Ultra-prominent peak

Map of ultras worldwide

Anultra-prominent peak,orultrafor short, is amountainsummitwith atopographic prominenceof 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) or more; it is also called aP1500.The prominence of a peak is the minimum height of climb to the summit on any route from a higher peak, or from sea level if there is no higher peak. There are approximately 1,524 such peaks on Earth.Some well-known peaks, such as theMatterhornandEiger,are not ultras because they are connected to higher mountains by highcolsand thus do not achieve enough topographic prominence.

The term "ultra" originated with earth scientist Steve Fry, from his studies of the prominence of peaks inWashingtonin the 1980s. His original term was "ultra major mountain", referring to peaks with at least 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) of prominence.

Distribution

Currently, 1,518 ultras have been identified above sea level: 639 inAsia,356 inNorth America,209 inSouth America,120 inEurope(including 12 in theCaucasus), 84 inAfrica,69 inOceania,and 41 inAntarctica.

Many of the world's largest mountains are ultras, includingMount Everest,K2,Kanchenjunga,Kilimanjaro,Mont Blanc,andMount Olympus.On the other hand, others such as theEigerand theMatterhornare not ultras. Many ultras lie in rarely visited and inhospitable parts of the world, including 39 inGreenland,the high points of theArcticislands ofNovaya Zemlya,Jan MayenandSpitsbergen,and many of the peaks of theGreater rangesof Asia. InBritish Columbia,some of the mountains listed do not even have generally recognized names.

Thirteen of the fourteen8,000-metre summitsare ultras (the exception beingLhotse), and there are a further 64 ultras over 7,000 metres (23,000 ft) in height. There are 90 ultras with a prominence of over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), but only 22 with more than 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) prominence.

A number of ultras have yet to be climbed, withSauyr Zhotasy,(possibly)Mount Siple,andGangkar Puensumbeing the most likely candidates for themost prominent unclimbed mountainin the world.

All of theSeven Summitsare ultras by virtue of the fact that they are the high points of large landmasses. Each has itskey colat or near sea level, resulting in a prominence value almost equal to its elevation.

Lists of ultras (1516)

General

• List of islands by highest point,115 of which are ultras.
• List of mountain peaks by prominencegives the 125 most prominent peaks worldwide.

Africa (84)

• List of ultras of Africa(84)

Antarctica (41)

• List of ultras of Antarctica,including South Atlantic islands (41)

Asia (637)

• List of ultras of Central Asia(75)
• List of ultras of Japan(21)
• List of ultras of Northeast Asia(51)
• List of ultras of Southeast Asia(42)
• List of ultras of the Himalayas,including Sino-Nepal Provinces (76)
• List of ultras of the Karakoram and Hindu Kush(61)
• List of ultras of the Malay Archipelago(92, including 12 inOceania[Papua])
• List of ultras of the Philippines(31)
• List of ultras of Tibet, East Asia and neighbouring areas,including India (112)
• List of ultras of West Asia(88)

Europe (120)

• List of Alpine peaks by prominence(44)
• List of European ultra-prominent peaks(76), including non-Alpine European ultras (60), the Atlantic islands (6), and the EuropeanCaucasus Mountains(10)
  • List of the highest European ultra-prominent peaks(33)

North America (356)

The summit ofMount LoganinYukon,the highest point inCanada,is ranked sixth in the world by topographic prominence.

• List of ultras of North America(356)
  • List of the most prominent summits of Canada(143, including 6 bordering theUnited States)
  • List of the most prominent summits of the United States(129, including 6 inOceania[Hawaiian Islands] and 6 borderingCanada)
    • List of ultras in Alaska(65, including 4 borderingYukonand 2 borderingBritish Columbia)
  • List of ultras of Central America(23)
  • List of ultras of Greenland(39)
  • List of ultras of Mexico(27)
  • List of ultras of the Caribbean(7)

Oceania (69)

• List of ultras of Oceania,including the southern Indian Ocean (69)
  • List of ultras of Australia(2)
  • List of ultras of New Zealand(10)
  • List of ultras of Papua New Guinea(31)
  • List of ultras of the Hawaiian Islands(6)
  • List of ultras of the Pacific Islands(6)
  • List of ultras of the southern Indian Ocean(2)
  • List of ultras of Western New Guinea (Indonesia)(12)

South America (209)

• List of ultras of South America(209)

See also

• List of mountain lists
• List of mountain peaks by prominence
• Topographic prominence