Fourteener
Mountain peak of at least 14,000 feet
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Qualification criteria
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.
- Topographic isolation (or radius of dominance) is how far the summit lies from 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 300 ft (91 m) 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 500-foot (150 m) prominence rule rather than a 300-foot (91 m) rule. By this rule, Alaska has at least 19 peaks over 14,000 ft (4,267 m) and is home to all 9 US peaks exceeding 15,000 ft (4,572 m).
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Fourteeners
The following table lists the 96 mountain peaks of the United States with at least 14,000 ft (4267 m) of topographic elevation and at least 300 ft (91.44 m) 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 300 ft (91.44 m) and includes 96 peaks. The number of peaks included depends upon the minimum topographic prominence criterion. A criterion of 100 m (328.1 ft) includes 90 peaks, 500 ft (152.4 m) includes 77 peaks, 1,000 ft (304.8 m) includes 63 peaks, and 500 m (1,640 ft) 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 = 25–125 feet (7.6–38.1 m). 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.