In mountaineering, a fourteener is a mountain that exceeds 14,000 feet (4,267.2 m) above mean sea level.

In North America, climbing all the fourteeners in their country (or in their state) is a popular pastime among peak baggers.

Not all summits over 14,000 feet qualify as fourteeners: only those summits considered by mountaineers to be "independent" and not "subsidiary" summits, either because they have a big enough topographic prominence or because they are sufficiently far away from the nearest higher summit, or by some combination of these rules.

A rule commonly used by mountaineers in the continental United States is that a peak must have at least 300 feet (91.44 m) of prominence to qualify. By this rule, Colorado has 54 fourteeners, California has 12, and Washington has 2. However, the subsidiary summit of Liberty Cap in Washington, at 14,112 feet and 492 feet of prominence, is rarely counted as a fourteener despite meeting the prominence criteria.

Alaska has 16 peaks over 14,000 feet and its eleven highest peaks exceed 15,000 feet (4,572 m). It is standard in Alaska to use a 200 m prominence rule rather than a 300 feet rule. There is some debate as to whether or not peaks in excess of 14,999 feet should be referred to as "fourteeners."

Canada has 15 fourteeners, Mexico has 8.

External links

• Information on the fourteeners in Colorado
• Colorado's Highest Peaks
• List of fourteeners in all US states
• Lists of fourteeners and additional background information

A Fourteener, in poetry, is a line consisting of 14 syllables, usually having 7 iambic feet, often used in 16th century English verse. Sometimes it also used to mean a poem of 14 lines, frequently a sonnet.