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.
Prominence is a necessary criterion for deciding when to include a peak onan altitude-based list.
For the Colorado 14,000' list, a peak must have atleast 500' prominence. Some lists also have a horizontal separationrequirement, but a list whose pruning criteria are based strictly ondistance and not on prominence would have several undesireablecharacteristics. We see, then, that even if prominence is not the primarycriterion for a list, it is unavoidable as a secondary criterion. There are many lists which show the highest point in each of some set ofgeographic areas, such as the 50 state high points, the counties of a givenstate, or the seven continental summits. With some types of areas,particularly those defined by political boundaries, the high point issometimes on the border where rising terrain continues into a neighboring area.