Are there homes above 11,400 foot elevation in Colorado? (Alma: landscaping, subdivision)

[j96g]

Originally Posted by Moonwalkr

Yep, the latitude makes a big difference in terms of mountain climate. Timberline is a lot higher at the lower latitudes. Now I think the partial pressure of oxygen is not latitude dependent? So you would probably die from altitude sickness before freezing to death on the equatorial mountains. I seem to recall there's really no seasons, it gets cold at night but mild during the day, all year long, due to the nearly vertical sun.

Very true. Don't know how high Mexico City is, but I've stated that there temps are high in the 70s lows in the 50s/40s year round. A friend of mine went to visit Puebla, Mexico in March and it was in the 70s in the day and got into the 50s at night. I've kept up with their weather until now and the temps have been roughly the same, not a change.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by j96g

Very true. Don't know how high Mexico City is, but I've stated that there temps are high in the 70s lows in the 50s/40s year round. A friend of mine went to visit Puebla, Mexico in March and it was in the 70s in the day and got into the 50s at night. I've kept up with their weather until now and the temps have been roughly the same, not a change.

7,349 ft according to wikipedia. I had no idea it what that high.

[Irish4evr]

Utah also has some high, inhabitated elevations relative to this discussion. That are inhabited year round. (Mostly Ski Resort Personnel, caretakers) etc. Altitude sickness is a real thing, for sure. Usually over a short period of time most people seem to acclaimate. Shortness of breath on exertion, headaches, nausea, and fatigue are almost predictable.

The seasons seem about 3-4 weeks behind the lower elevations and the nights do get quite cool, the wind is a part of daily life. Weather changes in a heart beat. anyone living at that elevation without a purpose, outta seek counseling...

[wanneroo]

I've been to some mega homes in Bachelor Gulch and in the Alpine section of Cordillera in Eagle County that were definitely well over 10000 ft. Too high really for many people to be comfortable.

[itsmeloislane]

yes, copper mountain is at 12,300 feet. lots of condos to stay at there.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Way to resurrect a ten year old thread with incorrect information! The top of Copper Mountain is over 12,000;feet, but the condos are all located at the base area, which is 9,700 feet. Big difference.

[TCHP]

As has been noted, there are numerous condos, townhomes, and houses on the outskirts of ski towns that are at 12k or higher. Leadville at 10,151 is the highest incorporated city in the US and Alma at 10,351 is the highest incorporated town in the US (FWIW CO does not have a legal definition of the difference between a city or town). Outside of these places are numerous homes heading up the mountain valleys that exceed 12k. The Placer Valley development outside of Alma and numerous properties up Highway 91 towards Birdseye outside of Leadville are just a couple of these.

[Robert5]

I searched "highest elevation home in the US" and this thread was the top search result. ltm.

The second result was on point though. Someone from Summit County did some research and came up with what they believe to be the highest home in the US at 11,690 ft. It is near Alma, just inside the treeline. not sure if Park or Summit County. https://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/hi...do-t73107.html


https://goo.gl/maps/bFC4FfTHMxm

Someone else in thread said there are cabins in Silver Horseshoe Acres subdivision in Park Co, between the elevations of 11,300ft and 11,827ft. But that they not habitable year round.

[COcheesehead]

Alma at 10,578 ft is the highest municipality in the US with permanent residents.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alma,_Colorado

[Phil P]

So most of the high altitude development in Colorado is unique to the Mosquito Range (Park County), which runs from Hoosier Pass down to Buffalo Peaks. Historically, this was the epicenter of the Colorado mining boom, partially because there was ore here, but also because it was easy enough to get to and haul out. From what I've read, ore deposits are spread out roughly evenly throughout much of the Sawatch range to the west and the Mosquito range, but the Sawatch range is steeper and more rugged, so it's just a bigger pain in the butt to get the ore out, both in 1870 and today. The mining camps in the Sawatch get avalanched over. The Mosquito range on the other hand is relatively smoothed and gentler sloped.

So today, the regulations have largely mirrored historical development. Much of the wilderness area in CO is there because there was little mining development so there's little past disturbance and it would be too rugged to develop today. Much of CO's alpine terrain is wilderness. In contrast, the Mosquito range is either national forest or mining claims. This makes it unique in that there's mining remains all the way up to 14000 feet, roads all over above treeline that can be hiked or biked that aren't super technical, and modern development right up along treeline. We rented a VRBO last year near Alma right at treeline and it was pretty neat, hardly any crowds compared to Breck on the other side of the pass on the 4th of July. I recommend this area to visitors if they can forgo the touristy shops and ski areas because it's close and easy to get to, relatively cheap and quiet, and one of the easiest spots to get above treeline. There's a good amount of recreation and the trees haven't been beetle killed either.