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WORLD ULTRAS
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HOMEPAGE

PROMINENCE
THEORY
(orometry)


THE WORLD ULTRAS HOMEPAGE

A major project to precisely catalog every mountain in the world with 1,500 meters (4,921') of prominence.

Prominence is the relative elevation of a mountain summit.  Prominence is the elevation difference between a summit and the highest point (saddle) that separates that summit from any higher summit.


About the Ultras Project

In 2004-2006, the authors of the Ultras Project researched and mapped every summit on earth believed to have 1,500 meters (4,921') or more of prominence.  In total, we have calculated 1,524 such peaks (as of June 10, 2007).   The research has been done through a combination of checking published maps and resources with detailed analysis of the SRTM data.

Based on the principles explained in the theory of prominence, we now have a robust calculation of the number of mountains on earth. 

Prominence is instrumental to our understanding of what constitutes a unique mountain.  For example, many hikers recognize 300' (or some local variant) as a minimum criterion for inclusion of summits on a list; the separation of peaks from sub-peaks.   Mountains above any prominence cutoff share certain characteristics, and as a result there are several conventions as to standard prominence threshholds.  Four values in particular are widely applied to prominence listings on peaklist.org.    The highest cutoff is the 1,500 meter cutoff for Ultra-Prominences - a de facto standard for "really-big" or "world-class" summits.  Other conventions are 600m (or 2,000') for major mountains, 150m (or 500') for all minor mountains, and 100m (or 300') for all summits.  By popular convention in the U.S., hills with less than 300' prominence are considered sub-summits. 

With the google earth Ultras kml, you will see that the Ultras are well distributed all over the world.  The dataset includes famous summits of course; highpoints of continents and major cordilleras including 13 of the 14 8,000 meter Himalayan peaks.   Other ultras are singular islands and volcanoes.  Large numbers of ultras languish in relative obscurity; minor range highpoints in the AmericanPiz Bernina West or Central Asia, rocky peaks extending above the Antarctic icecap, isolated foothills in the Italian Alps, and unnamed summits in the B.C. Coast Ranges.  

Cataloging the ultras has been a major undertaking, and there is still some work to be done.   Topographic map coverage worldwide is both spotty and inconsistent.   Certain countries with accurate and publicly available surveys, such as the US were fairly straight-forward to map.   Other regions of the world were not possible to compute until the release of shuttle (SRTM) data.   The SRTM DEM has allowed us to apply a consistent methodology for identifying ultras, and enabled us to generate accurate lists for Asia, South America, and Africa.  Through this analysis, we have been able to correct numerous major and consistent errors in published summit elevations, and to assign prominence values (outside the polar regions) to a much higher degree of certainty than would be possible with only paper maps.  In the long term though,  determination of summit elevations and prominence beyond approximately ±15 meters (±50 feet) for much of the world will be dependent on accurate ground surveys, or new more detailed DEMs. 

What kind of mountains make ultra-prominences?

The countries with the greatest numbers of Ultras are 1) China, 2) Canada, and 3) USA.  More than half of the US ultras are in Alaska.  Slightly more than half of the Ultras are in Eurasia. 

There are about 165 island highpoints (11% of the total ultras) in the list.  There are also a substantial number of other ultras on islands that are not the highest point of the island; notably on Greenland, New Guinea, Sumatera, Java, Honshu, and Vancouver Island.

Well over 200 volcanoes make the list; Kamchatka and the Aleutian Islands alone account for about 50.  Prominence tends to favor high volcanoes; which often tower over their local surroundings for 360˚. 

Some of the most famous high ranges in the world have few ultras.  For example California's Sierra Nevada counts only Mt. Whitney, its highest point.  The Pyrenees contribute its highpoint, Monte Aneto.  Major ranges with famously high passes, those that appear to form solid walls of alpine terrain, lack a high number of ultras along their central spine.  The Alps have more ultras in their foothills than along the central spine.  The Caucasus merits only seven ultras.  Bhutan only four.

High elevation is not necessarily a great indicator of frequency either.  High plateaux, such as the Bolivian Altiplano and the Tibetan Plateau have infrequent ultras.  The Karakoram on the other hand has the world's highest density of Ultras, given its high jagged peaks and low cols.

Glaciation is a great indicator of prominence.  Prominences are frequent where glaciated valleys create low saddles and summits are high.  In some heavily glaciated foothills, glacier carved valleys adjoin in the back, creating mountain "foothill" islands with high prominences.  We see this in British Columbia and the Southern Andes as well as in Northern Italy.  British Columbia alone has almost 100 ultras, about 7% of the world's total.

Ultras on Google Earth

Download the complete set of Ultras in KML for use with Google Earth:  Ultras-KMZ-file (does not automatically download with all browsers)

Important:  All of the contents of the Ultras file are ©2004-2007 by peaklist.org.  Permission is granted for single-site, non-commercial use.  By downloading this file you agree not to use or reproduce this file nor any data contained therein for any purpose, including but not limited to reposting of any portion of the contents on the internet, publication by electronic, written or other media, and excerpting summary data.  Citations of the source must reference the copyright holder and the authors of the Ultras database, as contained on this website.   The authors wish to thank Kai Pieper of Atlogis for compiling the kmz file.

The lists of the Worlds Ultras

The world is presented below in 43 lists by political-geographical region.  Each list includes some footnotes describing controversies in summit elevations and prominence values.  If you have more precise data that you believe is based on newer, technical surveys, we would like to hear from you.


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CONTINENT
NO. OF PEAKS

LINKS TO LIST PAGES
SUBTOTAL
DATA QUALITY

NORTH AMERICA: 357

British Columbia and Alberta
108 Good
(7 summits on the Alaska/Canada border appear on two lists)


Yukon, NWT, and Nunavut
35
Survey limitations



Greenland 39
Survey limitations



United States: Alaska and Hawaii
70 Good



United States:  Lower 48
57
Precise



Mexico 26
Good
(two Panamanian summits also appear on South America list, and are not counted in the total)


Caribbean & Cent. America 31 Good

SOUTH AMERICA:   209
South America - Introduction and Maps
(5 summits appear on two lists)


Bolivia
15
Good



Colombia
22
Fair



Ecuador
15
Good



Peru
22 Fair



Venezuela, Guianas, Brazil
23
Fair



Andes I:  Argentina/Chile North
43
Fair



Andes II:  Argentina/Chile Central
22
Fair



Andes III:  Argentina/Chile South, Patagonia
52
Survey Limitations

EUROPE:
107

Europe:  Continental
98
Precise



Europe:  Atlantic Islands
9
Precise
(includes Caucasus Nations)
12

European Russia and Caucasus
12
Good

ASIA:  Mainland
654  
Introduction and Maps to all Asia
(Cyprus appears on Europe list)
 
A
Turkey
23
Fair


B
Arabian Peninsula and Middle East
14 Fair
57 mountains appear on two lists
 
C
Iran
54
Fair


D Central Asian Republics
35
Good


E
Siberia, Russia east of the Ob
26 Good


F
Kamchatka and Russian Pacific
30
Good


G
Mongolia
18
Fair


H
Afghanistan and Central/West Pakistan
23 Fair


I
High Asia I - Karakoram, Pakistan and Indian Himalaya
68 Fair


J
High Asia II - Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet south of Brahmaputra
48 Fair


K
India South of Ganges and Sri Lanka
4 Fair


L
Burma and Eastern Indian States
19
Fair


M
Southeast Asia (Indochina)
21
Fair


N
China I - Tibet
55
Fair


O
China II - Xinjiang
53
Fair


P
China III - Sichuan and Yunnan
36
Fair


Q
China IV - Central and Eastern China, Taiwan, Korea
42
Fair


R
Japan
21
Precise


S
Philippines
29
Fair


T Indonesian Archipelago, incl. Sarawak, Sabah, and Timor
92
Fair

AFRICA:  84

Africa
84
Fair
AUSTRALIA AND OCEANIA
54

Australia, NZ, and Oceania
23
Good



Papua New Guinea
31
Good
ANTARCTICA:
39

Antarctica
39
Survey limitations

WORLDWIDE TOTAL
1,516*


1516 (±)*

* Note that the current total is 1,524.  This will be corrected as lists are updated.

Key to Data Quality:

Level 1 Precise
Summits and Saddles are precisely map-checked and proofread. United States, Canada, Europe, Japan
Level 2 Good
Summits and Saddles are precisely map-checked and proofread.  There are less-than-perfect map resources and therefore some reliance on raw SRTM data. 
Mexico, Central America, New Guinea, Oceania, Russia
Level 3 Fair
Summits are map-checked, but there are multiple problems and contradictions within published data sources.   Saddles are almost entirely derived from raw SRTM data.
Africa, Central Asia, Indonesia,
Level 4 Provisional   
Data mostly comes from SRTM and Soviet mapping, and is augmented only inconsistently by some newer survey data.  Chinese data is taken from multiple sources, as the topographic survey is restricted from viewing.
South and East Asia, South America
Level 5
Rough
Voids in DEM and mapping resources mean that lists are incomplete.  Inclusion of mountains is presumed accurate, but P-values  are provisional.
Antarctica, Greenland,  Canadian Arctic

Note:  Although we say with confidence that there are 1,524 Ultras, there is an error range inherent in our sources of data:  Summit elevation values vary greatly in quality from nation to nation.  Saddles are mostly based on SRTM data.  Saddles tend to be easier to interpolate from DEMs than summits as they are often in broad flat areas or at least in wide passes.  We believe that SRTM derived saddle elevations are probably accurate 95% of the time within 15 meters (i.e. there is a 30 meter range).  Saddle elevations are more accurate where we have had the benefit of detailed national surveys such as the US, Canada, Europe and Japan.  Thus we believe a likely range for the true number of ultras is ±10.

How about the largest ones?

Following is the superior list of the World's Top 50 mountains by prominence.   This list has been a collaborative effort by David Metzler, Eberhard Jurgalski, and Jonathan de Ferranti.   The Top 10, not surprisingly, includes all seven of the fabled seven summits (Carstenz rule).  Prominence after all does favor the highest points of things.  The other 3 in the top 10 are all in the Americas. 

Take me to the complete list of the World's Top 50 

1.    Everest, China and Nepal
2.    Aconcagua, Argentina
3.    McKinley, United States
4.    Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
5.    Cristobal Colon, Colombia
6.    Logan, Canada
7.    Orizaba, Mexico
8.    Vinson Massif, Antarctica
9.    Puncak Jaya, Indonesia
10.  Elbrus, Russia
11.  Mont Blanc, France
12.  Damavand, Iran
13.  Klyuchevskaya, Russia
14.  Nanga Parbat, Pakistan
15.  Mauna Kea, United States
16.  Jengish Chokusu, Kyrgyzstan and China
17.  Chimborazo, Ecuador 
18.  Bogda Shan, China
19.  Namcha Barwa, China
20.  Kinabalu, Malaysia
21.  Rainier, United States
22.  K2, Pakistan
23.  Ras Dashan, Ethiopia
24.  Tajumulco, Guatemala
25.  Cameroon, Cameroon
26.  Bolivar, Venezuela
27.  Yu Shan, Taiwan
28.  Margherita, Congo and Uganda
29.  Fairweather, Canada and United States   
30.  Kangchenjunga, India and Nepal
31.  Tirich Mir, Pakistan
32.  Kenya, Kenya
33.  Kerinci, Indonesia
34.  Erebus, Antarctica
35.  Fuji, Japan
36.  Cook, New Zealand
37.  Jebel Toubkal, Morocco
38.  Finisterre, Papua New Guinea
39.  Chirripo, Costa Rica
40.  Rinjani, Indonesia
41.  Teide, Spain
42.  San Valentin, Chile
43.  Gunnbjørnsfjeld, Greenland
44.  Ojos del Salado, Argentina and Chile
45.  Semeru, Indonesia
46.  Kongur Shan, China
47.  Minya Konka, China
48.  Ararat, Turkey
49.  Ritacuba Blanco, Colombia
50.  Blackburn, United States

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