Colorado·United States
Photo: MostlyDeserts · Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The Elk Range near Aspen holds some of the most dramatic peaks in the Rockies, including Capitol Peak with its exposed Knife Edge and the Maroon Bells, whose crumbling sedimentary rock earned them the name the Deadly Bells. Their summits reward careful, experienced scramblers.
In season: Jul–Sep · Peak: Aug
Class 3 and 4 scrambling on steep, loose rock, with exposure, rockfall and route-finding challenges. Start before dawn to be down before the afternoon lightning.
The hardest standard fourteener route in Colorado
Between the two Bells on loose rotten rock
Steep scree and exposed scrambling above Aspen
Climb easier fourteeners elsewhere in Colorado first, and learn to move on loose rock. Get the overnight wilderness permit, camp at Capitol Lake for Capitol Peak, wear a helmet, and consider a guide for the Maroon Bells traverse.
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Four passes over 3,600 m in a loop round the Maroon Bells, the most photographed peaks in Colorado.
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Climbing3 sectorsUnited States
Long, serious trad routes on the sheer dark walls of one of the deepest canyons in North America.
Mountaineering3 routesUnited States
Three weeks on the glaciers of the highest mountain in North America, 6,190 m above the Alaska Range.
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The Goûter route to the 4,808 m roof of the Alps — glacier, snow ridge and thin air.
MountaineeringSwitzerland
The Spaghetti Tour: five days hut to hut across the glaciers, bagging six 4,000-metre summits.
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