Contiguous US States Top 50 by Reduced Spire Measure

See the Main Spire Page or the Explanation Page for general notes on spire measure (SM) and reduced spire measure (RSM).

In this table, note the predominance of peaks in the Cascades (both the stratovolcanoes and the steep nonvolcanic peaks of the North Cascades) and in Glacier National Park, and the absence of peaks in the Colorado Rockies, where the peaks are higher, but the bases are also higher and the peaks not as steep.

In the table below, "SM" is the spire measure in meters (click here for explanation of the units of SM).
"RSM" is the reduced spire measure in meters.
Elevation is also in meters.
Peak names are linked to Wikipedia pages or to other sites/pictures/maps of the peaks.

Rank	Peak Name	Range/Region	SM (m)	RSM (m)	Elev (m)
1	Mount Rainier (Liberty Cap)*	Cascade	944	944	4301 (Main: 4392)
2	Mount Shasta	Cascade	781	781	4317
3	Mount Hood	Cascade	741	734	3452
4	Grand Teton	Teton	708	708	4197
5	Mount Cleveland	Glacier NP	671	671	3190
6	Mount Baker	Cascade	674	670	3285
7	Mount Adams	Cascade	673	647	3742
8	Hozomeen Mountain (South Peak)*	N Cascade	643	640	2440 (Main: 2450)
9	Mount Stimson	Glacier NP	603	597	3069
10	Kinnerly Peak	Glacier NP	609	594	3035
11	Mount San Jacinto	So Cal	592	592	3293
12	Goode Mountain	N Cascade	587	582	2804
13	Mount Tom	Sierra Nevada	582	582	4161
14	Mount Jefferson	Cascade	589	578	3199
15	Jack Mountain	N Cascade	591	574	2754
16	Pugh Mountain	N Cascade	565	557	2184
17	Mount Williamson	Sierra	570	555	4309
18	Baring Mountain	N Cascade	561	555	1872
19	Luna Peak	N Cascade	568	551	2525
20	Half Dome	Sierra	554	550	2692
21	El Capitan	Sierra	554	543	2152
22	Telescope Peak	Panamint	550	538	3365
23	Mount Index	N Cascade	558	537	1598
24	Mount Gould	Glacier NP	550	537	2906
25	Mount Shuksan	N Cascade	602	535	2780
26	Colonial Peak	N Cascade	546	517	2369
27	Mount Stuart	N Cascade	524	515	2870
28	Mount Moran	Teton	579	513	3843
29	Sloan Peak	N Cascade	542	511	2385
30	Whitehorse Mountain	N Cascade	532	510	2075
31	Agnes Mountain (**)	N Cascade	521	505	2473
32	Cannon Mountain (SW)	Glacier NP	550	504	2657
33	Johannesburg Mountain	N Cascade	538	502	2505
34	Mount Merritt	Glacier NP	554	499	3058
35	White Mountain Peak	CA White	516	492	4342
36	Going to the Sun Mountain	Glacier NP	531	490	2939
37	Glacier Peak	N Cascade	525	489	3213
38	Birch Mountain	Sierra	524	487	4315
39	American Border Peak	N Cascade	572	486	2436
40	Mount St. Nicholas	Glacier NP	511	486	2847
41	Davis Peak	N Cascade	535	483	2149
42	Rainbow Peak	Glacier NP	524	478	3015
43	Pilot Peak	NE Nevada	478	478	3266
44	West Temple	Zion NP	476	476	2324
45	Mount Nebo	Wasatch	472	472	3620
46	Mount Triumph	N Cascade	499	466	2216
47	Mox Peak (Far East)	N Cascade	492	466	2584
48	Needle Peak	N Cascade	507	465	2405
49	Copper Peak	N Cascade	485	463	2732
50	Mount Constance	Olympic	469	463	2364

(*) General Note: the spire measure of a peak is calculated from a reference point on the peak which may not be the main (highest) summit. Instead the reference point is chosen to give the best SM, i.e. it is the point on the peak with the "most impressive view." It is also usually a harder climb than the main summit. In the following cases this best reference point is quite different from the main summit:

• Rainier: Liberty Cap is the Northernmost peak on the broad top of Rainier. It is fairly pointy and stands atop the Willis Wall (the premier alpine North Face in the lower 48) and the Sunset Amphitheater, also a steep face. By contrast Columbia Crest, the main summit, is gentle and sits well away from any steep face.
• The North (Main) Peak of Hozomeen is slightly higher than the South Peak. However the South Peak is significantly steeper; in fact it has the steepest North Face of any peak in the Northwest.

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Any comments or questions are very welcome:
metzler (at) aa (dot) edu