Quandary Peak is the
highest summit of the
Tenmile Range in the
Rocky Mountains of
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
and is the most commonly climbed fourteener in
Colorado. It has nearly the same elevation as
Castle Peak and
Mount Evans. It lies in
Summit County and within the
White River National Forest about south-southwest of the town of
Breckenridge.
The standard route up Quandary Peak is a trail hike (
class 1), starting from a trailhead about north of
Hoosier Pass on the east side of the peak. Hence it is a popular
fourteener
In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least . The 96 fourteeners in the United States are all west of the Mississippi River. Colorado has the most (53) of any single ...
to climb because of the relatively easy ascent and its proximity to
Denver and Breckenridge. Quandary Peak is also popular with
backcountry skiers and
snowboarders. The gentle ascent makes for an easy climb from the east with less danger from
avalanche than on many other fourteeners. The other slopes of the peak are steep and appeal to expert backcountry skiers.
[
The trail climbs steadily across two marked jeep roads to your first glimpse of Quandary Peak, Hoosier Pass, and distant peaks of the Tenmile Range (.85 mile - 1.0 mile). It clears treeline and wraps to the south face of Quandary Peak's east ridge (1.0 miles : 11,721').
]
One such steep ski mountaineering route is the
Cristo Couloir
Cristo Couloir, Quandary Peak, is a couloir located on Quandary Peak
Quandary Peak is the highest summit of the Tenmile Range in the Rocky Mountains of North America and is the most commonly climbed fourteener in Colorado. It has nearly the sa ...
.
In June 2021 the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative announced that Quandary Peak was Colorado's most popular 14'er in 2020. The Initiative's data indicated that the peak saw 49,179 hiker days in 2020. Its popularity in recent years has caused serious parking problems at the trailheads, prompting local officials to initiate new parking policies.
See also
*
List of mountain peaks of Colorado
**
List of Colorado fourteeners
References
External links
*
*
{{Colorado
Mountains of Colorado
Mountains of Summit County, Colorado
Fourteeners of Colorado
North American 4000 m summits