Granite Peak, at an elevation of 12,807 feet (3,904 m) above sea level, is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of Montana, and is the tenth highest state high point in the nation. It lies within the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, in Park County very near the borders of Stillwater County and Carbon County. Granite Peak is 10 miles (16 km) north of the Wyoming border, 45 miles (72 km) southwest of Columbus, Montana.
Granite Peak is one of the most difficult U.S. state highpoint ascents, due to technical climbing, poor weather, and route finding. Granite Peak’s first ascent was made by Elers Koch, James C. Whitham and R.T. Ferguson on August 29, 1923 after several failed attempts by others. It was the last of the state highpoints to be climbed. Today, climbers typically spend two or three days ascending the peak, stopping over on the Froze-to-Death Plateau, although some climbers choose to ascend the peak in a single day.
Famous quotes containing the words granite and/or peak:
“I make myself this time
Of wood or granite or lime
A wall too hard for crime
Either to breach or climb....”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“You know, I often thought that the gangster and the artist are the same in the eyes of the masses. They’re admired and hero-worshipped but there is always present underlying desire to see them destroyed at the peak of their glory.”
—Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)