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.
Mountain
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 14,000Â ft (4,300Â m), and a summit ridge over 3Â mi (4.8Â km) long, resulting in more area above 14,000Â ft (4,300Â m) than any other mountain in the 48 contiguous states, narrowly edging Mount Rainier in that category. Mount Elbert (14,440Â ft (4,400Â m)) is Mount Massive's nearest neighbor among the fourteeners; it lies about 5Â mi (8.0Â km) south-southeast of the peak.
A matter of some contention after the Great Depression arose over the heights of Massive and its neighbor, Mount Elbert, which have a height difference of only 12 feet (3.7Â m). This led to an ongoing dispute which came to a head with the Mount Massive supporters taking it upon themselves to build large piles of stones on the summit to boost its height, only to have the Mount Elbert proponents demolish them.
A class 2 hiking path leads to the peak from the eastern face. The path is 13.6Â mi (21.9Â km) round trip, with a 4,500Â ft (1,400Â m) elevation gain.
Among the mountain's fauna are the American pika, the mountain goat, elk, mule deer, moose, gray jay, martin, and the yellow-bellied marmot.
In popular culture
A fictional asylum of the same name built on Mount Massive serves as the setting for the 2013 video game Outlast.
See also
- List of Colorado mountain ranges
- List of Colorado mountain summits
- List of Colorado fourteeners
- List of Colorado 4000 meter prominent summits
- List of the most prominent summits of Colorado
- List of Colorado county high points
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