Steeple Peak is a summit located in

Sublette County Sublette County is a county in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 8,728. The county seat is Pinedale. It is a sparsely populated rural county in western Wyoming, along the Green River. History Su ...

of Wyoming, United States.

Geography

The peak is situated 1.5 mile west of the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

in the remote Wind River Range. It is set in the Bridger Wilderness, on land managed by Bridger-Teton National Forest. It is on the ridge between Haystack Mountain 1.2 mile to the north, and parent

East Temple Peak East Temple Peak (exact height range is somewhere between ) is located in the southern Wind River Range in the U.S. state of Wyoming. East Temple Peak is a little over northeast of Temple Peak and west of Wind River Peak. A small glacier cling ...

0.37 mile to the south. Other neighbors include

Schiestler Peak Schiestler Peak is an mountain summit located in Sublette County of Wyoming, United States. Description The peak is situated in the remote Wind River Range, three miles west of the Continental Divide, and approximately four miles south of ...

, 2.2 mile to the northwest, and Temple Peak 1.25 mile southwest. Topographic relief is significant as the northwest aspect rises above Deep Lake in one-half mile. Access is via a half-day hike on the Big Sandy Trail. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains into tributaries of the Big Sandy River, which in turn is a tributary of the Green River.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Steeple Peak is located in an alpine

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

zone with long, cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers. Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter, and as thunderstorms in summer.

Climbing

Established climbing routes: * South Ridge – – 1961 – Yvon Chouinard, Art Gran, John Hudson * North Ridge and Upper West Face – 1964 – Richard Ream, Gerry Holdsworth * East Ridge – 1979 – Alan Bartlett, David Black, Rick Bradshaw * West face Major dihedral – – 1995 – Tim Wolfe, Chris Abbott, Susan Wolfe * North Ridge (aka Great North Chimney) – (III 5.8)

Hazards

Encountering

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

s is a concern in the Wind River Range. There are other concerns as well, including

bugs Bugs may refer to: * Plural of bug Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters * Bugs Bunny, a character * Bugs Meany, a character in the ''Encyclopedia Brown'' books Films * ''Bugs'' (2003 film), a science-fiction-horror film * ''Bugs ...

, wildfires, adverse snow conditions and nighttime cold temperatures. Importantly, there have been notable incidents, including accidental deaths, due to falls from steep cliffs (a misstep could be fatal in this class 4/5 terrain) and due to

falling rocks Falling or fallin' may refer to: *Falling (physics), movement due to gravity *Falling (accident) *Falling (execution) *Falling (sensation) People *Christine Falling (born 1963), American serial killer who murdered six children Books * ''Falli ...

, over the years, including 1993, 2007 (involving an experienced NOLS leader), 2015 and 2018. A 54-year-old climber from

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

fell 400–800 feet to his death from Steeple Peak in 2017.Nick Learned, ''Climber Falls to His Death in Wyoming’s Wind River Range'', August 31, 2017, k2radio.com
/ref> Other incidents include a seriously injured backpacker being airlifted near

Squaretop Mountain Squaretop Mountain is an mountain summit located in Sublette County of Wyoming, United States. Geography The peak is the emblematic geographical feature of the remote Wind River Range and is set seven miles west of the Continental Divide. I ...

in 2005, and a fatal hiker incident (from an apparent accidental fall) in 2006 that involved state

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

. The

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...

does not offer updated aggregated records on the official number of fatalities in the Wind River Range.

References

External links