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San Juans Rock Climbing

Climbing Area Map

Areas in San Juans

Babcock Peak 3 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 3 / 3

Dallas Peak 3 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 3 / 3

Engineer Pass 3 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 3 / 3

Gilpin Peak 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 1 / 1

Grand Turk 1 / 2 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 4 / 4

Grenadiers, The 17 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 / 0 / 17 / 17

Mount Sneffels 5 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 5 / 5

Needles, The 13 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 13 / 13

Northern San Juans 11 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 2 / 0 / 1 / 13 / 13

Peak 17 "Little Finger" 1 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 / 1

Rolling Mountain 1 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 / 1

Turret Ridge 1 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 / 1

Twin Peaks 2 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 2 / 2

Uncompahgre/Big Blue Wilderness 3 / 0 / 0 / 2 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 5 / 5

Elevation:	12,998 ft
GPS:	37.657, -107.602 Google Map · Climbing Area Map
Page Views:	206,840 total · 2,062/month
Shared By:	Matthias Holladay on Mar 5, 2012
Admins:	Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac

Description

It is hard to find, at least for many of us here in the Four Corners, such a concentration of mountaineering splendor as in the San Juans. This range is comprised of the Needles and Grenadiers and these two areas form the core of true backcountry mountaineering; the other sub-ranges are the North San Juans and the West Needles. The Grenadiers, a row of proud sentinels, are also known as the Quartzite Peaks, while the Needles are a haphazard mix of peaks and passes, culminating in the Sunlight-Windom massif.

Getting There

The easiest and quickest way to get into the heart of these peaks is to take the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge railroad from either Silverton or Durango to Elk Park or Needleton. Alternately, and depending on which areas one intends to visit, one could approach from Beartown, American Basin, Andrews Lake, Molas Switchbacks, Vallecito, Purgatory Flats, etc.

72 Total Climbs

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Classic Climbing Routes at San Juans

Mountain Project's determination of the classic, most popular, highest rated climbing routes in this area.

Steep Snow 25 ● Snake (Dogleg) Couloir Trad, Snow, Alpine Mt Sneffels
Mod. Snow 7 ● Naked Lady Couloir Trad, Snow, Alpine Needles > W Needle Mountains > Snowdon Peak
3rd 1- 1 I 1 M 1a 34 ● Southwest Ridge Trad, Alpine Mt Sneffels
4th 1 2 I 2 M 1b 15 ● West Buttress Trad, Alpine Needles > W Needle Mountains > Snowdon Peak
5.2 3 8 II 8 D 2c 17 ● Normal Route Trad, Alpine 2 pitches Needles > Jagged Mountain
5.3 3+ 10 III 9 VD 3a 18 ● East Face/Dallas Peak Trad, Alpine Dallas Peak
5.4 4a 12 IV 10 VD 3c R 112 ● Wham Ridge Trad, Alpine 10 pitches Grenadiers > Vestal Peak
5.5 4b 13 IV+ 11 MS 4a R 3 ● NNE Ridge Trad, Alpine Northern San Juans > Wilson Peak
5.6 4c 14 V 12 S 4b R 35 ● Center Shift on Wham Ridge Trad, Alpine 6 pitches Grenadiers > Vestal Peak
5.6 4c 14 V 12 S 4b 9 ● Southwest Chimney Trad, Alpine 2 pitches Uncompahgre/Big… > Coxcomb Peak
5.6 4c 14 V 12 S 4b 11 ● North Buttress Trad, Alpine Mt Sneffels
5.6 4c 14 V 12 S 4b 8 ● North Ridge Trad, Alpine 10 pitches Grenadiers > Arrow Peak
5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c R 38 ● Southwest Chimney Trad, Alpine 3 pitches Northern San Juans > Lizard Head
5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c 5 ● Arrow Spire Trad, Alpine 7 pitches Grenadiers > Arrow Peak
5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b 13 ● Standard Route, Sunlight Spire Trad, Alpine 2 pitches Needles > Sunlight Spire