Crestones
The Crestones are a group of four peaks in the Sangre de [Cristo Range] above Crestone, central southern Colorado, comprising:
- Crestone Peak
- Crestone Needle
- Kit [Carson Mountain]
- Humboldt Peak
Climbing
- Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle are rock scrambles with some exposure.
- Kit Carson Mountain is a walk-up, but only if the correct route is carefully followed; it has claimed more lives than Crestone Peak or Crestone Needle. Challenger Point and Columbia Point are sub-peaks of Kit Carson Mountain.
- Humboldt Peak is the easiest of the four, with a straightforward walk-up route. Sometimes Humboldt is not included in the term "The Crestones."
Note that Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle are somewhat more technical climbs than many Colorado fourteeners; caution is advised. About one person per year is killed on the Crestones; occasionally they are skilled mountaineers.