Fourteener


In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least. There are 96 fourteeners in the United States, all west of the Mississippi River. Colorado has the most of any single state; Alaska is in second place with 29. Many peak baggers try to climb all fourteeners in the contiguous United States, one particular state, or another region.

Qualification criteria

The summit of a mountain or hill may be measured in three principal ways:
  1. topographic elevation: the height of the summit above a geodetic sea level.
  2. topographic prominence: how high the summit rises above its surroundings.
  3. topographic isolation : how far the summit lies from its nearest point of equal elevation.
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, or a combination of the two. However, fourteener lists do not always consistently use such objective rules.
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, it is standard in Alaska to use 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 96 fourteeners, 53 rise in Colorado, 29 in Alaska, 12 in California, and one in Washington. The 22 highest fourteeners all rise in Alaska.
RankMountain PeakStateMountain RangeElevationProminenceIsolationLocation
1
Alaska Range
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2
Alaska Range
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3

Saint Elias Mountains
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4
Alaska Range
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5
Alaska Range
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6
Saint Elias Mountains
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6
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Topographic prominence

The table above uses a minimum topographic prominence criterion of and includes 97 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 feet of elevation, but have less than 300 feet of topographic prominence: