Contiguous US States Top 20 by Reduced ORS

See the Main ORS Page or the Explanation Page for general notes on ORS and reduced ORS (RORS).

Rank	Peak Name	Range/Region	ORS (m)	RORS (m)	Elev (m)
1	Mount Rainier (Liberty Cap)*	Cascade	827	827	4301 (Main: 4392)
2	Grand Teton	Teton	683	683	4197
3	Mount Shasta	Cascade	675	675	4317
4	Mount Cleveland	Glacier NP	672	672	3190
5	Mount Hood	Cascade	649	649	3452
6	Hozomeen Mountain (South Peak)*	N Cascade	643	642	2440 (Main: 2450)
7	Kinnerly Peak	Glacier NP	612	605	3035
8	Mount Stimson	Glacier NP	590	588	3069
9	Mount Index	N Cascade	588	583	1598
10	Half Dome	Sierra	580	580	2692
11	El Capitan	Sierra	575	568	2152
12	Mount Baring	N Cascade	574	565	1872
13	Mount Baker	Cascade	578	563	3285
14	Goode Mountain	N Cascade	566	563	2804
15	Luna Peak	N Cascade	557	549	2525
16	Mount Adams	Cascade	562	547	3742
17	Mount Gould	Glacier NP	554	547	2912
18	Jack Mountain	N Cascade	551	539	2763
19	Mount Pugh	N Cascade	543	539	2195
20	Mount Cannon (SW)	Glacier NP	554	523	2657

Notes

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

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. Also note that the Sierras are represented by the two most famous features in Yosemite National Park, El Capitan and Half Dome.

(*) General Note: the ORS 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 ORS, 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.

Back to the Main ORS Page         Back to the Lists Page

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