# Four-thousander

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{{Short description|Mountain summit at least 4,000 metres above sea level}}
{{Distinguish|four-thousand footers}}
[[File:Dent Blanche picswiss.jpg|thumb|[Dent Blanche](/source/Dent_Blanche)<small> (4,357 m)</small>]]
A '''four-thousander'''<ref>There are numerous English sources for this term, not least the [http://www.romankoch.ch/alpinismus/uiaa4000.htm UIAA Catalogue of four-thousanders in the Alps]</ref> is a mountain [summit](/source/Summit_(topography)) that is at least 4,000 [metres above sea level](/source/height_above_sea_level). The term is popular among European mountaineers and climbers because the highest peaks in [Europe](/source/Europe) fall into this category, and the summits of four-thousanders are popular in Europe as climbing goals. Although climbing these peaks does not require an expedition to be mounted (unlike the highest peaks in other continents), knowledge and experience of high altitude climbing is a pre-requisite for attempting these peaks.

There is no agreement{{Citation needed|date=February 2013}} over where the boundary is between Europe and [Asia](/source/Asia) which is why there is a dispute over which continent the over 5,000 metres high [Caucasus range](/source/Caucasus_Mountains) is in. All other European four-thousanders are found in the [Alps](/source/Alps). The highest four-thousander is [Mont Blanc](/source/Mont_Blanc) at 4,810&nbsp;metres, the lowest, at exactly 4,000&nbsp;metres is the eastern summit of [Les Droites](/source/Les_Droites).

The exact number of Alpine four-thousanders is unclear, because there are no commonly agreed criteria for mountains, summits and subpeaks. Officially, the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation, [UIAA](/source/UIAA), has declared 82 peaks as four-thousanders and 46 as four-thousander subpeaks, which are spread across three countries. In all 55 peaks lie entirely within one country, over 27 straddle a border but none is located at a [tripoint](/source/tripoint). By the UIAA's definition, Switzerland has 48 four-thousanders, [Italy](/source/Italy) has 35 and [France](/source/France) 26.<ref>[https://www.hikr.org/files/40196.pdf ''Die Viertausender der Alpen – Offizielles UIAA-Verzeichnis'']. In: UIAA-Bulletin. UIAA, Nr. 145, March 1994. (pdf; 633 kB).</ref>

The four-thousanders are found mainly in the [Western Alps](/source/Western_Alps), in the ranges of the [Bernese Alps](/source/Bernese_Alps) (9), [Dauphiné Alps](/source/Dauphin%C3%A9_Alps) (2) [Graian Alps](/source/Graian_Alps) (29) and [Pennine Alps](/source/Pennine_Alps) (41). The only four-thousander in the [Eastern Alps](/source/Eastern_Alps) is [Piz Bernina](/source/Piz_Bernina) (4,049&nbsp;m) in the [Bernina Group](/source/Bernina_Group).

== See also ==
*[List of Alpine four-thousanders](/source/List_of_Alpine_four-thousanders)
*[Two-thousander](/source/Two-thousander)
*[Three-thousander](/source/Three-thousander)
*[Eight-thousander](/source/Eight-thousander)
*[Fourteener](/source/Fourteener)

== References ==
<references/>

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary|Viertausender}}
*[http://www.4000er.de 4000ers of the Alps] {{in lang|de}}
*[http://www.romankoch.ch/alpinismus/uiaa4000.htm UIAA Catalogue of four-thousanders in the Alps] {{in lang|de}}

Category:Four-thousanders
Category:Mountains by height
Category:Oronyms

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Four-thousander](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-thousander) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-thousander?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.