North Pole Peak

North Pole Peak is a 12208 ft mountain summit located in San Miguel County, Colorado, United States.

Description
North Pole Peak is situated nine miles northwest of the community of Telluride in the Mount Sneffels Wilderness, on land managed by Uncompahgre National Forest. It is the northernmost peak of the Sneffels Range which is a subset of the San Juan Mountains, which in turn are part of the Rocky Mountains. North Pole Peak is situated west of the Continental Divide and 0.65 mile north-northwest of Hayden Peak, the nearest higher neighbor. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains to Leopard Creek which is a tributary of the San Miguel River. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 1200 ft above Middle Fork Leopard Creek in 0.3 mile. The challenging ascent of the peak involves 10 miles of hiking (round-trip) with 1,850-feet of elevation gain to reach the summit block. This mountain's toponym has been officially adopted by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

Climate
According to the Köppen climate classification system, North Pole Peak is located in an alpine subarctic climate 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, with a dry period in late spring.