Portal:Mountains
Portal:Mountains
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Introduction
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...)
Selected mountain-related landform
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, upland refers to a range of hills, typically from 300 m (980 ft) up to 600 m (2,000 ft), while highland is usually reserved for ranges of low mountains. However, the two terms are interchangeable and also include regions that are transitional between hilly and mountainous terrain. (Full article...)
Selected mountain range
The Chilcotin Ranges are a subdivision of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains (in some classifications they are a separate subdivision). They lie on the inland lea of the Pacific Ranges, abutting the Interior Plateau of British Columbia. Their northwestern end is near the head of the Klinaklini River and their southeast end is the Fraser River just north of Lillooet; their northern flank is the edge of the Plateau while their southern is the north bank of the Bridge River. In some reckonings they do not go all the way to the Fraser but end at the Yalakom River, which is the North Fork of the Bridge.
They are not one range but a collection of ranges, often very distinct from each other. There are three major named subranges: (Full article...)
Selected mountain type
A bornhardt ( /ˈbɔːrnˈhɑːrt/) is a dome-shaped, steep-sided, bald rock outcropping at least 30 metres (100 ft) in height and several hundred metres in width. They are named after Wilhelm Bornhardt (1864–1946), a German geologist and explorer of German East Africa, who first described the feature.
While bornhardt was originally used to sometimes denote a type of inselberg (literally island mountain—an isolated dome in an otherwise flat landscape), the term bornhardt is used in modern literature to refer to domed hills and mountains regardless of isolation; thus, not all bornhardts are inselbergs and not all inselbergs are bornhardts. Bornhardts are commonly composed of igneous rocks, often granites, but examples of gneiss, quartzite and arkose bornhardts exists. (Full article...)
Selected climbing article
In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers and climbers focused on reaching the tops of iconic mountains (e.g. the eight-thousanders) and climbing routes (e.g. the great north faces of the Alps) by whatever means possible, often using considerable amounts of aid climbing, and/or with large expedition style support teams that laid "siege" to the climb.
As all the key tops were summited, the manner in which each top was reached became important, particularly the ability to complete the ascent without artificial aid, which is called free climbing. In free climbing, the term first free ascent (abbreviated FFA) is used where a mountain or climbing route is ascended without any artificial aid (devices for protection in the event of a fall could be used as long as they did not aid progression). Completing the FFA of a climbing route is often called freeing (or more latterly sending) a route. (Full article...)
Related portals
General images
- Image 2Mountain rescue team members and other services attend to a casualty in Freiburg Germany. (from Mountain rescue)
- Image 4Antique climbing tools (from Mountaineering)
- Image 6The Namcha Barwa Himal, east part of the Himalayas as seen from space by Apollo 9 (from Mountain range)
- Image 7Mountaineers proceed across snow fields on South Tyrol; other climbers are visible further up the slopes. (from Mountaineering)
- Image 10Chimborazo, Ecuador, whose summit is the point farthest away from the Earth's center (from Mountain)
- Image 12Fixed lines and ladders are distinguishing characteristics of expedition style mountaineering (from Mountaineering)
- Image 22Stretcher box in Cumbria, England, prepositioned equipment saves mountain rescue teams having to trudge up mountains with it. (from Mountain rescue)
- Image 23Everest 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 26British 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 27The 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 30The northern Urals at high latitude and elevation have an alpine climate and barren ground. (from Mountain)
- Image 32This 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 35A stand of mountain birch at around 750 m in Trollheimen, typical of Scandinavian subalpine forests (from Montane ecosystems)
- Image 38A mountain rescue team in Iran moving a casualty. (from Mountain rescue)
Selected skiing article
A piste (/piːst/) is a marked ski run or path down a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports.
This European term is French ("trail", "track") and synonymous with 'trail', 'slope', or 'run' in North America. The word is pronounced using a long "e" sound so that it rhymes with "beast". (Full article...)
Subcategories
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Topics
- Africa: Atlas • Kilimanjaro • Mount Kenya massif • Ruwenzori Mountains
- America: Andes • Appalachians • Cascades • Cordilleras • Rockies • Sierra Nevada
- Antarctica: Sentinel Range
- Asia: Altai • Himalaya • Hindu Kush • Caucasus • Karakoram • Pamir
- Australia and Oceania: Maoke Mountains • New Zealand Alps • Snowy Mountains
- Europe: Alps • Ardennes • Balkans • Highlands • Jura • Carpathians • Pyrenees • Scandinavian Mountains • Urals • Vosges
- Alps: Piz Badile • Mont Blanc • Petit Dru • Dufourspitze • Eiger • Großglockner • Grandes Jorasses • Jungfrau • Königspitze • Matterhorn • Mönch • Ortler • Watzmann • Drei Zinnen • Zugspitze
- Andes: Aconcagua • Alpamayo • Chimborazo • Cotopaxi • Fitz Roy • Nevado Huascarán • Illimani • Sajama • Ojos del Salado • Siula Grande • Cerro Torre • Yerupaja
- Himalayas: Eight-thousanders – Mount Everest • K2 • Kangchenjunga • Lhotse • Makalu • Cho Oyu • Dhaulagiri • Manaslu • Nanga Parbat • Annapurna I • Hidden Peak • Broad Peak • Gasherbrum II • Shishapangma – Other – Ama Dablam • Chogolisa • Masherbrum • Shivling
- Rocky Mountains: Mount Chephren • Mount Elbert • Mount Logan • Denali • Mount Robson
- Volcanos: Etna • Eldfell • Hohentwiel • Mauna Kea • Pinatubo • Puʻu ʻŌʻō • Mount St. Helens • Stromboli • Mount Unzen
Flora and fauna
- Plants: Alpine Rock-Jasmine • Hairy Alpenrose • Edelweiss • Great Yellow Gentian • Glacier Crowfoot • Wulfenia • Dwarf Willow • Queen of the Andes • Arolla Pine
- Animals: Red-billed Chough • Alpine marmot • Alpine Salamander • Rock Ptarmigan • Alpine Ibex • Andean Condor • Bearded Vulture • Alpine Chough • Chamois • Mountain Burnet • European Viper • Himalayan Tahr • Wallcreeper • White-winged Snowfinch • Golden Eagle • Northern Bald Ibis • Yak
- Equipment: Ascenders • Belay devices • Carabiners • Maillons • Harnesses • Hexes • Nuts • Quickdraws • Ropes • Shoes • SLCDs • Slings • Tricams
- Techniques: Abseiling • Redpointing • Anchor • Mantle • Top roping • Climbing grade • Climbing route
- Types of climbing: Big wall climbing • Bouldering • Competition climbing • Free climbing • Ice climbing • Mountain climbing • Rock climbing • Schrofen • Sport climbing
- Klettersteigs: Mannlgrat
- Climbers: Kurt Albert • Pierre Allain •John Bachar • Henry Barber • Catherine Destivelle • Patrick Edlinger • John Gill • Stefan Glowacz • Wolfgang Güllich • Lynn Hill • Alex Honnold • Alexander Huber • John Long • Jeff Lowe • Magnus Midtbø • Adam Ondra • Dean Potter • Alain Robert • Chris Sharma • Todd Skinner • Ueli Steck • Other climbers
- Mountaineering: Alpine Clubs • Boots • Crampons • Ice axes • Mountain huts • Mountain rescue • Ropes • Rucksacks
- Pioneers: Christian Almer • Melchior Anderegg • Hermann von Barth • Walter Bonatti • Meta Brevoort • William Martin Conway • Angelo Dibona • Hans Dülfer • Paul Grohmann • Adolphus Warburton Moore • Paul Preuss • Ludwig Purtscheller • Schlagintweit brothers • Leslie Stephen • Gottlieb Samuel Studer • Tenzig Norgay • Herbert Tichy • Lucy Walker • Edward Whymper • Georg Winkler • Matthias Zurbriggen
- High-altitude mountaineers: Chris Bonington • Hermann Buhl • Kurt Diemberger • Ralf Dujmovits • Günther Dyhrenfurth • Maurice Herzog • Sir Edmund Hillary • Sandy Irvine • Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner • George Mallory • Nives Meroi • Reinhold Messner • Simone Moro • Oh Eun-sun • Edurne Pasaban • Wanda Rutkiewicz • Lionel Terray • Um Hong-Gil • Stephen Venables • Ed Viesturs • Other mountaineers
- Publicists: Karl Blodig • W. A. B. Coolidge • David Breashears • Jon Krakauer • Gaston Rébuffat
- Alps: Eiger climbing history • Exploration of the High Alps • Golden age of alpinism • Silver age of alpinism • Timeline of climbing the Matterhorn
- Himalayas: 1922 British Mount Everest expedition • 1924 British Mount Everest expedition • 1953 British Mount Everest expedition • 1986 K2 disaster • 1996 Mount Everest disaster • 2008 K2 disaster • Timeline of climbing Mount Everest
- Museums: Alpine Club Museum • Messner Mountain Museum
Lists of mountains
Recognized content
- Featured content
- Good content
- Amak Volcano
- Ben Nevis
- Gerlachovský štít
- Glacier Peak
- Hualālai
- Huangshan
- Kohala (mountain)
- Mont Aiguille
- Mont Blanc massif
- Montpelier Hill
- Mount Adams (Washington)
- Mount Bailey (Oregon)
- Mount Baker
- Mount Cleveland (Alaska)
- Mount Edziza volcanic complex
- Mount Elbert
- Mount Garibaldi
- Mount Hood
- Mount Kenya
- Mount Rainier
- Mount Redoubt
- Mount Tehama
- Mount Thielsen
- Mount Vesuvius
- Pinkham Notch
- Roxy Ann Peak
- Silverthrone Caldera
- Snowdon
- Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field
- Wilkins Peak
- Yamsay Mountain
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