The peaks with the greatest prominence areinevitably those that give the hiker and climber the greatest sense ofaccomplishment. Comparing altitude above sea level is often like comparing apples andoranges. But you can still compareprominences across these areas. Prominence comparison is always meaningful,even when altitudes are disparate and altitude comparison is meaningless. A2000' prominence list for the Appalachians, Rockies, or Cascades would alllead the hiker and climber to the most interesting and climbworthy peaks ineach of these areas.
Prominence is much better than elevation above sealevel as a means of generating lists.
We will see in the next section thatprominence, unlike elevation, is capable of being the sole criterionfor generating a list. There are many lists of peaks that purport to show all peaks above a certainaltitude or the highest n peaks in a certain area, such as theColorado 14,000' list or the Colorado 100 highest. Any such list must facethe criterion of whether to include a certain peak or exclude it because itwas deemed a subsidiary of a higher nearby peak. It makes no sense toinclude every boulder, pinnacle, and crag, so the line must be drawnsomewhere. Objective criteria are very important here because otherwise itcan be impossible to reach a consensus in finalizing a list since thepersonal preferences of those with influence in preparing the list willinevitably come into play.