Challenger Point
Challenger Point seen from nearbyKit Carson Mountain.
Highest point
Elevation	14,087 ft (4,294 m)[1][2]
Prominence	301 ft (92 m)[2]
Parent peak	Kit Carson Mountain[2]
Isolation	0.22 mi (0.35 km)[2]
Listing	Colorado Fourteener 34th
Coordinates	37°58′49″N105°36′24″W / 37.9802775°N 105.6066757°W /37.9802775; -105.6066757[3]
Geography
Challenger Point Colorado
Location	Saguache County,Colorado, United States[3]
Parent range	Sangre de Cristo Range,Crestones[2]
Topo map(s)	USGS 7.5' topographic map Crestone Peak, Colorado[3]
Climbing
Easiest route	North Slope: Difficult Hike,class 2[4]

Challenger Point is ahighmountainsummit of theCrestones in theSangre de Cristo Range of theRocky Mountains ofNorth America. The 14,087-foot (4,294 m)fourteener is located 5.0 miles (8.1 km) east by south (bearing 102°) of theTown of Crestone inSaguache County,Colorado,United States.^[1][2][3] The summit is on the northwest shoulder ofKit Carson Mountain, and is a subpeak of the latter. It was renamed in memory of the sevenastronauts who died when theSpace ShuttleChallengerdisintegrated shortly after liftoff on January 28, 1986.^[3]

The proposal to name the summit Challenger Point was made byColorado Springs resident Dennis Williams in 1986. TheUSGSBoard of Geographic Names approved the application on April 9, 1987.

Local climber Alan Silverstein organized and led an expedition on the weekend of July 18, 1987 to place a 6 by 12 inches (15 by 30 cm) memorial plaque on the summit.
The plaque reads:

CHALLENGER POINT, 14080+'
In Memory of the Crew of Shuttle Challenger
Seven who died accepting the risk,
expanding Mankind's horizons
January 28, 1986 Ad Astra Per Aspera

TheLatin phrase "Ad Astra Per Aspera" translates as "To the stars through adversity."

View from the summit

• Trailhead: Willow Creek Trailhead, 8,900 feet (2,713 m)

• Columbia Point
• List of mountain peaks of Colorado
  • List of Colorado fourteeners

Wikimedia Commons has media related toChallenger Point.

• "Challenger Point". 14ers.com.

• Mountains of Saguache County, Colorado
• Rio Grande National Forest
• Sangre de Cristo Mountains
• Fourteeners of Colorado
• Four-thousanders of the United States

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