Peak bagging (also hill bagging, mountain bagging, or among enthusiasts, just bagging) is a popular activity for hillwalkers and mountaineers in which they attempt to reach the summit of each peak in a region above some height, or having a particular feature. Hillwalking or fellwalking is the recreational practice of hiking in mountainous terrain. ... If you were looking for the car, please see Mercury Mountaineer. ...

Peak bagging can be distinguished from highpointing. In peak bagging, the targets are the peaks of mountains or hills, and the popular lists usually require that the target pass some threshold of prominence. In highpointing, the goal is to reach the highest point in some geographic area (eg, state or county), even if that point is not in any sense a peak. Suppose a rectangular county has a 1000-foot-tall hill at its center, but its northwest corner reaches an elevation of 1001 feet on the gentle lower slopes of a 10,000-foot mountain in the next county. The hill at center is the highest peak in the county, but the northwest corner is the highpoint. Highpointing is the sport of visiting (and finding) the point with the highest elevation within some area, for example the highest points in each county within a state. ... In topography, prominence, also known as autonomous height, relative height, shoulder drop or prime factor (in Europe), is a concept used in the categorization of hills and mountains. ...

Styles

For some peak baggers, simply being present at the highest point is sufficient to check the summit off the list. This allows for driving to car-accessible summits and stepping out out of the vehicle and declaring the summit "climbed." While this extreme case is scoffed at by most mountaineers, there are certain circles for which it is the norm, and in fact it would be almost ridiculous to visit certain very non-prominent peaks and highpoints any other way. In topography, prominence, also known as autonomous height, relative height or prime factor (in Europe), is a concept used in the categorization of hills and mountains. ...

Drive-ups are allowed by the U.S. State Highpointers club and by the even more popular County Highpointers club, whose members are collectively attempting to reach the highest point in all 3,142 U.S. counties Highpointing is the sport of visiting (and finding) the point with the highest elevation within some area, for example the highest points in each county within a state. ... Highpointing is the sport of visiting (and finding) the point with the highest elevation within some area, for example the highest points in each county within a state. ... Originally, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count (in Great Britain, an earl, though the original earldoms covered larger areas) by reason of that office. ...

Various organizations have adopted various rules for what to do when a peak is on private land or otherwise inaccessible, whether off-road vehicles may be used, etc.

Some peak baggers increase the challenge by completing a list of summits within a time limit, or only in winter. Often there are detailed rules for these advanced games too, such as precise definitions of "winter".

Views for and against

Traditional climbers or adventurers may argue that bagging devalues the experience of climbing in favour of the achievement of reaching some arbitrary point on a map; that bagging reduces climbing to the status of stamp collecting or train spotting; that it is a little sad and obsessive. Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects, such as envelopes (cover)s. ... This article is about the hobby of train spotting, for other uses see Trainspotting. ...

Some baggers point out that making a list of peaks to climb and attempting to finish the list does not detract from one's ability to enjoy the climbing experience as any purist mountaineer might. For these people, peak bagging is simply a motivation to keep reaching new summits.

There is also an environmental concern, that encouraging the climbing of certain mountains that have nothing else to recommend them has caused trail damage from erosion through heavy use, and, where mountains have no trails, created trails. Proponents do not dispute that this has occurred, but note that large animals also create paths and that many peakbaggers become active in maintaining trails and aware enough to mitigate damage they may otherwise cause, more so than casual hikers. Furthermore, as any list will include less-visited summits, it may tend to reduce footfall on more popular hills which tend to suffer more from erosion. Look up Erosion in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. Eroded paddock, Australia Detail of erosion Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock, and so forth) by the agents of wind, water, ice, movement in response to gravity...

Worldwide

The Seven Summits are the highest peaks in each continent, from the Vinson Massif in Antarctica to Everest in Asia. This article concerns at least three closely-related senses of Seven Summits: The book Seven Summits, by Dick Bass et al. ... Dymaxion map by Buckminster Fuller shows land mass with minimal distortion as only one continuous continent A continent (Latin continere, to hold together) is a large continuous land mass. ... Vinson Massif is the highest mountain of Antarctica, located about 1,200 km (750 mi) from the South Pole. ... Everest is the highest mountain on Earth. ... World map showing location of Asia Asia is the central and eastern part of the continent of Eurasia, defined by subtracting the European peninsula from Eurasia. ...

The Eight-thousanders are the fourteen mountains over 8,000 m in height, all in the Himalaya and Karakoram ranges in Asia. Cho Oyu, Lhotse, Makalu and Mount Everest as seen from the International Space Station. ... The Himalaya is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. ... Located in the mountainous region of Gilgit-Baltistan or the Northern Areas of Pakistan, the Karakoram is one of the great Himalayan mountain ranges, with many of the highest and most daunting peaks of the world. ... World map showing location of Asia Asia is the central and eastern part of the continent of Eurasia, defined by subtracting the European peninsula from Eurasia. ...

In the British Isles

The Munros are a selection of hills in Scotland over 3000 feet (914.4 m). The list was originally compiled by Sir Hugh Munro and modified from time to time by the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC). The British Isles consist of Great Britain, Ireland and a number of much smaller surrounding islands. ... Aonach Eagach, a popular ridge between two munros in Glen Coe, Meall Dearg and Sgorr nam Fiannaidh A Munro is a Scottish hill with a height over 3000 feet (914. ... Scotland (Alba in Scottish Gaelic) is a country in northwest Europe, occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain. ... Sir Hugh Thomas Munro (1856-1919) was born in London, but brought up in Scotland on the family estate of Lindertis near Kirriemuir. ... The Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) was founded in 1889, in Glasgow, Scotland. ...

The Corbetts are hills in Scotland between 2500 and 3000 feet (762 and 914.4 m), with a relative height of at least 500 feet (152.4 m). The list is maintained by the SMC. A Corbett is a hill in Scotland between 2500 and 3000 feet (762–914. ... Scotland (Alba in Scottish Gaelic) is a country in northwest Europe, occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain. ... In topography, prominence, also known as autonomous height, relative height or prime factor (in Europe), is a concept used in the categorization of hills and mountains. ...

The Donalds are hills in the Scottish Lowlands over 2000 feet (609.6 m). The list is maintained by the SMC. Donalds are hills in the Scottish lowlands over 2000 feet (609. ... The Scottish Lowlands, although not officially a geographical area of the country, in normal usage is generally meant to include those parts of Scotland not referred to as the Highlands, that is, everywhere due south and east of a line roughly drawn between the Stonehaven, Kincardineshire and the Firth of...

The Grahams are hills in Scotland between 2000 and 2500 feet (609.6 and 762 m), with a relative height of at least 500 feet (152.4 m). The list was first compiled by Fiona Graham. A Graham is a hill in Scotland with a height between 2000 and 2500 feet (609. ...

The Hewitts are hills in England, Wales or Ireland over two thousand feet (610 m) high with a relative height of at least 30 m. The list was compiled and is maintained by Alan Dawson. A Hewitt is a hill in England, Wales or Ireland over two thousand feet (609. ...

The Marilyns are hills in the British Isles that have a relative height of at least 150 m, regardless of distance, absolute height or other merit. There are currently 1554 Marilyns in Britain: 1214 in Scotland, 180 in England, 156 in Wales and 5 on the Isle of Man. (Black Mountain is in both England and Wales, which is why the country totals sum to 1554.) There are a further 453 Marilyns in Ireland. The list was compiled and is maintained by Alan Dawson. A Marilyn is a hill with a relative height of at least 150 metres, regardless of absolute height or other merit. ... The British Isles consist of Great Britain, Ireland and a number of much smaller surrounding islands. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Ethnicity... National motto: Cymru am byth (Welsh: Wales for ever) Waless location within the UK Official languages English(100%), Welsh(20. ... Black Mountain is a mountain in the Black Mountains (not to be confused with the Black Mountain range of hills). ...

The Wainwrights are hills in the English Lake District that have a chapter in one of Alfred Wainwright's Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells. There are 214 hills in the seven guides. There are no height or distance qualifications to these hills; they are simply the ones he thought worthy of inclusion. A further 102 hills were included in the supplementary guide, The Outlying Fells of Lakeland. Alfred Wainwright listed 214 fells in total in his series of seven Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells. ... Crinkle Crags as seen from the adjoining fell of Cold Pike. ... Alfred Wainwright (1907 – 1991) was best known for his seven Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells. ...

In the Lake District especially, there is a tradition of finding the maximum number of tops, including all the major summits, which can be visited in a 24 hour period - see Lakeland 24 hour record. This usually requires fell running, and a support team. The pre-war record, set by Bob Graham, of 42 tops, has become a standard round, which has been repeated by over 1000 people. In 1932 the Lakeland fell runner Bob Graham set a peak bagging record of 42 Lakeland peaks in just under 24 hours. ... Fell running, also known as mountain running and hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty. ... In 1932 the Lakeland fell runner Bob Graham set a peak bagging record of 42 Lakeland peaks in just under 24 hours. ...

See also: Category:Peak bagging in the British Isles

In the United States

Popular bagging challenges in the US include:

• The 54 Colorado fourteeners.
• All Fourteeners, mountains over 14,000 feet (4,267 m) in height — Colorado’s 54, 15 in California and Mount Rainier in Washington.
• The highest point in each of the 50 US states.
• The Sierra Peaks Section of the Sierra Club maintains a list of peaks in the Sierra Nevada, and a series of emblems (levels) for climbing a large number of them.
• The 46 highest peaks in New York's Adirondack Mountains (or rather, the list of 46 peaks once thought to be the highest)
• The 48 peaks over 4,000 feet (1,219 m) in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
• All peaks in New England over 4,000 feet (1,219 m)
• The highest 100 peaks in New Hampshire
• The highest 100 peaks in New England.
• The "Fifty Finest" peaks in New England (those with the most topographic prominence)
• All peaks in the Catskill Mountains over 3,500 feet (1,067 m)
• The Northeast 111: The White Mountain 48, the Adirondack 46 and seven Maine peaks, five in Vermont and two Catskill summits over 4,000 feet (1,219 m).
• The Southern Sixers, or South Beyond 6000: all 40 peaks above 6,000 feet (1,828 m) in the southern Appalachians, which are in either North Carolina or Tennessee.