Fourteener

The summit 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. • Topographic prominence is how high the summit rises above its surroundings. 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 2. 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 19 peaks over and is home to all 9 US peaks exceeding . ==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 2 in Washington. The 22 highest fourteeners are all found 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, 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, 14,039, Colorado: Prominence = 159–199 feet. • North Maroon Peak, 14,014, Colorado: Official Prominence = 234 feet. On many fourteener lists, partially due to analysis with higher-resolution topographic data suggesting its true prominence is greater than 300 feet. • Thunderbolt Peak, 14,003, California: Prominence = 223 feet. • Sunlight Spire, 14,001, Colorado: Prominence = 195–235 feet. ==Gallery==

Mt Saint Elias, South Central Alaska.jpg|Mount Saint Elias, Alaska Mount foraker.jpg|Mount Foraker, 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, Colorado ==See also==