Distance from the Center of the Earth

It is well known that the highest mountain on earth is Mt. Everest at 29,017* feet. However it actually depends on how you measure the height. If you say that "highest" means the greatest distance above sea level then of course Mt. Everest reins supreme but there are actually two other ways to measure the height.

A second way to measure a mountain height is by the distance between the base and the top of a mountain, in this case Hawaii's Mauna Kea would be king of the world as it is 33,477 feet high (Only 13,796 ft is above sea level, the rest is below the Pacific Ocean) and Giant with a 4,050 feet rise from it's base in New Russia would be #1 in the Adirondacks.

The third way to measure the height is by measuring the distance from the center of the earth. This way because the earth bulges at the equator the point furthest from the center of the earth is the summit of Chimborazo volcano in the Andes of Ecuador. Its elevation from sea level is 20,703 feet but because it is near the equator its distance from the center of the earth is 20,946,295 feet which is 7,145 feet higher than Everest (20,939,150 feet) which sits at 27.980799° north latitude.

Measuring the mountains in the Adirondacks this way Mt. Marcy is a whopping 20,896,900 feet and is still the highest in the Adirondacks. Algonquin is still #2 at 20,896,633 feet.

However because of its higher latitude Marcy would lose its title as the highest in NY State to Slide Mt. in the Catskills which by this way of measuring is 1418 feet higher at 20,898,318 feet. In fact by this way of measuring Mt. Marcy just beats out Highpoint in NJ by 134 feet, which is just 1803 feet above sea level but with this way of measuring it is 20,896,766 feet (It beats Algonquin by 133 feet). But on the flip side, by this way of measuring Marcy is 7,618 feet higher than the highest point above sea level in North America Mount McKinley which would only be at 20,889,282 feet.

So because of the equatorial bulge, latitude is a significant factor on how far a mountain is from the center of the earth. For example Snowy Mt. in Indian Lake and Moose Mt. in Lake Placid are the same height above sea level 3,898 but because Snowy is at a lower latitude it is 796 feet further from the center of earth than Moose (20,895,958 vs 20,895,162 respectively).

If this was the standard way of measuring mountain heights the ADK 46 and 100 highest would look very different.

Rank Name Distance from Center of Earth +20,890,000' Sea Level Height** Sea Level Rank**
1 Marcy 6900 5344 1
2 Algonquin 6633 5115 2
3 Haystack 6525 4961 3
4 Skylight 6496 4924 4
5 Dix 6416 4823 9
6 Gray  6383 4826 7
7 Iroquois 6375 4849 6
8 Basin 6371 4826 7
9 Gothics 6271 4734 10
10 Colden 6254 4715 11
11 Santononi 6199 4606 13
12 Redfield 6184 4606 13
13 Nippletop 6167 4593 15
14 Whiteface 6131 4885 5
15 Giant 6122 4626 12
16 Wright 6074 4587 16
17 Saddleback 6067 4528 17
18 Blue Ridge (Indian Lake) 6028 3881 50
19 Macomb 6020 4390 22
20 Hough 6017 4409 21
21 Panther  (High Peak) 6015 4442 18
22 Snowy 5958 3898 47
23 Armstrong 5958 4429 19
24 Allen 5954 4347 25
25 Tabletop 5935 4413 20
26 Marshall 5901 4363 24
27 Rocky Peak  5888 4383 23
28 Panther - (Indian Lake) 5878 3862 54
29 Lewey 5831 3727 68
30 Seward 5829 4331 26
31 Buell 5820 3779 63
32 Pillsbury 5808 3602 80
33 Wakley 5792 3766 66
34 Little Moose 5729 3632 75
35 Upper Wolfjaw 5725 4203 29
36 South Dix 5704 4068 37
37 Big Slide 5702 4232 28
38 Sawteeth 5689 4134 32
39 Lower Wolfjaw 5685 4173 30
40 Colvin 5662 4068 37
41 Phelps 5662 4160 31
42 Gore 5656 3563 84
43 Hamilton 5651 3238 123
44 East Dix 5620 4006 41
45 Donaldson 5613 4108 34
46 Blue Mountain 5610 3760 67
47 Street 5608 4134 32
48 Seymour 5591 4091 36
49 Big Range 5570 3366 109
50 Dial 5567 4003 42
51 Blake's 5564 3970 44
52 Three ponds  5561 3012 160
53 Puffer 5559 3451 95
54 Emmons 5557 4039 40
55 North River 5528 3878 52
56 Swart 5525 3094 149
57 Cascade 5524 4098 35
58 Porter 5518 4068 37
59 Cliff 5511 3944 46
60 Mcnaughton 5506 3983 43
61 Bullhead 5506 3432 100
62 Hoffman 5506 3704 71
63 Cellar (Indian Lake) 5501 3369 108
64 Crane 5491 3240 122
65 Cellar (Wakley) 5491 3445 97
66 South Pond 5486 3291 118
67 Boreas 5466 3776 64
68 Esther 5459 4239 27
69 Spruce Lake Mt 5459 3169 137
70 Eleventh Mt 5456 3291 118
71 Blue Ridge (3 Ponds) 5446 2867 220
72 T-Lake Mt (T-Lake #2) 5441 3071 150
73 T-Lake #1 5436 3091 152
74 Dug Mt 5432 3228 126
75 Green 5430 3960 45
76 Brown Pond 5427 3419 102
77 Pigeon 5413 2780 251
78 Blue Ridge(Blue Mt. Lake) 5410 3465 92
79 Dun Brook 5408 3589 81
80 Kitty #3 5405 3159 140
81 Kitty Cobble (Kitty #1) 5398 3251 121
82 Lost Pond Peak 5384 3891 49
83 T-Lake #3 5393 2995 164
84 Blue Ridge(Raquette Lake) 5382 3428 101
85 Couchsachraga 5370 3793 62
86 Wilmart 5366 2976 173
87 Avalanche 5359 3832 57
88 Twin Lakes (T-Lake #4) 5358 2976 173
89 T-Lakes #5 5343 2976 173
90 T.R. 5339 3822 59
91 Nye 5335 3871 53
92 Kitty #2 5333 3163 139
93 Moose (3 Ponds) 5330 2805 238
94 Cheney Cobble 5323 3684 73
95 Grass Mt 5322 2989 168
96 Fishing Brook #1 5321 3547 86
97 Speculator 5320 2966 178
98 Raker (Sawtooth #1) 5301 3839 56
99 Macomber 5297 3005 163
100 T-Lakes #6 5295 2972 176

And here are some other Adirondack Mountains thrown in for fun
Name

Distance from the center of the Earth
+20,890,000'

     

Sea Level height

Fishing Brook #2 5294

3468

Squaw 5283

3255

Sunrise 5282

3619

Henderson 5281

3707

County Line Mt 5278

3110

North Branch 5278

2717

West Canada 5268

2991

Wallace 5268

2720

Payne 5265

3232

Blue Ridge (Hoffman) 5253

3468

Wallface 5252

3727

Tomany 5248

2677

Unnamed (E of Hornet Cobbles) 5233

3451

Unnamed (S of Spoon Lake) 5238

2923

Stacy Mt 5237

2854

Cutter (Sawtooth #2) 5230

3773

Vanderwhacker 5227

3409

Tenant 5222

2756

Kitty #7 5223

3012

Sherman 5219

2638

West Canada #2 5218

2953

Kilburn

5204

3881

Baldhead(Stony Creek) 5200

2870

Pete Gay 5199

3127

Burgess 5189

3192

Hogback 5187

2480

Sawtooth #3 5177

3694

Sentinel 5177

3858

Calamity 5174

3607

Fishing Brook #3 5171

3396

Fishing Brook #4 5165

3389

Moose (Lake Placid) 5162

3898

Wolf Pond 5149

3442

State Brook 5143

2549

McKenzie 5114

3832

Little Santononi 5108

3504

Adams 5107

3520

Noonmark 5092

3556

Hurricane 5084

3678

Ohmer

5070

2566

Fishingbrook #5

5012

3238

Saddleback (Jay) 4947

3615

Slide (Sentinels) 4931

3576

Sawteeth #4 4922

3445

Unnamed (E of Seymour) 4918

3415

Stewart 4909

3615

Pitchoff 4900

3497

Jay 4889

3576

Sawteeth #5 4863

3415

Bailey Hill

4854

3051

Black (Lake George)

4815

2640

Ampersand 4719

3313

Lyon 4653

3820

Averill 4648

3803

Knob Lock 4641

3192

Slip (Jay Range)

4633

3313

Morgan

4639

3458

Wilmington

4622

3458

The formula I used to calculate these heights

Distance from center of earth =

((1/sqrt(cos²(Lat)/a² + sin²(Lat)/b²)) * 5280) + M

Where as…
a = Earth's Equator radius in miles = 3,963.189
b = Earth's Polar radius in miles = 3,949.901
Lat= Latitude of peak in Degrees.degrees format***
5280= Convert miles into feet
M=Mountain Height in feet above sea level

* Current measurement as of 10/05 drops the height of Everest to 29,017 feet down from 29,035 feet
** Heights and rankings based on 1978 metric maps
*** Note: In order to work in MS Excel, degrees must be converted to radians Radians= Degrees * ¶/180

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