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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A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arisen from the same cause, usually an orogeny. Mountain ranges are formed by a variety of geological processes, but most of the significant ones on Earth are the result of plate tectonics. Mountain ranges are also found on many planetary mass objects in the Solar System and are likely a feature of most terrestrial planets.

Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys. Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology. They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes, for example thrust sheets, uplifted blocks, fold mountains, and volcanic landforms resulting in a variety of rock types. (Full article...)

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Mountains and Indian paintbrush (Castilleja sp.) in Boise National Forest

The Boise Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Idaho, spanning part of Boise and Sawtooth national forests. The highest point in the range is Two Point Mountain at an elevation of 10,124 feet (3,086 m) above sea level. (Full article...)

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A peak's line parent is the closest higher peak on the highest ridge leading away from the peak's "key col". A col is the lowest point on the ridge between two summits and is roughly synonymous with pass, gap, saddle and notch. The highest col of a peak is its key col. If there is more than one ridge which can be followed to a higher peak then the line parent is the peak closest to the key col. Usually, a line parent must meet some prominence criteria, which might vary depending on the author and the location of the peak.

There are at least two other kinds of peak parentage. Island parentage, which is also referred to as encirclement or topographic parentage; and source parentage. (Full article...)

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Névé /neɪˈveɪ/ is a young, granular type of snow which has been partially melted, refrozen and compacted, yet precedes the form of ice. This type of snow is associated with glacier formation through the process of nivation. Névé that survives a full season of ablation turns into firn, which is both older and slightly denser. Firn eventually becomes glacial ice – the long-lived, compacted ice that glaciers are composed of. Glacier formation can take years to hundreds of years depending on freeze-thaw factors and snow compaction rates. Névé is annually observed in skiing slopes, and is generally disliked as an icy falling zone.

Névé has a minimum density of 500 kg/m³, which is roughly half of the density of liquid water at 1 atm. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

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Free moving heels during the ascent are a defining characteristic of ski touring. After reaching the mountain top or other destination, the heel portions of the special touring bindings are fixated such that the skis behave like normal alpine skis on the typically long ride downhill.

Ski touring is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas. Touring is typically done off-piste and outside of ski resorts, and may extend over a period of more than one day. It is similar to backcountry skiing but excludes the use of a ski lift or transport.

Ski touring combines elements of Nordic and alpine skiing and embraces such sub-disciplines as Telemark and randonnée. A defining characteristic is that the skier's heels are "free" – i.e. not bound to the skis – in order to allow a natural gliding motion while traversing and ascending terrain which may range from perfectly flat to extremely steep. (Full article...)

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