Portal:Mountains

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Introduction

Silvretta panorama from the Ochsenkopf

A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher than a hill, typically rising at least 300 metres (980 ft) above the surrounding land. A few mountains are isolated summits, but most occur in mountain ranges.

Mountains are formed through tectonic forces, erosion, or volcanism, which act on time scales of up to tens of millions of years. Once mountain building ceases, mountains are slowly leveled through the action of weathering, through slumping and other forms of mass wasting, as well as through erosion by rivers and glaciers.

High elevations on mountains produce colder climates than at sea level at similar latitude. These colder climates strongly affect the ecosystems of mountains: different elevations have different plants and animals. Because of the less hospitable terrain and climate, mountains tend to be used less for agriculture and more for resource extraction, such as mining and logging, along with recreation, such as mountain climbing and skiing.

The highest mountain on Earth is Mount Everest in the Himalayas of Asia, whose summit is 8,850 m (29,035 ft) above mean sea level. The highest known mountain on any planet in the Solar System is Olympus Mons on Mars at 21,171 m (69,459 ft). (Full article...)

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Selected mountain-related landform

A trim line marks the previous height of Tana Glacier in Alaska

A trim line, also written as trimline, is a clear line on the side of a valley formed by a glacier. The line marks the most recent highest extent of the glacier. The line may be visible due to changes in color to the rock or to changes in vegetation on either side of the line.

The term "trim line" is also used for similar looking phenomena caused by floods, volcanic activity, or tsunamis. (Full article...)

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The Hundalee Hills are located close to the borders of Hurunui District and Kaikōura District in Canterbury in the South Island of New Zealand.

Located 40 kilometres (24.85 mi) to the south of Kaikōura, Hundalee Hills are known largely for a notorious stretch of State Highway 1 between Kaikōura and Christchurch. The road winds sharply around the edge of several hills, as does the Conway River, which reaches the Pacific Ocean close to the Hundalees. (Full article...)

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A cordillera is an extensive chain and/or network system of mountain ranges, such as those in the west coast of the Americas. The term is borrowed from Spanish, where the word comes from cordilla, a diminutive of cuerda ('rope').

The term is most commonly used in physical geography and is particularly applied to the various large mountain systems of the American Cordillera, such as the Andes of South America, and less frequently to other mountain ranges in the "ridge" that rims the Pacific Ocean. In Colombia and Venezuela, cordilleras are named according to their position: Cordillera Occidental, Central, and Oriental. Various local names are used for the cordilleras in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. (Full article...)

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Selected climbing article

Rock climber with a helmet, harness & rope, and a traditional climbing "rack" of protection devices on their harness and additional gear sling, which contains SCLDs, nuts, a tricam, and quickdraws

Rock-climbing equipment varies with the type of climbing undertaken. Bouldering needs the least equipment outside of shoes and chalk and optional crash pads. Sport climbing adds ropes, harnesses, belay devices, and quickdraws to clip into pre-drilled bolts. Traditional climbing adds the need for carrying a "rack" of temporary passive and active protection devices. Multi-pitch climbing (and big wall climbing) adds devices to assist in ascending and descending fixed ropes. And finally aid climbing uses unique equipment (e.g. aiders).

Advances in equipment are a key part of the rock climbing history, starting with the climbing rope. Modern devices enable climbers to perform tasks that were previously done manually and with greater control (in all conditions) and less effort. Examples of replacements include the harness (replaced tieing the rope around the waist), the carabiner (replaced many knots), the descender/abseil device (replaced the dülfersitz), the ascender (replaced the prusik knot), the belay device (replaced the body belay), and nuts/hexes (replaced chockstones). (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various mountain-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Choppering out the injured – with Mt. Forbes in the background (from Mountain rescue)
Image 2The Ocean Ridge, the world's longest mountain range (chain) (from Mountain range)
Image 3Iranian oak scrub in the Zagros Mountains (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 4The Catskills in Upstate New York represent an eroded plateau. (from Mountain)
Image 5Everest is highest from sea level (green), Mauna Kea is highest from its base (orange), Cayambe is farthest from Earth's axis (pink) and Chimborazo is farthest from Earth's centre (blue) (from Mountain)
Image 6Climbers ascending Mount Rainier looking at Little Tahoma Peak (from Mountaineering)
Image 7Winter campers bivouaced in the snow (from Mountaineering)
Image 8Edelweiss, a plant associated with mountain sports (from Mountaineering)
Image 9Cabane du Trient, a mountain hut in the Swiss Alps (from Mountaineering)
Image 10Edward Whymper (1840–1911), painting by Lance Calkin (from Mountaineering)
Image 11Montes Apenninus on the Moon was formed by an impact event. (from Mountain range)
Image 12An alpine mire in the Swiss Alps (from Mountain)
Image 13This 1848 "Sketch showing the actual elevation of the Snow Line in different Latitudes" by Alexander Keith Johnston shows the snow lines of mountains in America, Europe and Asia (from Snow line)
Image 14Antique climbing tools (from Mountaineering)
Image 15Mountain rescue team members and other services attend to a casualty in Freiburg Germany. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 16Mountaineers proceed across snow fields on South Tyrol; other climbers are visible further up the slopes. (from Mountaineering)
Image 17A stand of mountain birch at around 750 m in Trollheimen, typical of Scandinavian subalpine forests (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 18Illustration of mountains that developed on a fold that has been thrust (from Mountain)
Image 19British mountaineer William Cecil Slingsby became known as the father of Norwegian mountaineering and contributed greatly to its popularization with his classic book Norway, the Northern Playground (from Mountaineering)
Image 20Fuji volcano (from Mountain)
Image 21Waimea Canyon, Hawaii, is known for its montane vegetation. (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 22Mountaineers, c. 1900 (from Mountaineering)
Image 23Chimborazo, Ecuador, whose summit is the point farthest away from the Earth's center (from Mountain)
Image 24Temperate montane forest in Bavaria, Germany (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 25Climber approaching the summit of Manaslu at 8,163 metres (from Mountaineering)
Image 26Alpine flora near Cascade Pass (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 27Fixed lines and ladders are distinguishing characteristics of expedition style mountaineering (from Mountaineering)
Image 28A mountain rescue team in Iran moving a casualty. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 29A subalpine lake in the Cascade Range, Washington, United States (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 30Alpine landscape below Malyovitsa Peak, Rila Mountain, Bulgaria (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 31The city of La Paz reaches up to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) in elevation. (from Mountain)
Image 32The northern Urals at high latitude and elevation have an alpine climate and barren ground. (from Mountain)
Image 33The Namcha Barwa Himal, east part of the Himalayas as seen from space by Apollo 9 (from Mountain range)
Image 34The Andes, the longest mountain range on the surface of the Earth, have a dramatic impact on the climate of South America (from Mountain range)
Image 35Stretcher box in Cumbria, England, prepositioned equipment saves mountain rescue teams having to trudge up mountains with it. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 36Tropical montane forest at around 2,000 m in Malaysia (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 37Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain (from Mountain)
Image 38Mountaineers climbing in South Tyrol (from Mountain)
Image 39Pirin Mountain, Bulgaria, part of the fault-block Rila-Rhodope massif (from Mountain)
Image 40Car of Horská služba (Czech Republic) (from Mountain rescue)

Selected skiing article

slopestyle course.

Slopestyle is a winter sport in which athletes ski or snowboard down a course including a variety of obstacles including rails, jumps and other terrain park features. Points are scored for amplitude, originality and quality of tricks. The discipline has its roots in action sports like skateboarding and BMX and has very successfully crossed over into the snow sports worlds of skiing and snowboarding. Skiers use Twin-tip skis for their symmetry since they often go large portions of the course backward (referred to as "switch") and for their balanced weight so as to not destabilize spins. Slopestyle tricks fall mainly into four categories: spins, grinds, grabs and flips, and most tricks done in competition are a combination of these.

Slopestyle is one of the freestyle disciplines, along with moguls, aerials, cross, big air and half-pipe. (Full article...)

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