Portal:Mountains

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Introduction

Appalachian Mountains

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). The tallest mountain including submarine terrain is Mauna Kea in Hawaii from its underwater base at 9,330 m (30,610 ft); some scientists consider it to be the tallest on earth. (Full article...)

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Selected mountain-related landform

A pyramidal peak, sometimes called a glacial horn in extreme cases, is an angular, sharply pointed mountain peak which results from the cirque erosion due to multiple glaciers diverging from a central point. Pyramidal peaks are often examples of nunataks. (Full article...)

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Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

The Spring Mountains are a mountain range of Southern Nevada in the United States, running generally northwest–southeast along the west side of Las Vegas and south to the border with California. Most land in the mountains is owned by the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management and managed as the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area within the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. (Full article...)

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Tower karst are tall rock structures made up of soluble rock such as limestone. Tower karst forms as near-vertical joints and fractures are eroded downward by solution, leaving parts of a previously coherent rock mass isolated from each other. Tower karst is most common in tropical regions, although it may form in other climates as well.

Examples include Khao Phing Kan, also known as James Bond Island, in Thailand, and Cat Ba Island in Vietnam. (Full article...)

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Selected climbing article

Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports in their own right. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, and bouldering are also considered variants of mountaineering by some, but are part of a wide group of mountain sports.

Unlike most sports, mountaineering lacks widely applied formal rules, regulations, and governance; mountaineers adhere to a large variety of techniques and philosophies (including grading and guidebooks) when climbing mountains. Numerous local alpine clubs support mountaineers by hosting resources and social activities. A federation of alpine clubs, the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA), is the International Olympic Committee-recognized world organization for mountaineering and climbing. The consequences of mountaineering on the natural environment can be seen in terms of individual components of the environment (land relief, soil, vegetation, fauna, and landscape) and the location/zone of mountaineering activity (hiking, trekking, or climbing zone). Mountaineering impacts communities on economic, political, social and cultural levels, often leading to changes in people's worldviews influenced by globalization, specifically foreign cultures and lifestyles. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Car of Horská služba (Czech Republic) (from Mountain rescue)
Image 2Apennine Mountains and Trebbia river, Italy (from Mountain)
Image 3Mountaineers climbing in South Tyrol, Italy (from Mountain)
Image 4Tropical montane forest at around 2,000 m in Malaysia (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 5The 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 6Illustration of mountains that developed on a fold that has been thrust (from Mountain)
Image 7This 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 8Edmund Hillary (left) and Tenzing Norgay after successfully completing the first ascent of Mount Everest, 29 May 1953
Image 9Winter campers bivouaced in the snow (from Mountaineering)
Image 10A stand of mountain birch at around 750 m in Trollheimen, typical of Scandinavian subalpine forests (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 11Antique climbing tools (from Mountaineering)
Image 12Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain (from Mountain)
Image 13Chimborazo, Ecuador, whose summit is the point farthest away from the Earth's center (from Mountain)
Image 14Iranian oak scrub in the Zagros Mountains (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 15Choppering out the injured – with Mt. Forbes in the background (from Mountain rescue)
Image 16Alpine landscape below Malyovitsa Peak, Rila Mountain, Bulgaria (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 17Montes Apenninus on the Moon was formed by an impact event. (from Mountain range)
Image 18Stretcher box in Cumbria, England, prepositioned equipment saves mountain rescue teams having to trudge up mountains with it. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 19Mountaineers, c. 1900 (from Mountaineering)
Image 20A subalpine lake in the Cascade Range, Washington, United States (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 21An alpine mire in the Swiss Alps (from Mountain)
Image 22Pirin Mountain, Bulgaria, part of the fault-block Rila-Rhodope massif (from Mountain)
Image 23Fixed lines and ladders are distinguishing characteristics of expedition style mountaineering (from Mountaineering)
Image 24Mont Blanc on the border between Aosta Valley, Italy, and Haute-Savoie, France, the highest point in the European Union (from Mountain)
Image 25The Dolomite Mountains, Italy, in summer. The climate of the Dolomites is characterized by short but warm and mild summers, while winters are long and very cold. (from Mountain)
Image 26Cabane du Trient, a mountain hut in the Swiss Alps (from Mountaineering)
Image 27Edelweiss, a plant associated with mountain sports (from Mountaineering)
Image 28Alpine flora near Cascade Pass (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 29Climber approaching the summit of Manaslu at 8,163 metres (from Mountaineering)
Image 30The northern Urals at high latitude and elevation have an alpine climate and barren ground. (from Mountain)
Image 31The Ocean Ridge, the world's longest mountain range (chain) (from Mountain range)
Image 32Mountaineers proceed across snow fields on South Tyrol; other climbers are visible further up the slopes. (from Mountaineering)
Image 33Treeline elevation by latitude (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 34Edward Whymper (1840–1911), painting by Lance Calkin (from Mountaineering)
Image 35The city of La Paz reaches up to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) in elevation. (from Mountain)
Image 36Waimea Canyon, Hawaii, is known for its montane vegetation. (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 37Distribution of mountains by location and elevation (from Mountain)
Image 38British 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 39Temperate montane forest in Bavaria, Germany (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 40Climbers ascending Mount Rainier looking at Little Tahoma Peak, United States (from Mountaineering)
Image 41The Namcha Barwa Himal, east part of the Himalayas as seen from space by Apollo 9 (from Mountain range)
Image 42Fuji volcano (from Mountain)
Image 43Everest 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)

Selected skiing article

Chairlift mechanism in the resort of Val Cenis Vanoise, France

A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Hochschwarzwald. (Full article...)

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