the.com/prominence
How tall a peak stands on its own, not how tall it merely is.
means The measure of how much a peak rises above the surrounding landscape on its own merits, independent of its total elevation — climb down to the lowest point you'd have to cross to reach a higher summit, and that drop is your prominence.
from From Latin 'prominentia,' from 'prominere' — 'to jut out,' built from 'pro-' (forward) plus 'minere' (to project, related to words for threatening overhangs and mountain ridges). The word simply meant 'sticking out' for centuries, applied to noses, chins, and rooftops alike, before mountaineers and geographers borrowed it in more recent times to name a precise, calculable quality: not a peak's raw height, but how boldly it juts free of its neighbors.
- everest trivia
- Everest wins both height and prominence, rare double
- the real test
- subtract the highest connecting saddle from summit height
- underdog peaks
- a short hill beats a tall ridge-bump easily
- mountaineering flex
- climbers rank prominence to find true standalone summits