Having hiked some official mountains in my day, namely the White Mountains of New Hampshire, I've been reluctant to use the word mountain climbing when refering to my rides in the Santa Monica Mountains. I mostly use the word hill instead. This thread has given me the confidence to call them mountains. Saddle Peak, at 2800 ft, deserves to be called what it is, a mountain. It has a pointy peak and everything. The ride takes you to near 2500 feet, but that's still technically a mountain climb.