Editing Fourteener (section)

== Qualification criteria ==
The [[summit]] of a mountain or hill may be measured in three principal ways:
#[[Elevation|Topographic elevation]] is the height of the summit above a [[Geoid|geodetic sea level]].<ref name=NAVD_88>All elevations in the 48 [[contiguous United States]] include an elevation adjustment from the [[National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929]] ([[NGVD 29]]) to the [[North American Vertical Datum of 1988]] ([[NAVD 88]]).  For further information, please see this [[United States National Geodetic Survey]] [http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/faq.shtml#WhatVD29VD88 note].</ref><ref name=range>If the elevation or prominence of a summit is calculated as a range of values, the [[arithmetic mean]] is shown.</ref>
#[[Topographic prominence]] is how high the summit rises above its surroundings.<ref name=prominence>The [[topographic prominence]] of a summit is the [[Elevation|topographic elevation]] difference between the summit and its [[Topographic prominence#Definitions|highest or key col to a higher summit]].  The summit may be near its key col or quite far away.  The key col for [[Denali]] in [[Alaska]] is the [[Isthmus of Rivas]] in [[Nicaragua]], {{convert|7642|km|0|abbr=on|comma=5}} away.</ref><ref name=range/>
#[[Topographic isolation]] (or radius of dominance) is how far the summit lies from its nearest point of equal elevation.<ref name=isolation>The [[topographic isolation]] of a summit is the [[great-circle distance]] to its nearest point of equal elevation.</ref>

Not all summits over 14,000 feet qualify as fourteeners.<ref>Blake, Kevin S. 2002. Colorado Fourteeners and the Nature of Place Identity. ''Geographical Review'' 92(2): 155–179.</ref> Summits that qualify are those considered by [[mountaineering|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.{{Citation needed|date = February 2019}}

A rule commonly used by mountaineers in the contiguous United States is that a peak must have at least {{convert|300|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} of prominence to qualify.{{Cn|date=April 2025|reason=Tom scott claims 300m, not 300ft? https://youtu.be/i8P5a1uqIMw?t=109}} By this rule, Colorado has 53 fourteeners, California has 12, and Washington has 2.{{Citation needed|date = February 2019}}

According to the Mountaineering Club of Alaska, the standard in [[Alaska]] uses a {{convert|500|ft|m|adj=on}} prominence rule rather than a {{convert|300|ft|m|0|adj=on}} rule.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtnclubak.org/index.cfm/Peaks/Peak-Bagging/12|title=Western Chugach 21 7,000-foot Summits|publisher=Mountaineering Club of Alaska|access-date=2016-12-10|archive-date=2016-12-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221015737/http://www.mtnclubak.org/index.cfm/Peaks/Peak-Bagging/12|url-status=dead}}</ref> By this rule, Alaska has at least 21 peaks over {{convert|14000|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} and its 12 highest peaks exceed {{convert|15000|ft|m|0|abbr=on}}.{{Citation needed|date = February 2019}}