Mount Champion is a prominent 13,646-foot peak in Colorado’s Sawatch Range, rising steeply above North Fork Lake Creek and visible from Independence Pass. About 17 miles east of Aspen and near the Continental Divide, it is the 173rd-highest peak in Colorado, with runoff feeding tributaries of the Arkansas River. The mountain is also linked to Colorado’s mining past: in 1881, Tingley S. Wood discovered gold there, prompting development of the Champion Mine, where gold- and silver-bearing quartz was processed and sent toward Leadville. Its name has been used since at least 1898, and the mine and summit remain privately owned.