinates: 39°11′15″N 106°28′33″W / 39.1875°N 106.47583°W / 39.1875; -106.47583[3]
Topo map	USGS Mount Massive
Climbing
First ascent	1873 by Henry Gannett
Easiest route	Hike, class 2

Mount Massive (14,428 feet) is a fourteener in the Sawatch Range of the US State of Colorado. It is the second tallest peak in Colorado, edging out the third highest, Mount Harvard, by seven feet, and lower than Mount Elbert by 19 feet (5.8 m). It is the third highest peak in the contiguous United States. It is located in Lake County, approximately 10 mi (16 km) west-southwest of Leadville and 18 mi (28 km) east of Aspen. It lies in the Mount Massive Wilderness, part of the San Isabel National Forest.

Mount Massive was first surveyed and climbed in 1873 during the Hayden Survey of the American West; survey member Henry Gannett is credited with the first ascent.^[4] Its name comes from its elongated shape: it has five summits, all above 14,000 ft (4,268 m), and a summit ridge over 3 mi (4.8 km) long, resulting in more area above 14,000 feet (4,300 m) than any other mountain in the 48 contiguous states, narrowly edging Mount Rainier in that category. Mount Elbert (14,440 feet) is Mount Massive's nearest neighbor among the fourteeners; it lies about 5 mi (8 km) south-southeast of the peak.

A class 2 hiking path leads to the peak from the eastern face. The path is 13.6 mi (22 km) round trip, with a 4,377 ft (1,334 m) cumulative elevation gain.^[4]

Among the mountain's fauna are the American pika, the mountain goat, and the yellow-bellied marmot.

See also

• List of Colorado fourteeners
• Mountain peaks of Colorado
• Mountain ranges of Colorado

References

1. ^ http://www.peakware.com/peaks.html?pk=168
2. ^ "Mount Massive, Colorado". Peakbagger.com. http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=5729. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
3. ^ "Mount Massive Cairn". NGS data sheet. U.S. National Geodetic Survey. http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=KL0640. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Mount Massive on Summitpost

External links

• "Mount Massive (Photo Essay)". hikingincolorado.org. http://www.hikingincolorado.org/masv.html. Retrieved 2009-07-17.