Mount Sneffels

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For the town named after this mountain, see Sneffels, Colorado.
Mount Sneffels
View of Mount Sneffels from the north
Highest point
Elevation14153.3 ft (4313.93 m)[1]
NAVD88
Prominence3050 ft (930 m)[2]
Isolation15.71 mi (25.3 km)[2]
Listing
Coordinates38°00′14″N 107°47′32″W / 38.0038357°N 107.7923478°W / 38.0038357; -107.7923478[3]
Geography
Mount Sneffels is located in Colorado
Mount Sneffels
Mount Sneffels
LocationHigh point of Ouray County, Colorado, United States[2]
Parent rangeSan Juan Mountains, Highest summit of the Sneffels Range[2]
Topo map(s)USGS 7.5' topographic map
Mount Sneffels, Colorado[4]
Climbing
Easiest routeSouth Slopes: Easy Scramble, class 3[5]

Mount Sneffels is the highest summit of the Sneffels Range in the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 14,153-foot (4313.93 m) fourteener is located in the Mount Sneffels Wilderness of Uncompahgre National Forest, 6.7 miles (10.8 km) west by south (bearing 256°) of the City of Ouray in Ouray County, Colorado, United States. The summit of Mount Sneffels is the highest point in Ouray County.[3][2][4]

Mountain

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Mount Sneffels is notable for its great vertical relief, as it rises 7,200 feet above the town of Ridgway, Colorado 6 miles to the northeast.

The primary route to the summit follows a creek bed up from Yankee Boy Basin and is rated class 3.[6] A secondary route follows a ridge line to the summit from the saddle of Blue Lakes Pass.

Mount Sneffels was named after the volcano Snæfell, which is located on the tip of the Snæfellsnes peninsula in Iceland. That mountain and its glacier, Snæfellsjökull, which caps the crater like a convex lens, were featured in the Jules Verne novel A Journey to the Center of the Earth. An area on the western flank of Mount Sneffels gives the appearance of volcanic crater. Geologically, the mountain is a Tertiary aged igneous stock (Ti) composed of intermediate rock (monzonite, monzodiorite, granodiorite, and minor monzogranite) intruded into a volcanic stack of older San Juan Volcanics (Tsj). [7]

Seen from the Dallas Divide on State Highway 62, Mount Sneffels is one of the most photographed mountains in Colorado.[citation needed] It is also depicted on Colorado driver licenses and I.D. cards as of 2023.[8]

Panorama of the Sneffels Range of the San Juan Mountains, photographed from Dallas Divide pass

Historical names

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  • Mount Blaine
  • Mount Sneffels – 1906 [4]
  • Sneffels Peak

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ahlgren, Kevin; Van Westrum, Derek; Shaw, Brian (April 2024). "Moving mountains: reevaluating the elevations of Colorado mountain summits using modern geodetic techniques". Journal of Geodesy. 98 29. doi:10.1007/s00190-024-01831-8. Open access icon
  2. ^ a b c d e "Mount Sneffels, Colorado". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "SNEFFLES". NGS Data Sheet. National Geodetic Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of Commerce. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "Mount Sneffels". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  5. ^ "Mt. Sneffels Routes". 14ers.com.
  6. ^ "Mount Sneffels - South Slopes Route Description". 14ers.com. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  7. ^ Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-1939, Geologic map of the Montrose 30' X 60' quadrangle, southwestern Colorado, Steven, T.A., and Hail, W.J., Jr. https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_10013.htm
  8. ^ "The Iconic Credential | Department of Revenue - Motor Vehicle". dmv.colorado.gov. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
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