Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 17, 2026

Line parent

A peak's line parent is the closest higher peak on the highest ridge leading away from the peak's "key col". A col is the lowest point on the ridge between two summits and is roughly synonymous with the lowest point of a gap, saddle and notch. The highest col of a peak is its key col. If there is more than one ridge which can be followed to a higher peak then the line parent is the peak closest to the key col. Usually, a line parent must meet some prominence criteria, which might vary depending on the author and the location of the peak.

Last revised
Jul 17, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
169 w
Citations
4
Source

A peak's line parent is the closest higher peak on the highest ridge leading away from the peak's "key col". A col is the lowest point on the ridge between two summits and is roughly synonymous with the lowest point of a gap, saddle and notch. The highest col of a peak is its key col. If there is more than one ridge which can be followed to a higher peak then the line parent is the peak closest to the key col. Usually, a line parent must meet some prominence criteria, which might vary depending on the author and the location of the peak.123

There are at least two other kinds of peak parentage: island parentage, which is also referred to as encirclement or topographic parentage, and source parentage.1

See also

See also

References

References

  1. "Explanation of line parent". Bivouac.com. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
  2. "Line parent". LoJ.com. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
  3. "Peakbagger.com Help and Glossary: Line Parent". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2001-08-31.
External links