Interpreting a line in SN15.10

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In SN15.10, there are a few verses at the end of the sutta. The translation of this line by Ajahn Sujato and Bhikkhu Bodhi are very different:

The lines talk about the Vepulla mountain, in relation to the Vulture’s peak.

Ajahn Sujato’s translation reads:

…
as huge as Mount Vepulla,
higher than the Vulture’s Peak,

While Bhikkhu Bodhi’s translation reads:

As the tall Vepulla Mountain
Standing north of Vulture Peak

The line in question is:

Uttaro gijjhakūṭassa,

The word uttara can be interpreted in both ways (higher, or northern), but given the narrative (“if the bones of a single individual for a single eon were gathered up, they’d make a pile the size of a mountain”) the height comparison in Ajahn Sujato’s version feels right.

Is there something else I may have missed here in Bhikkhu Bodhi’s translation, some reference or some other angle, where the relative position (“north of”) is relevant?

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It’s interesting because Bhante Sujato does mention in a foot note:

Mount Vepulla (“huge”; modern Vipula) lies immediately north of the Vulture’s Peak. It was probably visible to the Buddha, hence he used the proximate pronoun ima (“this”). Today it is crowned with a Jain temple. Its past names are given at SN 15.20.

I just checked the print version and Bhante Bodhi has no notes about this.

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