The word top comes from the Latin summa and means the highest point of something. From topographic analysis, it is the point on a surface that is higher in altitude compared to all points immediately adjacent to it. For mathematics, on the other hand, the top 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. In this way, a block near the main top of a mountain range is not considered the top. On the other hand, we usually speak of sub – peaks or sub -peaks of the main peak.
The Mount Everest, located in the Himalayas, is the highest mountain (and, therefore, the top) of the Earth, with 8851 meters above the level of the sea. It should be noted that the hundred highest mountains in the world are located on the Asian continent. The highest mountain in America is Aconcagua (6959 meters above sea level). At the European level, the top is the Elbrus volcano, with 5633 meters above sea level.
The top of a mountain is the aspect that first stands out, and the one that is generally used to catalog 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 in its structure there are many points to take into account when describing it, starting with its type of vegetation, the animals that inhabit it or that cross it and the climate of the area in which it that is.
This also carries over to the field of sport. Let’s take mountaineering for example: a first definition tells us that it deals with activities such as hiking and walking up a mountain, both on its surface and through the caves that exist in it. The goal is not always to reach the top; In this case, one can speak of ascension (if it is enough to walk and climb instinctively) or mountaineering (if the use of specific climbing techniques is needed).
On the other hand, it should be noted that the word top also refers to the acronym used by various organizations. This is the case of the Center for Environmental Research (at the National University of La Plata, in Argentina), the Center for Research on the Sea and the Atmosphere, the Center for Applied Medical Research, the International Center for Advanced Medicine and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
This word can also be used symbolically, to indicate the highest point of a process, either by intensity or by success, among other parameters. Being at the top of one’s career, for example, means having reached the peak, the most satisfying moment in every way; from there only a descent awaits, in the same way that it happens at the peak of a mountain.
As in the case of mountaineering, the summit does not always represent the desired milestone in a person’s life; in fact, it is also not possible to force its appearance or avoid it. Series of events form ascents and descents, so at the end of a story evidenced one point maximum and minimum. However, this requires observing it by setting certain parameters: personal development, professional success, interpersonal relationships, and so on. Since a fall begins from that point, it is usually commented with a tinge of sadness, to narrate an unfortunate event or even death itself: “He was at the top when the news of his illness hit him. “
