eggs wrote:If you are after prominence as in "big drop", then Geryon beats Du Cane Range hands down.
In reality - they are part of the same block - but exposure is non existant on the Ducane top, but everywhere dramatic on Geryon.
[disclaimer - we looked at it, but due to time constraints did not climb it at the time]
I probably misunderstand "prominence", but Legges Tor is a rise on a vast plateau.
But I suspect you are simply after the high point of a mountain block/range that falls away on every side.
I presume there is a limit to how large the block/range can be, otherwise the high point of the central plateau might have got on the list?
What I mean by "prominence" is the same as the idea of "drop" that the Abels uses; it's purely mathematical. Essentially it is the least amount you can descend before you must reascend to a higher peak. To calculate it, follow the highest ridge to a higher mountain and find the lowest point on this ridge. Then subtract that height from the mountain in question's height.
This image should help:
From this calculation, we know that Pelion East is well over the 150m Abel threshold. 335m is quite prominent. As you can see from the list I attached, the top 50 most prominent almost all have over 600m prominence.
Legges Tor is second on the list because A. it's very tall, and B. it is separated from Mount Ossa (it's "parent peak") by very low ground. The fact that its a squat hill on a big plateau has no bearing on the value.
Ossa is no. 1 because it's the highest point on an island. There are no higher mountains - just sea in all directions. Its prominence is 1617m. The same goes for Mount Maria. It isn't very tall but it's on an island, so it's prominence = height.
Because Geryon is probably lower than the Du Cane Range, and the saddle/col between the two is not that deep, it has a very low prominence. Anyway, that's just the kind of stupid thing I obsess about. "50 Finest" is a bit misleading I guess. It really doesn't have anything to do with subjective quality.