Portal:Mountains

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Introduction

View of the south side of the Santa Catalina Mountains as seen from Tucson, Arizona.

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 nunatak (from Inuit nunataq) is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They often form natural pyramidal peaks. Isolated nunataks are also called glacial islands, and smaller nunataks rounded by glacial action may be referred to as rognons.

The word is of Greenlandic origin and has been used in English since the 1870s. (Full article...)

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Mount Lincoln

The Mosquito Range (elevation approximately 14,000 ft) is a high mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado in the United States. The peaks of the range form a ridge running north–south for roughly 40 mi (64 km) from southern Summit County on the north end, then along the boundary between Lake and Park Counties. The range forms a high barrier separating the headwaters of the Arkansas River near Leadville from South Park and the headwaters of the South Platte River near Fairplay. The highest peak in the range is Mount Lincoln at an elevation of 14,286 ft. Other fourteeners in the range are Quandary Peak (14,272 ft), Mount Bross (14,172 ft), Mount Democrat (14,148 ft), and Mount Sherman (14,036 ft). (Full article...)

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A Mittelgebirge (pronounced [ˈmɪtl̩ɡəˌbɪʁɡə] ^ⓘ; German: Mittel, "middle or mid"; Gebirge, "mountains or mountainous area") is a type of relatively low mountain range or highland area typical of the geography of central Europe, especially central and southern Germany; it refers to something between rolling low hill country or Hügelland and a proper mountain range (German: Gebirge or Hochgebirge) like the High Alps. (Full article...)

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Selected climbing article

A snow anchor (also called a snow pro) is a type of natural or artificial protection used in mountaineering, alpine climbing and ice climbing as an anchor. Two common artificial devices are the snow fluke and snow picket. A snow anchor is used both for climbing and for securing tents and other camping gear, that is designed for use in sand and snow.

A snow fluke is a bent square or rectangle, approximately 8 by 10 inches (20 by 25 cm), and is made of aluminum or other metal, with a cable attached at two points on the upper surface. A fluke correctly used is buried in the snow, tip pointed down, approximately 40° from the angle of the mountain slope. Flukes can deflect or dislodge in harder-packed or dry snow, and are therefore more reliably used in heavy, moist snow. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Waimea Canyon, Hawaii, is known for its montane vegetation. (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 2Iranian oak scrub in the Zagros Mountains (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 3Choppering out the injured – with Mt. Forbes in the background (from Mountain rescue)
Image 4The city of La Paz reaches up to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) in elevation. (from Mountain)
Image 5A subalpine lake in the Cascade Range, Washington, United States (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 6Climbers ascending Mount Rainier looking at Little Tahoma Peak, United States (from Mountaineering)
Image 7Mountaineers climbing in South Tyrol, Italy (from Mountain)
Image 8Pirin Mountain, Bulgaria, part of the fault-block Rila-Rhodope massif (from Mountain)
Image 9Fuji volcano (from Mountain)
Image 10The Namcha Barwa Himal, east part of the Himalayas as seen from space by Apollo 9 (from Mountain range)
Image 11British 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 12Car of Horská služba (Czech Republic) (from Mountain rescue)
Image 13The 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 14Tropical montane forest at around 2,000 m in Malaysia (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 15Edward Whymper (1840–1911), painting by Lance Calkin (from Mountaineering)
Image 16Distribution of mountains by location and elevation (from Mountain)
Image 17A stand of mountain birch at around 750 m in Trollheimen, typical of Scandinavian subalpine forests (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 18Montes Apenninus on the Moon was formed by an impact event. (from Mountain range)
Image 19This 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 20Edmund Hillary (left) and Tenzing Norgay after successfully completing the first ascent of Mount Everest, 29 May 1953
Image 21Everest 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 22Apennine Mountains and Trebbia river, Italy (from Mountain)
Image 23Edelweiss, a plant associated with mountain sports (from Mountaineering)
Image 24The 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 25The northern Urals at high latitude and elevation have an alpine climate and barren ground. (from Mountain)
Image 26Climber approaching the summit of Manaslu at 8,163 metres (from Mountaineering)
Image 27Treeline elevation by latitude (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 28An alpine mire in the Swiss Alps (from Mountain)
Image 29Illustration of mountains that developed on a fold that has been thrust (from Mountain)
Image 30Stretcher box in Cumbria, England, prepositioned equipment saves mountain rescue teams having to trudge up mountains with it. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 31Chimborazo, Ecuador, whose summit is the point farthest away from the Earth's center (from Mountain)
Image 32Temperate montane forest in Bavaria, Germany (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 33Cabane du Trient, a mountain hut in the Swiss Alps (from Mountaineering)
Image 34Mountaineers proceed across snow fields on South Tyrol; other climbers are visible further up the slopes. (from Mountaineering)
Image 35Antique climbing tools (from Mountaineering)
Image 36Winter campers bivouaced in the snow (from Mountaineering)
Image 37Alpine flora near Cascade Pass (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 38Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain (from Mountain)
Image 39Mountaineers, c. 1900 (from Mountaineering)
Image 40Mont Blanc on the border between Aosta Valley, Italy, and Haute-Savoie, France, the highest point in the European Union (from Mountain)
Image 41K2, the second-highest mountain in the world, is revered for its isolation, difficulty, and the profound sense of awe it inspires among climbers. Many alpinists describe ascents of peaks like K2 as deeply spiritual experiences, combining physical challenge with introspection and transcendence. (from Mountaineering)
Image 42Fixed lines and ladders are distinguishing characteristics of expedition style mountaineering (from Mountaineering)
Image 43Alpine landscape below Malyovitsa Peak, Rila Mountain, Bulgaria (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 44The Ocean Ridge, the world's longest mountain range (chain) (from Mountain range)

Selected skiing article

Freeriding is a style of skiing or snowboarding performed on natural, un-groomed terrain, without a set course, goals or rules. It evolved throughout the sport's formative years as a contrary response to the highly regimented style of ski competition prevalent at the time. Snowboarders primarily refer to freeriding as backcountry, sidecountry, or off-piste snowboarding, and sometimes big mountain or extreme riding.

Freeriding incorporates various aspects of riding into a style that adapts to the variations and challenges of natural, off-piste terrain, and eschews man-made features such as jumps, rails, half-pipes, or groomed snow. Freeriding incorporates aspects of other snowsport disciplines such as freestyle and alpine. This provides the necessary flexibility for varied natural terrain. Whereas freestyle snowboarding relies on the use of man-made terrain such as jumps, rails and half-pipes, and alpine snowboarding is done on groomed snow, freeriding utilizes the random flow of natural terrain to perform similar tricks. (Full article...)

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