In the

mountaineering Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...

parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least . The 96 fourteeners in the United States are all west of the Mississippi River. Colorado has the most (53) of any single state; Alaska is second with 29. Many peak baggers try to climb all fourteeners in the

contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

, one particular state, or another region. __TOC__

Qualification criteria

The

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

of a mountain or hill may be measured in three principal ways: # Topographic elevation is the height of the summit above a geodetic sea level.All elevations in the 48

include an elevation adjustment from the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 ( NGVD 29) to the

North American Vertical Datum of 1988 The North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) is the vertical datum for orthometric heights established for vertical control surveying in the United States of America based upon the General Adjustment of the North American Datum of 1988. ...

( NAVD 88). For further information, please see this United States National Geodetic Surveybr>note
If the elevation or prominence of a summit is calculated as a range of values, the

arithmetic mean In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean ( ) or arithmetic average, or just the ''mean'' or the ''average'' (when the context is clear), is the sum of a collection of numbers divided by the count of numbers in the collection. The colle ...

is shown. # Topographic prominence is how high the summit rises above its surroundings.The topographic prominence of a summit is the topographic elevation difference between the summit and its highest or key col to a higher summit. The summit may be near its key col or quite far away. The key col for Denali in Alaska is the Isthmus of Rivas in Nicaragua, away. # Topographic isolation (or radius of dominance) is how far the summit lies from its nearest point of equal elevation.The topographic isolation of a summit is the

great-circle distance The great-circle distance, orthodromic distance, or spherical distance is the distance along a great circle. It is the shortest distance between two points on the surface of a sphere, measured along the surface of the sphere (as opposed to a ...

to its nearest point of equal elevation. Not all summits over 14,000 feet qualify as fourteeners. Summits that qualify are those considered by mountaineers to be independent. Objective standards for independence include topographic prominence and isolation (distance from a higher summit), or a combination of the two. However, fourteener lists do not always use such objective rules consistently. A rule commonly used by mountaineers in the contiguous United States is that a peak must have at least of prominence to qualify. By this rule, Colorado has 53 fourteeners, California has 12, and Washington has two. According to the Mountaineering Club of Alaska, the standard in Alaska uses a prominence rule rather than a rule. By this rule, Alaska has at least 21 peaks over and its 12 highest peaks exceed .

Fourteeners

The following table lists the 96 mountain peaks of the United States with at least of topographic elevation and at least of topographic prominence]. Of these, 53 rise in Colorado, 29 in Alaska, 12 in California, and one in Washington (Liberty Cap is part of the crater atop Mt Rainier). The 22 highest fourteeners all rise in Alaska.

Topographic prominence

The table above uses a minimum topographic prominence criterion of and includes 96 peaks. The number of peaks included depends upon the minimum topographic prominence criterion. A criterion of includes 90 peaks, includes 77 peaks, includes 63 peaks, and includes 46 peaks. The following U.S. summits have 14,000 ft of elevation, but have less than 300 ft of topographic prominence: * Denali, Browne Tower, 14,530, Alaska: Prominence = . Why this became included on some fourteener lists is unclear. * Mount Cameron, 14,238, Colorado: Prominence = 118 feet. *

El Diente Peak El Diente Peak is a high summit in the San Miguel Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The peak is located in the Lizard Head Wilderness of San Juan National Forest, north by east ( bearing 8°) of the Town of Rico in D ...

, 14,159, Colorado: Prominence = 239 feet. On many fourteener lists. * Point Success, 14,158, Washington: Prominence = 118 feet. * Polemonium Peak, 14,080+, California: Prominence = 160–240 feet. * Starlight Peak, 14,080, California: Prominence = 80–160 feet. * North Conundrum Peak, 14,040+, Colorado: Prominence = 200–280 feet. *

North Eolus Mount Eolus is a Elevation, high mountain summit of the Needle Mountains (Colorado), Needle Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The fourteener is located in the Weminuche Wilderness of San Juan National Forest, northeast b ...

, 14,039, Colorado: Prominence = 159–199 feet. *

North Maroon Peak North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

, 14,014, Colorado: Prominence = 234 feet. On many fourteener lists. *

Thunderbolt Peak Thunderbolt Peak is a peak in the Palisades group of peaks in the Sierra Nevada in the U.S. state of California. It rises to and could be considered the thirteenth-highest peak in the state, but since the peak has less than of prominence it is ...

, 14,003, California: Prominence = 223 feet. *

Sunlight Spire Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, in particular infrared, visible spectrum, visible, and ultraviolet light. On Earth, sunlight is light scattering by particles, scattered and attenuation, filtered t ...

, 14,001, Colorado: Prominence = 195–235 feet.

Gallery

Mt Saint Elias.jpg, Mount Saint Elias, Alaska Mount foraker.jpg,

Mount Foraker Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish ...

, Alaska MtBlackburn-KennicottGlacier.jpg, Mount Blackburn, Alaska MountSanford.jpg, Mount Sanford and Mount Wrangell, Alaska Elbert.JPG, Mount Elbert, Colorado Mount Williamson.jpg, Mount Williamson, California White Mountain CA.JPG, White Mountain Peak, California Longs.JPG, Longs Peak, Colorado Mount Shasta 1.jpg, Mount Shasta, California Maroon Bells (11553)a.jpg, Maroon Bells (Maroon Peak and North Maroon Peak), Colorado Pikes Peak by David Shankbone.jpg, Pikes Peak, Colorado BLANCA.JPG, Blanca Peak, Colorado San Miguel Mountains.jpg,

Wilson Peak Wilson Peak is a mountain peak in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Lizard Head Wilderness of the Uncompahgre National Forest, in the northwestern San Juan Mountains. It is the highest point in San Miguel County. The mountain ...

, Colorado

* List of mountain peaks of North America ** List of mountain peaks of Greenland ** List of mountain peaks of Canada ** List of mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains ** List of mountain peaks of the United States *** List of the highest major summits of the United States **** List of the major 4000-meter summits of the United States **** List of the major 3000-meter summits of the United States *** List of the most prominent summits of the United States **** List of the ultra-prominent summits of the United States *** List of the most isolated major summits of the United States **** List of the major 100-kilometer summits of the United States ***

List of extreme summits of the United States This article comprises four sortable tables of mountain summits of the United States that are higher than any other point north or south of their latitude or east or west of their longitude in the U.S. The summit of a mountain or hill may be ...

*** List of mountain peaks of Alaska *** List of mountain peaks of California *** List of mountain peaks of Colorado ***

List of mountain peaks of Hawaii This article comprises three sortable tables of the 13 major mountain peaks of the Hawaiian Islands and the U.S. State of Hawaii. Each of these 13 major summits has at least of topographic prominence. The summit of a mountain or hill may ...

*** List of mountain peaks of Montana *** List of mountain peaks of Nevada *** List of mountain peaks of Utah ***

List of mountain peaks of Washington (state) This article comprises three sortable tables of major mountain peaksThis article defines a significant summit as a summit with at least of topographic prominence, and a major summit as a summit with at least of topographic prominence. All ...

*** List of mountain peaks of Wyoming ** List of mountain peaks of México ** List of mountain peaks of Central America ** List of mountain peaks of the Caribbean * United States of America ** Geography of the United States ** Geology of the United States *** :Mountains of the United States **** commons:Mountains of the United States * Physical geography *

Eight-thousander The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) recognises eight-thousanders as the 14 mountains that are more than in height above sea level, and are considered to be sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no ...

, peak with at least 8,000 m. elevation

Notes

References

External links

United States Geological Survey (USGS)

Geographic Names Information System @ USGSUnited States National Geodetic Survey (NGS)

Geodetic Glossary @ NGS

NGVD 29 to NAVD 88 online elevation converter @ NGS

Survey Marks and Datasheets @ NGSBivouac.comPeakbagger.comPeaklist.orgSummitpost.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fourteeners, List Of United States Mountains of the United States *Fourteener United States Fourteeners, List Of Peak bagging in the United States Colorado culture