Fourteener

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Mount McKinley (North Peak), Alaska
Mount McKinley (North Peak), Alaska
Mount Saint Elias, Alaska
Mount Saint Elias, Alaska
Mount Foraker, Alaska
Mount Foraker, Alaska
Mount Blackburn, Alaska
Mount Blackburn, Alaska
Mount Sanford and Mount Wrangell, Alaska
Mount Sanford and Mount Wrangell, Alaska
Mount Elbert, Colorado
Mount Elbert, Colorado
Mount Rainier with its three 14000+ ft peaks, Washington
Mount Rainier with its three 14000+ ft peaks, Washington
Mount Williamson, California
Mount Williamson, California
White Mountain Peak, California
White Mountain Peak, California
Mount Shasta, California
Mount Shasta, California
Maroon Bells (Maroon Peak and North Maroon Peak), Colorado
Maroon Bells (Maroon Peak and North Maroon Peak), Colorado
Pikes Peak, Colorado
Pikes Peak, Colorado
Wilson Peak, Colorado
Wilson Peak, Colorado
This article is about mountains. For the concept in poetry, see Fourteener (poetry).

In mountaineering terminology in the United States, a fourteener is a mountain that exceeds 14,000 feet (4,267.2 m) above mean sea level. The importance of fourteeners is greatest in Colorado, which has the majority of such peaks in North America. Climbing all of Colorado's fourteeners is a popular pastime among peak baggers. Many people also try to climb all of the fourteeners in the contiguous United States. Several ski mountaineers have also completed ski descents of all the Colorado fourteeners, and the first attempts are being made to complete ski descents of all U.S. fourteeners.

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[edit] Qualification criteria

Not all summits over 14,000 feet qualify as fourteeners. Summits which 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 consistently use such objective rules. Also, there is some debate as to whether or not peaks of 15,000 feet or more should be referred to as "fourteeners"; this article will refer to them as such.

A rule commonly used by mountaineers in the contiguous United States is that a peak must have at least 300 feet (91.4 m) of prominence to qualify. By this rule, Colorado has 53 (plus or minus 1) fourteeners, California has 12, and Washington has 2. However, the subsidiary summit of Liberty Cap in Washington (one of the summits of Mount Rainier), at 14,112 feet and 492 feet of prominence, is often not counted as a fourteener despite meeting the prominence criteria.

According to the Mountaineering Club of Alaska, it is standard in Alaska to use a 500 foot prominence rule rather than a 300 foot rule.[citation needed] By this rule, Alaska has at least 21 peaks over 14,000 feet and its 12 highest peaks exceed 15,000 feet (4,572 m).

For comparison, Canada has 15 fourteeners, and Mexico has 8; however the importance of the arbitrary 14,000 foot mark is minimal outside of the U.S. (due in large part to the use of the metric system). In Europe, it is very common to attempt to climb all of the independent 4,000 meter peaks in the Alps; that pastime roughly corresponds to fourteener-bagging in the U.S., although the European peaks are more technical climbs in general.

[edit] List of United States fourteeners

The following table lists the fourteeners which satisfy the 300 foot prominence rule (for Colorado, California, and Washington) or the 500 foot rule (for Alaska). In other words, it is a list of the highest independent summits in the United States. Note that even with a specified rule, there are a few ambiguous borderline cases, due to the unavoidable imprecision of surveys; the prominence range for these peaks is noted. Also note that due to imprecision of elevations, the order given below is not certain; in particular, different vertical data lead to uncertainties in the ranking. Elevations are given in feet.

Mountain Height (ft) State Range
Mount McKinley 20,320 Alaska Alaska Range
Mount McKinley North Peak 19,470 Alaska Alaska Range
Mount Saint Elias 18,008 Alaska Saint Elias Range
Mount Foraker 17,400 Alaska Alaska Range
Mount Bona 16,550 Alaska Saint Elias Range
Mount Blackburn 16,390 Alaska Wrangell Mountains
Mount Blackburn East Summit 16,286[1] Alaska Wrangell Mountains
Mount Sanford 16,237 Alaska Wrangell Mountains
Good Neighbor Peak 15,700 Alaska Saint Elias Range
Mount Churchill 15,638 Alaska Saint Elias Range
Mount Fairweather 15,300 Alaska Saint Elias Range
Mount Hubbard 15,015 Alaska Saint Elias Range
Mount Bear 14,831 Alaska Saint Elias Range
Mount McKinley East Buttress[2] 14,650 Alaska Alaska Range
Mount Hunter 14,573 Alaska Alaska Range
Mount Whitney 14,505 California Sierra Nevada
Mount Alverstone 14,500 Alaska Saint Elias Range
University Peak 14,470 Alaska Saint Elias Range
Aello Peak 14,445 Alaska Saint Elias Range
Mount Elbert 14,440 Colorado Sawatch Range
Mount Massive 14,421 Colorado Sawatch Range
Mount Harvard 14,420 Colorado Sawatch Range
Mount Rainier 14,411 Washington Cascade Range
Mount Williamson 14,403 California Sierra Nevada
Blanca Peak 14,345 Colorado Sangre de Cristo Range
La Plata Peak 14,336 Colorado Sawatch Range
Uncompahgre Peak 14,309 Colorado San Juan Mountains
Crestone Peak 14,294 Colorado Sangre de Cristo Range
Mount Lincoln 14,286 Colorado Mosquito Range
Grays Peak 14,270 Colorado Front Range
Mount Antero 14,269 Colorado Sawatch Range
Torreys Peak 14,267 Colorado Front Range
Castle Peak 14,265 Colorado Elk Mountains
Quandary Peak 14,265 Colorado Tenmile Range
Mount Evans 14,264 Colorado Front Range
Longs Peak 14,259 Colorado Front Range
Mount Wilson 14,246 Colorado San Juan Mountains
White Mountain Peak 14,246 California White Mountains
North Palisade 14,242 California Sierra Nevada
Mount Shavano 14,229 Colorado Sawatch Range
Crestone Needle 14,197 Colorado Sangre de Cristo Range
Mount Belford 14,197 Colorado Sawatch Range
Mount Princeton 14,197 Colorado Sawatch Range
Mount Yale 14,196 Colorado Sawatch Range
Mount Shasta 14,179 California Cascade Range
Mount Bross 14,172[3] Colorado Mosquito Range
Kit Carson Mountain 14,165 Colorado Sangre de Cristo Range
Mount Wrangell 14,163 Alaska Wrangell Mountains
Mount Sill 14,162 California Sierra Nevada
Maroon Peak 14,156 Colorado Elk Mountains
Tabeguache Peak 14,155 Colorado Sawatch Range
Mount Oxford 14,153 Colorado Sawatch Range
Mount Sneffels 14,150 Colorado San Juan Mountains
Mount Democrat 14,148 Colorado Mosquito Range
Capitol Peak 14,130 Colorado Elk Mountains
Pikes Peak 14,115 Colorado Front Range
Liberty Cap 14,112 Washington Cascade Range
Snowmass Mountain 14,092 Colorado Elk Mountains
Mount Russell 14,086 California Sierra Nevada
Mount Eolus 14,083 Colorado San Juan Mountains
Windom Peak 14,082 Colorado San Juan Mountains
Challenger Point 14,080[4] Colorado Sangre de Cristo Range
Mount Columbia 14,073 Colorado Sawatch Range
Mount Augusta 14,070 Alaska Saint Elias Range
Missouri Mountain 14,067 Colorado Sawatch Range
Humboldt Peak 14,064 Colorado Sangre de Cristo Range
Split Mountain 14,064 California Sierra Nevada
Mount Bierstadt 14,060 Colorado Front Range
Sunlight Peak 14,059 Colorado San Juan Mountains
Handies Peak 14,048 Colorado San Juan Mountains
Culebra Peak 14,047 Colorado Sangre de Cristo Mountains
Ellingwood Point 14,042 Colorado Sangre de Cristo Range
Mount Lindsey 14,042 Colorado Sangre de Cristo Range
Little Bear Peak 14,037 Colorado Sangre de Cristo Range
Mount Sherman 14,036 Colorado Mosquito Range
Redcloud Peak 14,034 Colorado San Juan Mountains
Mount Langley 14,028 California Sierra Nevada
Pyramid Peak 14,018 Colorado Elk Mountains
Mount Tyndall 14,018 California Sierra Nevada
Wilson Peak 14,017 Colorado San Juan Mountains
Wetterhorn Peak 14,015 Colorado San Juan Mountains
Mount Muir 14,015 California Sierra Nevada
San Luis Peak 14,014 Colorado San Juan Mountains
Middle Palisade 14,012 California Sierra Nevada
Mount Wrangell, West Summit 14,013 Alaska Wrangell Mountains
Huron Peak 14,005 Colorado Sawatch Range
Mount of the Holy Cross 14,005 Colorado Sawatch Range
Sunshine Peak 14,001 Colorado San Juan Mountains
  1. ^ See Mount Blackburn on Topozone, which shows an interpolated prominence of 536 feet.
  2. ^ While the high point of the East Buttress (14,730 feet) has a prominence of only 380 feet, the most prominent point of the Buttress has a prominence of 600 feet, qualifying it for this list.
  3. ^ Mount Bross has a prominence of between 292 and 332 feet.
  4. ^ Challenger Point has a prominence of between 280 and 320 feet.

The following are peaks that are sometimes considered fourteeners but do not meet the criteria for the above list:

[edit] See also

[edit] External links