The Montana high point at ~12,800 ft, deep in the Beartooths, and widely rated one of the two or three hardest of the fifty state high points. This is a mountaineering objective, not a hike.
Climbing beta
- Standard route: West Rosebud trailhead → Mystic Lake → Froze-to-Death Plateau → east ridge. Roughly 25 mi round trip with ~6,300 ft of gain.
- Class 4 with long, seriously exposed sections. Many parties rope up for the upper ridge and rappel on the descent — bring a rope, a light rack and slings even though it goes unroped for confident parties.
- Ice axe and crampons are often needed well into July, along with self-arrest skill. Snow lingers in the notches and on the summit pyramid.
- Froze-to-Death Plateau runs 10,500–12,000 ft across miles of boulder fields with no shelter and no water — it is notoriously miserable in weather, and afternoon storms up there are the main objective hazard.
- Route-finding is genuinely hard: expect off-trail alpine navigation, snow bridges and deep stream crossings. Carry a GPS track and know how to bail.
Notes
- Usual rhythm is three days: in to Mystic Lake, up to a plateau camp near Tempest Col, then summit and out. Strong parties do it in two.
- Trailhead is West Rosebud, reached via Fishtail/Absarokee — about 2.5–3 hr from Bozeman, on the far side of the range from Paradise Valley.
- Grizzly country, and the approach is long enough that a food-storage plan matters.
- ⚠️ Published elevation varies between 12,799 and 12,807 ft depending on the vertical datum; both refer to the same summit.
- Beta: SummitPost · Beartooth Guides