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I wonder which mountain's peak likely has the higher elevation above sea level, the Caradhras (highest mountain of the Misty Mountains, located above Khazad-Dûm) or the Eilenaer/Halifirien (at the border between Rohan and Gondor, highest of the seven beacon mountains, probably highest mountain of Rohan and among the highest peaks in Gondor and the Ered Nimrais).

Both mountains are covered in snow so that both peaks must be higher than 8,000 ft (snow line at midlatitudes) while on Eilenaer there's the beacon patrol so its peak must be low enough that hypoxia is no issue (reportedly 75% of climbers experience altitude sickness above 10,000 ft, and I guess the patrol exchanges once in a while). Therefore I'd rather go with Caradhras, and the Caradhras actually looks higher to me seen from Eregion than the Halifirien seen from Edoras though we don't know how high the plains of Rohan are above sea level.

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    Don't you know, Numenoreans would have to be among the 25% who could take it.
    – Invisible Trihedron
    Commented Aug 14, 2021 at 13:58
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    We generally don't know enough about heights of mountains in Middle-Earth to be likely to answer such questions, unless something new was revealed in Nature of Middle-Earth. scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/235197/…
    – suchiuomizu
    Commented Aug 14, 2021 at 14:47
  • @suchiuomizu In the link the Halifirien isn't considered among them, while Caradhras is. Obviously the Caradhras.
    – Aragorn Elessar
    Commented Aug 14, 2021 at 16:11
  • @InvisibleTrihedron I guess the beacons that are on peaks bordering Rohan might be patrolled by Rohirrim as well.
    – Aragorn Elessar
    Commented Aug 14, 2021 at 16:13
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    @Aragorn Elessar There is no reason to believe that the Halfirien beacon was on the highest peak of the Halfirien Mountain. It had to be in a position with clear lines of sight to the surrounding beacons, and so high enough to be seen over the curature of the Earth. If the beasons were tens of miles apart, they would probably have to be only a thousand or two feet above the plain at their feet.
    – M. A. Golding
    Commented Aug 14, 2021 at 18:10

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Caradhras is higher. It is a mountain (in the common sense of the word), whereas Halifirien is a hill (again in the common sense).

When the Company is in the foothills of the Misty Mountains (The Ring Goes South, in The Fellowship of the Ring). Gandalf says it will take two marches to reach the top of the Redhorn Gate pass which is far lower than the summit of Caradhras (otherwise it wouldn't be a pass). In contrast, Cirion and Eorl walk up Halifirien, hold a ceremony at the summit and walk back down in a single day (part (iii) of Cirion and Eorl in the Unfinished Tales). Notably, they start their descent as the evening is setting in, reaching their camp at the foot of the hill in time for supper. Starting a descent from a mountain in the evening would be utter madness; had the descent been long they would simply have camped at the top.

It's also worth pointing out that the Lord of the Rings explicitly states that the Beacons were in the foothills of the White Mountains, not on the tops of the mountains themselves (Minas Tirith, in the Return of the King). There is an extensive discussion of this here:

Do the beacon lighters really live on top of the mountains?

An important conclusion there is that beacons on top of very high mountains would be almost impossible for a pre-technological state to maintain.

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  • I know the other name and it's wrong because it implies it is a hill (Amon) while in fact it's a mountain (Orod). Should I ever become King of Gondor I will rename the mountain back to Eilenaer.
    – Aragorn Elessar
    Commented Aug 15, 2021 at 4:14
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    @AragornElessar --- Call it what you like, but Cirion and Eorl describes two ocassions on which men climbed to the summit, and refers to Amon Anwar as a hill throughout.
    – Ian Thompson
    Commented Aug 15, 2021 at 12:37
  • "Hill" is also arbitrary, but you usually don't refer to permanently-snow-covered mountains as hills. Mt Sunday on which Edoras is built is a hill. Amon Sûl the weathertop is a hill. Amon Dîn is on the verge between a hill and a mountain, it is snow-covered in spring.
    – Aragorn Elessar
    Commented Aug 15, 2021 at 14:10
  • @AragornElessar --- I've added more detail.
    – Ian Thompson
    Commented Aug 16, 2021 at 11:22
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    Beacons on mountains would pose two problems. Firstly if they are above the clouds, they will be invisible on cloudy days, secondly if hey are on snow covered mountains, they will also be less visible during the day, due to a lack of contrast, as the white mountain top is very bright on its own.
    – trikPu
    Commented Aug 16, 2021 at 14:52

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