Notes by Gerry Roach
Name
A peak qualifies for a list if it is named or ranked. Named summits are on
a list if they are ranked or unranked. The officially named summits include
peaks, mounts, mountains, named ridges, named benchmarks if they do not have
a peak name, named rocks, named hills, and other named features such as moraines.
I enclose unofficial names in double quotation marks. If a summit has both a peak
name and a named benchmark, the peak name takes precedence.
Elevation
With one exception, I give elevations in feet. When two or more summits have the same elevation,
they are ordered by decreasing Prominence. If there
are peaks with the same elevation and prominence, then they are ordered by decreasing Isolation.
Prominence
The Prominence of a summit in these lists is its rise above the highest saddle
connecting the summit to higher ground. This highest saddle is called the Prominence Saddle,
which I have previously called the Connecting Saddle. Thus, Prominence is the elevation
of the summit minus the elevation of the Prominence Saddle. Prominence is a pure topographic
measure that is independent of names, parents, and ranks. Occasionally, a summit does not
have a given elevation, and in these cases, the summit elevation is calculated by
extrapolating above the summit’s highest closed contour by half the map’s contour interval.
Often, a saddle does not have a given elevation, and in these cases the saddle elevation
is interpolated between the highest contour that does not go through the saddle and the
lowest contour that does go through the saddle. Given elevations in a saddle are used,
but only if they represent the low point of the saddle. The maps used for calculating
Prominence are the largest scale (most detailed) maps available for the region. In Colorado,
these are the the USGS 7.5 minute quadrangles, which typically have a contour interval
of 40 feet in the mountains. In these lists, Prominence is given in feet.
Rank
A summit has a hard rank, if it has at least 300 feet of
Prominence. Prominence is given in the Prom column,
and a right-justified number in the Rank column means that the summit has a hard rank.
Summits that do not have a hard rank but could rank if extrapolated elevations were
not used for the summit and/or interpolated elevations were
not used for the Prominence Saddle, have a soft rank.
Summits with a soft rank have a left-justified S in the Rank column.
No entry in the Rank column means that the summit is named but unranked.
I list ranked summits whether they are named or not.
Parent
The closest, higher, hard ranked summit is the Proximate Parent.
The closest, higher, hard ranked summit that one would reach by climbing beyond and above the
Prominence Saddle is the Prominence Parent. The term Line Parent is a synonym for Prominence Parent.
For most summits, the Proximate and Prominence Parents are the same peak, and in these cases,
I list that peak name once in the Parent Column. When the Proximate and Prominence Parents are two
different peaks, I list the Proximate Parent first followed by the Prominence Parent on a second line.
Unranked summits still have parents.
Isolation
The Great Circle distance between a summit and its Proximate Parent is the summit’s Isolation.
I list this distance in miles in the Iso column. When a summit has different Proximate and Prominence Parents,
I list the Great Circle distance to each parent adjacent to the parent names in the Parent column.
By definition, the distance to the Proximate Parent will always be less than or equal to the distance to the
Prominence Parent. The distance to the Proximate Parent is the summit’s Isolation, but I include
the distance to the Prominence Parent as additional information.
Abbreviations
I use the following general abbreviations
- & for and
- aka for also known as
- BC for British Columbia
- BM for Benchmark
- CAN for Canada
- CI for Contour Interval
- Cty for County
- Elev for Elevation
- Geo for Geographic
- GUA for Guatemala
- HP for Highpoint
- IPWA for Indian Peaks Wilderness Area
- Izta for Iztaccíhuatl
- MEWA for Mount Evans Wilderness Area
- Mt for Mount
- Mtn for Mountain
- Mtns for Mountains
- Natl for National
- Nev for Nevado
- NM for National Monument
- NP for National Park
- Pk for Peak
- Popo for Popocatépetl
- Prom for Prominence
- PT for Point
- Quad for Quadrangle
- Res for Reservoir
- Rg for Range
- RMNP for Rocky Mountain National Park
- Spgs for Springs
- St for State
- Vol for Volcano
- YK for Yukon
Occasionally, I also abbreviate compass directions to save space.
Range
The Rg column shows the peak’s Range as follows
- AB for Absaroka
- AP for Aquarius Plateau
- AR for Alaska
- BCC for British Columbia Coast
- BH for Bighorns
- BF for Bullfrog Hills
- BK for Black Mountains
- BR for Bear River Range
- CG for Chugach
- CH for Cochetopa Hills
- CM for Cottonwood Mountains
- CS for Cascades
- DH for Danforth Hills
- DI for Dinosaur National Monument
- DR for Deep Creek Range
- EL for Elk
- EM for Elkhead Mountains
- FH for Fish Lake Hightop Plateau
- FM for Funeral Mountains
- FR for Front
- GB for Great Basin
- GH for Grand Hogback
- GM for Grand Mesa
- GO for Gore
- GP for Great Plains
- GR for Greenwater Range
- GV for Grapevine Mountains
- HE for Henry Mountains
- LC for Last Chance Range
- LS for La Sal Mountains
- MO for Mosquito
- MP for Markagunt Plateau
- MV for Mesa Verde
- MX for México
- OL for Olympics
- OM for Owlshead Mountains
- PA for Panamint Range
- PK for Park
- PR for Pavant Range
- PV for Pine Valley Mtns
- RA for Rawah Range
- RE for Rabbit Ears
- RM for Rocky Mountains
- RR for Raft River Mountains
- RT for Retirement Range
- SA for Saline Range
- SC for Sangre de Cristo
- SE for Saint Elias
- SN for Snake Range
- SP for South Park
- SR for Sierra
- SW for Sawatch
- TE for Tenmile
- TM for Tenmile-Mosquito
- TS for Trans Sierra
- TT for Tetons
- TU for Tushar Mountains
- SJ for San Juan
- UI for Uintah
- VM for Vasquez Mountains
- WE for Wet
- WM for White Mountains
- WP for Wasatch Plateau
- WR for Wrangell
- WN for Wind Rivers
- WS for Wasatch
If there is no Rg column, then all the peaks on that list are in the same range.
The Quadrangle column gives the USGS 7.5 minute quadrangle that shows the
peak’s summit. The parent may be on a different quadrangle.
Sub Range
The Sg column shows the peak’s sub range.
CO Front Range sub range abbreviations
- BW for Boulder Watershed
- CF for Colorado State Forest
- CP for Comanche Peak Wilderness Area
- IP for Indian Peaks Wilderness Area
- JP for James Peak Wilderness Area
- MU for Mummy Range
- NE for Neota Wilderness Area
- NS for Never Summer Wilderness Area or range
- RM for Rocky Mountain National Park
CO/NM Sangre de Cristo sub range abbreviations
- CU Culebra Range CO/NM
- LW Latir Peak Wilderness Area NM
- PW for Pecos Wilderness Area NM
- WW for Wheeler Peak Wilderness Area NM
UT Uinta sub range abbreviations
- UW for High Uintas Wilderness Area
State
I use the traditional abbreviations for the US state and territory names.
Scroll down for the Mexican state abbreviations.
- AK for Alaska
- AL for Alabama
- AR for Arkansas
- AS for American Samoa
- AZ for Arizona
- CA for California
- CO for Colorado
- CT for Connecticut
- DC for District of Columbia
- DE for Delaware
- FL for Florida
- GA for Georgia
- GU for Guam
- HI for Hawaii
- IA for Iowa
- ID for Idaho
- IL for Illinois
- IN for Indiana
- KS for Kansas
- KY for Kentucky
- LA for Louisiana
- MA for Massachusetts
- MD for Maryland
- ME for Maine
- MI for Michigan
- MN for Minnesota
- MO for Missouri
- MP for Northern Mariana Islands
- MS for Mississippi
- MT for Montana
- NC for North Carolina
- ND for North Dakota
- NE for Nebraska
- NH for New Hampshire
- NJ for New Jersey
- NM for New Mexico
- NV for Nevada
- NY for New York
- OH for Ohio
- OK for Oklahoma
- OR for Oregon
- PA for Pennsylvania
- PR for Puerto Rico
- RI for Rhode Island
- SC for South Carolina
- SD for South Dakota
- TN for Tennessee
- TX for Texas
- UT for Utah
- VA for Virginia
- VI for U.S. Virgin Islands
- VT for Vermont
- WA for Washington
- WI for Wisconsin
- WV for West Virginia
- WY for Wyoming
Mexican State
I use the ISO standard to abbreviate Mexican State names as follows
- AGU for Aguascalientes
- BCN for Baja California
- BCS for Baja California Sur
- CAM for Campeche
- CHP for Chiapas
- CHH for Chihuahua
- COA for Coahuila
- COL for Colima
- DIF for Distrito Federal
- DUR for Durango
- GUA for Guanajuato
- GRO for Guerrero
- HID for Hidalgo
- JAL for Jalisco
- MEX for México
- MIC for Michoacán
- MOR for Morelos
- NAY for Nayarit
- NLE for Nuevo León
- OAX for Oaxaca
- PUE for Puebla
- QUE for Querétaro
- ROO for Quintana Roo
- SLP for San Luis Potosí
- SIN for Sinaloa
- SON for Sonora
- TAB for Tabasco
- TAM for Tamaulipas
- TLA for Tlaxcala
- VER for Veracruz
- YUC for Yucatán
- ZAC for Zacatecas
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