A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

than all points immediately adjacent to it. The

topographic Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scienc ...

terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and

zenith The zenith (, ) is the imaginary point on the celestial sphere directly "above" a particular location. "Above" means in the vertical direction (Vertical and horizontal, plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location (nadir). The z ...

are

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

peak that is located at some distance from the nearest point of higher elevation. For example, a big, massive rock next to the main summit of a mountain is not considered a summit. Summits near a higher peak, with some

prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

or isolation, but not reaching a certain cutoff value for the quantities, are often considered ''subsummits'' (or ''subpeaks'') of the higher peak, and are considered part of the same mountain. A

pyramidal peak A pyramidal peak, sometimes called a glacial horn in extreme cases, is an angular, sharply pointed mountain peak which results from the cirque erosion due to multiple glaciers diverging from a central point. Pyramidal peaks are often examples o ...

is an exaggerated form produced by ice

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

of a mountain top. For summits that are permanently covered in significant layers of ice, the height may be measured by the highest point of rock (rock height) or the highest point of permanent solid ice (snow height). The highest summit in the world is

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

with a height of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. The first official ascent was made by

Tenzing Norgay Tenzing Norgay (; ''tendzin norgyé''; May 1914 – 9 May 1986), born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. On 29 May 1953, he and Edmund Hillary were the first confirmed to ...

and

Sir Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached th ...

. They reached the mountain's peak in 1953. Whether a highest point is classified as a summit, a sub peak or a separate mountain is subjective. The

International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, commonly known by its French name Union internationale des associations d'alpinisme (UIAA; ), was founded in August 1932 in Chamonix, France when 20 mountaineering associations met for ...

's definition of a 4,000 m peak is that it has a prominence of or more; it is a mountain summit if it has a prominence of at least . Otherwise, it is a subpeak. SiskiyouSummit

''Summit'' may also refer to the highest point along a line, trail, or route. In many parts of the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

, the term ''summit'' is used for the highest point along a road, highway, or railroad, more commonly referred to as a '' pass''. For example, the highest point along

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

is referred to as

Donner Summit Donner Pass is a mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, above Donner Lake and Donner Memorial State Park about west of Truckee, California. Like the Sierra Nevada themselves, the pass has a steep approach from the east and a gradual a ...

and the highest point on

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

is Siskiyou Mountain Summit. This can lead to confusion as to whether a labeled "summit" is a pass or a peak.

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References

External links

Peak finder

World Mountain Peak Map
- Map of mountain peaks higher than 1000m.
Summit Climbing Gear List peakbagger.com
Information and statistics about the mountain peaks and mountain ranges of the world
peakbucket.com
The activity tracking website for peakbaggers worldwide
peakery.com
Worldwide peakbagging community with over 300,000 peak summit logs and peak lists
peakbook.org
International peakbagging community with worldwide peak lists
peakhunter.org
Global summit log project with crowd sourced peak data
hill-bagging.co.uk
Database and logging of British and Irish hills {{Authority control Geodesy Cartography Physical geography Slope landforms Surveying Topography Oronyms

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See also

References

External links