We are excited to announce that approximately 570 peaks have been added to the California SOTA roster joining the existing 3,718 for a new total of 4,329 peaks.
These peaks are across the state and in most all regions. Some are quite accessible from the major metro areas while others have a little bit more of an adventure feel to reach them.
Peaks were added/moved as a result of the following;
- A recent SOTA wide alignment on P150 prominence criteria measured as 492 feet versus 500 feet for 2012 and before peak list
- More accurate topological data from advanced satellite imaging
In all of this, the one aspect that made me chuckle was the fact that 40 peaks have moved…well the peak didn’t really move, we simply have more accurate peak information or corrected for past errors and so in effect the peak has moved and in so doing the previous peak code has been retired (don’t use it any more) and a new one assigned. The most notable is San Gorgonio, CT-001, Southern California’s highest peak (11,500ft), which has a new code, CT-245. That aside its still a tough one to get to the top of!
The easiest way to detect an addition or move is to check the “Valid Dates:From” and “Valid Dates: Until” column in the 2016 ARM. If either field is 1/5/2016 (UK date format for May 1st, 2016) then the peak code is new or retired respectively.
| Region | Additions | “Moved” |
| Northern Coastal (NC) | 101 | 5 |
| Southern Desert (SD) | 93 | 1 |
| Souther Sierra (SS) | 78 | 7 |
| Southern Coastal (SC) | 75 | 4 |
| Northern Sierra (NS) | 60 | 2 |
| Northwestern Ranges (NW) | 44 | 4 |
| Northeastern Ranges | 35 | 0 |
| Inyo Mountains (IN) | 33 | 1 |
| Transverse Range (CT) | 32 | 5 |
| Northern Desert (ND) | 19 | 6 |
| Northern Ranges (CN) | 1 | 0 |
| Desert Ranges (CD) | 0 | 1 |
| Coastal Ranges (CC) | 0 | 1 |
| Sierra Nevada (SN) | 0 | 3 |
| Totals | 571 | 40 |
Enormous credit and thanks goes to Guy Hamblin (N7UN) who has driven this effort and untaken a lot of work personally.
This is some great news. I’ve seen a lot of new ones being ack’d in the NS designator. Hoping to talk to some of the fellow activators in CA this year!