Granite Peak, Montana's highest, presents a climbing challenge

Remote and majestic, it is all a mountain should be. Sheer walls on all sides and crevassed glaciers flowing from its upper reaches present an awesome sight. At 12,799 feet, Montana's Granite Peak stands out as the patriarch of "the roof of Montana," the Beartooth Range of the south-central part of the state.

The 1-million-acre Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness boasts 28 peaks over 12,000 feet in elevation. Granite is one of seven of these found in a closely-grouped chain that includes Hidden Glacier (12,377), Glacier Peak (12,351), Mount Villard (12,31), Tempest Mountain (12,478), Mystic Mountain...