Mount Massive | |
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Mt. Massive
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Highest point | |
Elevation | 14,428 ft (4398 m) NAVD88 |
Prominence | 1961 ft (598 m) |
Isolation | 5.06 mi (8.14 km) |
Listing | |
Coordinates | 39°11′15″N 106°28′33″W / 39.1874645°N 106.4756995°WCoordinates: 39°11′15″N 106°28′33″W / 39.1874645°N 106.4756995°W |
Geography | |
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Location | Lake County, Colorado, U.S. |
Parent range |
Sawatch Range, Highest summit of the Massive Massif |
Topo map |
USGS 7.5' topographic map Mount Massive, Colorado |
Climbing | |
First ascent | 1873 by Henry Gannett |
Easiest route | Hike, class 2 |
Mount Massive is the second highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America and the U.S. state of Colorado. The prominent 14,428-foot (4,398 m) fourteener of the Sawatch Range is located in the Mount Massive Wilderness of San Isabel National Forest, 10.6 miles (17.1 km) west-southwest (bearing 247°) of the City of Leadville in Lake County, Colorado, United States. Mount Massive edges out the third highest summit of the Rockies, Mount Harvard, by 7 feet (2.1 m), but falls short of Mount Elbert by 12 feet (3.7 m). It ranks as the third highest peak in the contiguous United States after Mount Whitney and Mount Elbert.
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. 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.