Fourteener

File:Denali Mt McKinley.jpg

Denali, at , is the highest mountain in the United States

In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener (also spelled 14er) 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 53 fourteeners, the most of any single state. Alaska has 29, the second most of any single state. Many peak baggers try to climb all fourteeners in the contiguous United States, or in one particular state, or in another region.

Qualification criteria

The summit of a mountain or hill may be measured in three principal ways:

1. Topographic elevation is the height of the summit above a geodetic sea level.
2. Topographic prominence is how high the summit rises above its surroundings.
3. 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 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

Template:Side box 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. The 22 highest fourteeners are all found in Alaska.

Fourteeners of the United States

Rank	Mountain Peak	State	Mountain Range	Elevation	Prominence	Isolation	Location
1	Alaska	Alaska Range
2	Alaska	Alaska Range
3	Alaska Yukon	Saint Elias Mountains
5	Alaska	Alaska Range
6	Alaska	Saint Elias Mountains
8	Alaska	Wrangell Mountains
9	Alaska	Wrangell Mountains
10	Alaska	Wrangell Mountains
11	Alaska	Alaska Range
13	Alaska Yukon	Saint Elias Mountains
14	Alaska	Saint Elias Mountains
15	Alaska	Saint Elias Mountains
16	Alaska British Columbia	Saint Elias Mountains
17	Alaska Yukon	Saint Elias Mountains
18	Alaska	Saint Elias Mountains
20	Alaska	Alaska Range
21	Alaska	Alaska Range
22	Alaska	Alaska Range
23	California	Sierra Nevada
24	Alaska Yukon	Saint Elias Mountains
25	Alaska	Saint Elias Mountains
26	Alaska	Saint Elias Mountains
27	Colorado	Sawatch Range
28	Colorado	Sawatch Range
29	Colorado	Sawatch Range
30	Template:Country data Washington	Cascade Range
31	California	Sierra Nevada
32	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Mountains
33	Colorado	Sawatch Range
34	Colorado	San Juan Mountains
35	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Range
36	Colorado	Mosquito Range
37	Colorado	Elk Mountains
38	Colorado	Front Range
39	Colorado	Sawatch Range
40	Colorado	Front Range
41	Colorado	Mosquito Range
42	Colorado	Front Range
43	Alaska	Wrangell Mountains
44	Colorado	Front Range
45	Colorado	San Miguel Mountains
46	California	White Mountains
47	California	Sierra Nevada
48	Colorado	Sawatch Range
49	Colorado	Sawatch Range
50	Colorado	Sawatch Range
51	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Range
52	Colorado	Sawatch Range
53	California	Cascade Range
54	Colorado	Mosquito Range
55	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Range
56	Colorado	Elk Mountains
57	Alaska	Wrangell Mountains
58	Colorado	Sawatch Range
59	Colorado	Collegiate Peaks
60	California	Sierra Nevada
61	Colorado	Sneffels Range
62	Colorado	Mosquito Range
63	Colorado	Elk Mountains
64	Template:Country data Washington	Cascade Range
65	Colorado	Front Range
66	Colorado	Elk Mountains
67	California	Sierra Nevada
68	Colorado	Needle Mountains
69	Colorado	Needle Mountains
70	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Range
71	Colorado	Sawatch Range
72	Colorado	Sawatch Range
73	Alaska Yukon	Saint Elias Mountains
74	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Range
75	Colorado	Front Range
76	Colorado	Needle Mountains
77	California	Sierra Nevada
78	Colorado	San Juan Mountains
79	Colorado	Culebra Range
80	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Range
81	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Range
82	Colorado	Sangre de Cristo Range
83	Colorado	Mosquito Range
84	Colorado	San Juan Mountains
85	California	Sierra Nevada
86	California	Sierra Nevada
87	Colorado	Elk Mountains
88	Colorado	San Juan Mountains
89	Colorado	La Garita Mountains
90	Colorado	San Juan Mountains
91	California	Sierra Nevada
92	California	Sierra Nevada
93	Alaska	Wrangell Mountains
94	Colorado	Sawatch Range
95	Colorado	Sawatch Range
96	Colorado	San Juan Mountains

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

• 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 Williamson, California
  Mount Williamson, California
• White Mountain Peak, California
  White Mountain Peak, California
• Longs Peak, Colorado
  Longs Peak, Colorado
• 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
• Blanca Peak, Colorado
  Blanca Peak, Colorado
• Wilson Peak, Colorado
  Wilson Peak, Colorado

See also

• 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 most prominent summits of the United States
    • List of the most isolated major summits of the United States
    • List of extreme summits of the United States
    • List of mountain peaks of Alaska
    • List of mountain peaks of California
    • List of mountain peaks of Colorado
    • List of mountain peaks of Hawaiʻi
    • 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)
    • 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
    • Category:Mountains of the United States
      • commons:Category:Mountains of the United States
• Physical geography
• Eight-thousander, peak with at least 8,000 m. elevation

External links

• United States Geological Survey (USGS)
  • Geographic Names Information System @ USGS
• United States National Geodetic Survey (NGS)
  • Geodetic Glossary @ NGS
  • NGVD 29 to NAVD 88 online elevation converter @ NGS
  • Survey Marks and Datasheets @ NGS
• Colorado 14ers on 14ers.com
• Bivouac.com
• Peakbagger.com
• Peaklist.org
• Peakware.com
• Summitpost.org