Mount Massive
| Mount Massive | |
|---|---|
 Mt. Massive | |
| Elevation | 14,428 ft (4,398 m)[1] |
| Prominence | 1,960 ft (597 m)[2] |
| Listing | Colorado Fourteener |
| Location | |
  Mount Massive | |
| Location | Lake County, Colorado, U.S. |
| Range | Sawatch Range |
| Coordinates | 39°11′15″N 106°28′33″W / 39.18750°N 106.47583°WCoordinates: 39°11′15″N 106°28′33″W / 39.18750°N 106.47583°W[3] |
| Topo map | USGS Mount Massive |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | 1873 by Henry Gannett |
| Easiest route | Hike, class 2 |
Mount Massive at 14,428 feet (4,398 m) is a fourteener in the Sawatch Range of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is the second highest peak in the Rocky Mountains, edging out the third highest, Mount Harvard, by 7 feet (2.1 m), and falling short of Mount Elbert by 12 feet (3.7 m). It is the third highest peak in the contiguous United States (Mount Whitney is the highest peak in the contiguous United States). It is located in Lake County, approximately 10 miles (16 km) west-southwest of Leadville and 18 miles (29 km) east of Aspen. It lies in the Mount Massive Wilderness, part of the San Isabel National Forest.[4]
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.[5] Its name comes from its elongated shape: it has five summits, all above 14,000 ft (4,300 m), and a summit ridge over 3 mi (4.8 km) long, resulting in more area above 14,000 ft (4,300 m) than any other mountain in the 48 contiguous states, narrowly edging Mount Rainier in that category. Mount Elbert (14,440 ft (4,400 m)) is Mount Massive's nearest neighbor among the fourteeners; it lies about 5 mi (8.0 km) south-southeast of the peak.[6]
A matter of some contention after the Great Depression arose over the heights of Massive and its neighbor, Mount Elbert, which have a height difference of only 12 feet (3.7 m). This led to an ongoing dispute which came to a head with the Mount Massive supporters taking it upon themselves to build large piles of stones on the summit to boost its height, only to have the Mount Elbert proponents demolish them.[7]
A class 2 hiking path leads to the peak from the eastern face. The path is 13.6 mi (21.9 km) round trip, with a 4,500 ft (1,400 m) elevation gain.[5]
Among the mountain's fauna are the American pika, the mountain goat, elk, mule deer, moose, gray jay, martin, and the yellow-bellied marmot.
In popular culture
A fictional asylum built on Mount Massive serves as the setting for the 2013 video game Outlast.
See also
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mount Massive. |
- Geology of the Rocky Mountains
- Sawatch Range
- Mountain peaks of Colorado
- List of Colorado fourteeners
- Major 4000 meter peaks of Colorado
References
- ↑ "Mount Massive". Peakware. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
- ↑ "Mount Massive, Colorado". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
- ↑ "Mount Massive Cairn". NGS data sheet. U.S. National Geodetic Survey. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
- ↑ "Mount Masssive". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Mount Massive". Summitpost. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
- ↑ "Mount Massive". hikingincolorado.org. August 28, 1999. Retrieved July 17, 2009.
- ↑ Dziezynski, James. Best Summit Hikes in Colorado. Wilderness Press. p. 157.
