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 surface of a planet, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain is usually considered higher than a hill, typically rising 300 metres (980 ft) above the surrounding land. It may either have a limited summit area or be a smaller plateau with high elevation and steep sides. 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 highest mountain from base to peak Mauna Kea in Hawaii at 9,330 m (30,610 ft) from its base at the bottom of the ocean; some scientists consider it to be the tallest on earth. (Full article...)

Selected mountain-related landform

In geology, a proglacial lake is a lake formed either by the damming action of a moraine during the retreat of a melting glacier, a glacial ice dam, or by meltwater trapped against an ice sheet due to isostatic depression of the crust around the ice. At the end of the last ice age about 10,000 years ago, large proglacial lakes were a widespread feature in the northern hemisphere. (Full article...)

Selected mountain range

The Highwood Mountains are an island range (sub-range of the Rockies entirely surrounded by prairie) which cover approximately 4,659 km² (1,799 sq mi) of the Central Montana Alkalic Province in north central Montana in the U.S. They are in Chouteau, Judith Basin and Cascade counties and lie east of Great Falls and Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge, at the northern end of the Lewis and Clark National Forest. The mountains were included in Highwood Mountains National Forest until 1908, when the unit became part of Lewis and Clark National Forest.

Nearby are Highwood, Montana and the Missouri River above the mouth of the Marias River. The highest point in the Highwood Mountains is Highwood Baldy at 2338 meters (7670 ft). (Full article...)

Selected mountain type

A cordillera is a chain or network 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...)

Selected climbing article

Traversing the Aiguilles d'Entrèves (AD 4c)

Simul-climbing (or using a running-belay) is a climbing technique where a pair of climbers who are attached by a rope simultaneously ascend a multi-pitch climbing route. It contrasts with lead climbing where the leader ascends a given pitch on the route while the second climber remains in a fixed position to belay the leader in case they fall. Simul-climbing is not free solo climbing, as the lead simul-climber will clip the rope into points of climbing protection as they ascend. Simul-climbing is different from a rope team (which can involve larger groups) and short-roping (used by guides with their clients), which are used for flatter terrain that does not typically need protection points.

Simul-climbing is an advanced and potentially dangerous technique. A fall by either climber is serious, and a 2019 article in Outside said "That's why there's a simple rule of simul-climbing: don't fall." In simul-climbing, the strongest climber goes second. Contemporary simul-climbers use progress capture devices (PCDs) at some of the protection points so that if the following climber falls, the PCD will lock the rope holding the falling climber and preventing the leader from being pulled off. While PCDs can control the consequences of a fall, no manufacturer of PCDs recommends their use for simul-climbing, and the falls from simul-climbing can place greater forces and stresses on the rope and/or the PCD than they were made to handle. The second climber will also use an assisted braking device as a belay device which will auto-lock in the event of a leader fall. (Full article...)

Related portals

General images

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

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

Selected skiing article

In New Zealand, a club skifield is a small ski resort run by a ski club to provide affordable skiing to its members. While members of the public can ski, members of the club receive heavily discounted rates, in exchange for a yearly membership fee and usually several days of voluntary work maintaining the resort. (Full article...)