What makes a Mountain?

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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Marklim80401
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What makes a Mountain?

Post by Marklim80401 »

Was wondering if there’s any kind of criteria for naming mountains, peaks, and a mount? For instance Longs peak is named peak, not mt. Longs or Longs mountain. Snowmass mountain is called mountain not mt. or peak. Please help me understand if there’s some method to naming these mountains? Thanks!
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Scott P
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Re: What makes a Mountain?

Post by Scott P »

Some people have said that there is and have written articles on it, but there is no set rule and there are too many exceptions to even consider them to be any kind of set rule. The same is true of mountains vs. hills.

Peak does have a fairly defined definition and mountains can have multiple peaks, but not vice versa. Mount vs. Mountain though, I have found no correlation on which should be which despite several articles I have seen saying that there is a distinction between the two.
I'm old, slow and fat. Unfortunately, those are my good qualities.
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dubsho3000
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Re: What makes a Mountain?

Post by dubsho3000 »

What makes a Mountain Man? Is it the courage to do the right thing, no matter the cost?
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herdbull
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Re: What makes a Mountain?

Post by herdbull »

well it's definitely not a mole hill
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Scott P
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Re: What makes a Mountain?

Post by Scott P »

That was an article I was referring to, but if you compare the article with the Colorado mountains, or even just the 14ers, it has close to zero correlation. We have Longs and Pikes Peaks, but even Cameron is a Mount.
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peter303
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Re: What makes a Mountain?

Post by peter303 »

In the UK at one time a mountain was defined as 1000 feet. So there was the romcom 1995 English movie titled "The Englishman who went up a hill but came down a mountain". It was about lugging up 16 feet of rocks to turn a favorite local hill into a mountain.

Every once in a while people threaten to do this on Elbert to make it taller than Whitney.

The shortest Colorado 14er Sunshine is threatened with losing its 14er status under the new National Geodetic Survey definition of US sea level which increases sea level by two feet (60 centimeters). This change is due to better incorporating satellite data into defining sea level than the previous 1980s definition. Various sources list Sunshine Peak ranging from 14,000 to 14,007 feet. So people threaten to pile rocks on top of Sunshine too.
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Re: What makes a Mountain?

Post by pvnisher »

Every time I see rocks piled up on Sunshine to raise it, I go out and puncture some air conditioning Freon cans to cause global warming and raise the sea level.
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Re: What makes a Mountain?

Post by justiner »

peter303 wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:01 am The shortest Colorado 14er Sunshine is threatened with losing its 14er status under the new National Geodetic Survey definition of US sea level which increases sea level by two feet (60 centimeters). This change is due to better incorporating satellite data into defining sea level than the previous 1980s definition. Various sources list Sunshine Peak ranging from 14,000 to 14,007 feet. So people threaten to pile rocks on top of Sunshine too.
Sea level gets so much screwier when you ask the question, "which sea?" since oceans independently rise to different levels.
Marklim80401
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Re: What makes a Mountain?

Post by Marklim80401 »

Also Points! Ellingwood point and Challenger point. And the one exception Crestone Needle!
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Scott P
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Re: What makes a Mountain?

Post by Scott P »

peter303 wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:01 amVarious sources list Sunshine Peak ranging from 14,000 to 14,007 feet. So people threaten to pile rocks on top of Sunshine too.
LiDAR has it pegged at 14,004', which should be more accurate than the topo maps. Even if 2 feet is lost, it should be safe.
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Re: What makes a Mountain?

Post by greenonion »

Marklim80401 wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 10:13 pm Was wondering if there’s any kind of criteria for naming mountains, peaks, and a mount? For instance Longs peak is named peak, not mt. Longs or Longs mountain. Snowmass mountain is called mountain not mt. or peak. Please help me understand if there’s some method to naming these mountains? Thanks!
I smell a gore galore article soon. And Mexican food! Cuz I’m hungry after Culebra today! That’s a Serpent Mountain!
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