Portal:Mountains

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Introduction

Silvretta panorama from the Ochsenkopf

A mountain is an elevated portion of the surface of a planet, 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 600 metres (2,000 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

Miller's Cove in Tennessee is an example of a typical Appalachian cove, an enclosed valley in the mountains.

In the central and southern Appalachian Mountains of Eastern North America, a cove is a small valley between two ridge lines that is closed at one or both ends.

Among the places where the word "cove" appears in the name of an Appalachian valley are Morrison Cove in Pennsylvania; Lost Cove, North Carolina; Bumpass Cove, Tennessee; Doran Cove, Grassy Cove, Ladd Cove, in or adjacent to the Sequatchie Valley of Tennessee and Alabama; and numerous locations in the Great Smoky Mountains, including Cades Cove, Greenbrier Cove, Miller Cove, Tuckaleechee Cove, and Wears Cove. Burke's Garden in western Virginia is another example of a cove. (Full article...)

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View of the Judaean Mountains near Jerusalem

The Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills (Hebrew: הרי יהודה, romanized: Harei Yehuda) or the Hebron Hills (Arabic: تلال الخليل, romanized: Tilāl Al-ḵalīl or Arabic: جبال الخليل, romanized: Jibāl Al-ḵalīl, lit. 'Hebron mountains',) are a mountain range in the West Bank and Israel where Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron and several other biblical sites are located. The mountains reach a height of 1,026 metres (3,366 ft). The Judean Mountains can be divided into a number of sub-regions, including the Mount Hebron ridge, the Jerusalem ridge and the Judean slopes.

The Judaean Mountains formed the heartland of the Kingdom of Judah (930–586 BCE), where the earliest Jewish settlements emerged, and from which Jews are originally descended. (Full article...)

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The north face of Mount Garibaldi rises above The Table and Garibaldi Lake in the Garibaldi Lake volcanic field

A volcanic field is an area of Earth's crust that is prone to localized volcanic activity. The type and number of volcanoes required to be called a "field" is not well-defined. Volcanic fields usually consist of clusters of up to 100 volcanoes such as cinder cones. Lava flows may also occur. They may occur as a monogenetic volcanic field or a polygenetic volcanic field. (Full article...)

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Selected climbing article

Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in guidebooks, and on online databases, detailing how to climb the route (called the beta), and who made the first ascent (or FA) and the coveted first free ascent (or FFA). Climbers will try to ascend a route onsight, however, a climber can spend years projecting a route before they make a redpoint ascent.

Routes range from a few metres to over a 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) in height, and traverses can reach 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) in length. They include slabs, faces, cracks and overhangs/roofs. Popular rock types are granite (e.g. El Capitan), limestone (e.g. Verdon Gorge), and sandstone (e.g. Saxon Switzerland) but 43 types of climbable rock types have been identified. Artificial indoor climbing walls are popular and competition climbing — which takes place on artificial walls — became an Olympic sport in 2020. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Selected skiing article

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation, also known as FIS (French: Fédération Internationale de Ski et de Snowboard), is the highest international governing body for skiing and snowboarding. It was previously known as the International Ski Federation (Fédération Internationale de Ski) until 26 May 2022 when the name was changed to include snowboard.

Founded on 2 February 1924 in Chamonix, France during the inaugural Winter Olympic Games, FIS is responsible for the Olympic skiing disciplines, namely Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, freestyle skiing, and snowboarding. The FIS is also responsible for setting the international competition rules. The organization has a membership of 132 national ski associations, and is based in Oberhofen am Thunersee, Switzerland. (Full article...)