The peak is the highest point of something.
The summit is the highest point of something . The term comes from the Latin cyma .
From a topographical point of view, it is the point on a surface that is higher in altitude compared to all the points immediately adjacent to it. In mathematics , on the other hand, the summit is the local maximum of a function .
In everyday language, the term summit is only used to refer to mountain peaks that have a significant degree of topographic prominence or that have topographic isolation. Thus, a block close to the main summit of a mountain range is not considered to be the summit. Instead, one usually speaks of subsummits or subpeaks of the main peak .
Some famous peaks
Mount Everest , located in the Himalayas , is the highest mountain (and therefore the summit) on Earth , at 8,851 metres above sea level . It is noteworthy that the hundred highest mountains in the world are located on the Asian continent.
The highest mountain in America , meanwhile, is Aconcagua ( 6,959 metres above sea level ). At the European level, the highest peak is the Elbrus volcano, at 5,633 metres above sea level.
Reaching the top of a mountain is often the goal of mountaineering.
Beyond the term
The top of a mountain is the aspect that first catches the eye, and the one that is generally used to classify it, as can be seen in the previous paragraph. It is, so to speak, its most prominent superficial feature . However, it goes without saying that there are many points in its structure to take into account when describing it, starting with its type of vegetation, the animals that live there or that cross it, and the climate of the area in which it is located.
This also applies to sports . Take mountaineering, for example: a first definition tells us that it involves activities such as hiking and walking on a mountain, both on its surface and in the caves that exist there. The goal is not always to reach the summit; in this case, we can speak of climbing (if instinctive walking and climbing is sufficient) or alpinism (if the use of specific climbing techniques is required).
CIMA as an acronym
On the other hand, it should be noted that the word summit also refers to the acronym used by several organizations.
This is the case of the Environmental Research Centre (of the National University of La Plata , in Argentina ), the Centre for Marine and Atmospheric Research , the Centre for Applied Medical Research , the International Centre for Advanced Medicine and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants .
Symbolic use of the notion
This word can also be used symbolically, to indicate the highest point of a process, either by intensity or success , among other parameters. Being at the top of one's career , for example, means having reached the peak , the most satisfactory moment in every sense; from there only a descent awaits, just as it happens at the peak of a mountain.
Just as in the case of mountaineering, the summit does not always represent the longed-for milestone in a person's life; in fact, it is not possible to force its appearance or avoid it. Every series of events forms ascents and descents, so at the end of a story a maximum and a minimum point are evident. However, to do so it is necessary to observe it by setting certain parameters: personal development, professional success, interpersonal relationships, etc. Since a fall begins from that point, it is usually commented with a nuance of sadness, to narrate a regrettable event or even death itself: "He was at the summit when the news of his illness hit him."