Pyramid Peak, Mountain summit in Pitkin County, United States.
Pyramid Peak is a mountain summit in the Elk Mountains of Pitkin County, Colorado, reaching about 14,018 ft (4,273 m) in elevation. The mountain is known for its steep cliffs and red sedimentary rock faces that give it a sharp, angular profile.
The first recorded ascent of Pyramid Peak was made in 1909 by Percy Hagerman and Harold Clark, who found routes up through terrain that had no established path at the time. The mountain quickly gained a reputation as one of the more demanding Colorado summits.
Pyramid Peak sits near the Maroon Bells, two other summits that draw far more visitors and often overshadow it despite the similar landscape.
The main starting point is the Maroon Lake Trailhead, which in summer is only accessible by shuttle from a nearby staging area due to heavy use. Starting early in the day is a good idea, as afternoon thunderstorms are common at altitude.
Pyramid Peak is one of Colorado's so-called fourteeners, the peaks above 14,000 ft (4,267 m), but it is considered one of the hardest of that group to climb safely due to its loose rock and limited safe routes. A physicist named Heinz Pagels, who worked at the nearby Aspen Center for Physics, died here in a fall in 1988, having written about climbing this very peak in one of his books shortly before his death.
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