The Cathedral Group is a term applied to a collection of most of the tallest mountains of the Teton Range

Teton Range

The Teton Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. A north-south range, it is on the Wyoming side of the state's border with Idaho, just south of Yellowstone National Park. Most of the range is in Grand Teton National Park....

, all of which are located in Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park is a United States National Park located in northwestern Wyoming, U.S. The Park consists of approximately and includes the major peaks of the long Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Only south of Yellowstone...

, in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

. The collection of mountains known as the Cathedral Group are classic alpine peaks, with pyramidal

Pyramidal peak

A pyramidal peak, or sometimes in its most extreme form called a glacial horn, is a mountaintop that has been modified by the action of ice during glaciation and frost weathering...

 shapes caused by glacial motion

Glacial motion

Glacial motion is the motion of glaciers, which can be likened to rivers of ice. It has played an important role in sculpting many landscapes. Most lakes in the world occupy basins scoured out by glaciers...

. The highest peak in the group is Grand Teton

Grand Teton

Grand Teton is the highest mountain in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park, and a classic destination in American mountaineering.- Geography :...

, which rises more than 7000 feet (2,133.6 m) above Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole, originally called Jackson's Hole, is a valley located in the U.S. state of Wyoming, near the western border with Idaho. The name "hole" derives from language used by early trappers or mountain men, who primarily entered the valley from the north and east and had to descend along...

 valley, and is the second tallest mountain in Wyoming, after Gannett Peak

Gannett Peak

Gannett Peak is the highest peak in the U.S. state of Wyoming and straddles the boundary between Fremont and Sublette Counties along the Continental Divide.- Overview :...

. The Cathedral Group is separated by other tall peaks of the range by the Cascade Canyon

Cascade Canyon

Cascade Canyon is located in Grand Teton National Park, in the U. S. state of Wyoming. The canyon was formed by glaciers which retreated at the end of the last glacial maximum approximately 15,000 years ago...

 to the north and Death Canyon

Death Canyon

Death Canyon is located in Grand Teton National Park, in the U. S. state of Wyoming. The canyon was formed by glaciers which retreated at the end of the last glacial maximum approximately 15,000 years ago, leaving behind a U-shaped valley. The trailhead for the canyon is located on a side road off...

 to the south.

Half the remaining dozen glacier

Glacier

A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...

s in the Teton Range are located in this cluster of high peaks, including the Teton Glacier

Teton Glacier

Teton Glacier is located below the north face of Grand Teton in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming and is surrounded by Mount Owen to the west and by Teewinot Mountain to the north, which comprise the peaks of the Cathedral Group. Teton Glacier is the largest of the twelve named glaciers in the...

 which is the largest one in the range. Other glaciers such as the Middle Teton Glacier

Middle Teton Glacier

Middle Teton Glacier is located on the northeast flank of Middle Teton in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. The glacier is a popular mountaineering route for ice climbing and for access to the summit of Middle Teton and other peaks to the south. The glacier is at the west end of Garnet Canyon,...

, Teepe Glacier

Teepe Glacier

Teepe Glacier is located below the northeast face of Teepe Pillar in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming and is immediately southeast of Grand Teton in the heart of the Cathedral Group collection of high peaks in the Teton Range....

, and Schoolroom Glacier

Schoolroom Glacier

Schoolroom Glacier is a small glacier located in Grand Teton National Park in the U.S. state of Wyoming. This Teton Range glacier lies adjacent to the south Cascade Canyon trail at an altitude of , approximately from the trailhead at Jenny Lake...

 are also located here. The Cathedral Group has several high cirques

Cirque (landform)

thumb|250 px|Two cirques with semi-permanent snowpatches in [[Abisko National Park]], [[Sweden]].A cirque or corrie is an amphitheatre-like valley head, formed at the head of a valley glacier by erosion...

, arête

Arete

Areté is the term meaning "virtue" or "excellence", from Greek ἈρετήArete may also be used:*as a given name of persons or things:**Queen Arete , a character in Homer's Odyssey.***197 Arete, an asteroid....

s as well as hanging and U-shaped valley

U-shaped valley

A U-shaped valley also known as a glacial trough is one formed by the process of glaciation. It has a characteristic U-shape, with steep, straight sides, and a flat bottom. Glaciated valleys are formed when a glacier travels across and down a slope, carving the valley by the action of scouring...

s which are all the work of glacial activity. At the base of the Cathedral Group, several glacial lake

Glacial lake

A glacial lake is a lake with origins in a melted glacier. Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,000 years ago, glaciers began to retreat. A retreating glacier often left behind large deposits of ice in hollows between drumlins or hills. As the ice age ended, these melted to create...

s can be found, including Jenny

Jenny Lake

Jenny Lake is located in Grand Teton National Park in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The lake was formed approximately 12,000 years ago by glaciers pushing rock debris which carved Cascade Canyon during the last glacial maximum, forming a terminal moraine which now impounds the lake. The lake is...

, Bradley

Bradley Lake

Bradley Lake is located in Grand Teton National Park, in the U. S. state of Wyoming. The glacially formed lake is located near the terminus of Garnet Canyon. A number of hiking trails can be found near the lake including a roundtrip hike commencing from the Taggart Lake Trail parking area. The...

 and Taggart Lake

Taggart Lake

Taggart Lake is located in Grand Teton National Park, in the U. S. state of Wyoming. The natural lake is located at the terminus of Avalanche Canyon. A number of hiking trails can be found near the lake including a roundtrip hike commencing from the Taggart Lake Trail parking area. The lake is...

s, all of which were formed when the glaciers of the last ice age

Last Glacial Maximum

The Last Glacial Maximum refers to a period in the Earth's climate history when ice sheets were at their maximum extension, between 26,500 and 19,000–20,000 years ago, marking the peak of the last glacial period. During this time, vast ice sheets covered much of North America, northern Europe and...

 retreated, leaving behind terminal moraines

Moraine

A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...

 which acted as natural dams. A few high altitude lakes can also be found scattered among the peaks.

Mountains of the Cathedral Group

In addition to Grand Teton, near the northern end of the group, other major peaks found here include Mount Owen

Mount Owen (Wyoming)

Mount Owen is the second highest peak in the Teton Range, Grand Teton National Park in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The peak is named after William O. Owen, who organized the first documented ascent of the Grand Teton in 1898. Mount Owen is part of the Cathedral Group of high Teton peaks, a...

, Middle Teton

Middle Teton

Middle Teton is the third highest peak in the Teton Range, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. The peak is immediately southwest of Grand Teton and the two are separated from one another by the lower saddle, a broad high ridge at . The Middle Teton Glacier is located on the eastern slopes of the...

, South Teton

South Teton

South Teton is the fifth highest peak in the Teton Range, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. The peak is south of Middle Teton and just west of Cloudveil Dome and is part of the Cathedral Group of high Teton peaks. The long Teton Range is the youngest mountain chain in the Rocky Mountains, and...

, Teewinot Mountain

Teewinot Mountain

Teewinot Mountain is the sixth highest peak in the Teton Range, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. The name of the mountain is derived from the Shoshone Native American word meaning "many pinnacles". The peak is northeast of the Grand Teton and the two are separated from one another by the Teton...

, Teepe Pillar

Teepe Pillar

Teepe Pillar is located in the Teton Range, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, immediately south of Grand Teton. The peak is the seventh highest in the Teton Range. Teepe Pillar is separated from Grand Teton by a col which drops sharply to the east and west. Northeast of and well below the...

, Cloudveil Dome

Cloudveil Dome

Cloudveil Dome is located in the Teton Range, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, immediately southeast of Grand Teton. The peak is in the central portions of the range, immediately east of South Teton and is sometimes considered to be part of what is collectively known as the Cathedral Group....

, Nez Perce Peak and Buck Mountain

Buck Mountain

Buck Mountain is located in the Teton Range, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, immediately southeast of Grand Teton. The mountain is the highest summit south of Garnet Canyon and is easily seen from most vantage points in Jackson Hole. Views from the summit offer excellent views of the Cathedral...

, most of which are over 12000 feet (3,657.6 m) above sea level

Sea level

Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...

and represent 8 of the 10 highest summits in the Teton Range.

Some geographers only include Grand Teton, Mount Owen and Teewinot Mountain as being a part of the Cathedral Group proper; however, similarity of shapes and the isolation from other high peaks of the range by the deep Cascade and Death Canyons, generally place all the major peaks located between the two canyons within the group.