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Introduction

Silvretta panorama from the Ochsenkopf

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) and some scientists consider it to be the tallest on earth. (Full article...)

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A truncated spur is a spur, which is a ridge that descends towards a valley floor or coastline from a higher elevation, that ends in an inverted-V face and was produced by the erosional truncation of the spur by the action of either streams, waves, or glaciers. Truncated spurs can be found within mountain ranges, along the walls of river valleys, or along coastlines.

A faceted spur is also a spur that ends in a triangular face, known as a triangular facet, with a broad base and an apex pointing upward. As typically used in geology, the triangular facet is usually a remnant of a fault plane and it and its associated faceted spur are the result of faulting. The term faceted spur is also applied to inverted-V rock faces formed by stream, wave, or glacial erosion and, thus, as a synonym for truncated spur. (Full article...)

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Mount Cook Range

The Mount Cook Range (Māori: Kirikirikatata; officially gazetted as Kirikirikatata / Mount Cook Range) is an offshoot range of the Southern Alps of New Zealand. The range forks from the Southern Alps at the Green Saddle and descends towards Lake Pukaki, encompassing Aoraki / Mount Cook and standing adjacent to the Tasman Glacier.

In 1889, the highest point of the range was 3763m, but this has since been reduced by avalanches and erosion. (Full article...)

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Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water in unheated rivers or lakes. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits, which are known as travertine or thermogene travertine. Tufa is sometimes referred to as meteogene travertine. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Selected skiing article

Climbing skins are strips that attach to the bottom of Nordic, alpine touring or randonnée skis to help while ascending backcountry slopes. They are designed to be removed for skiing downhill. They are typically attached to the skis via a loop on the ski tip, a hook on the tail, and adhesive on the base of the skin. They are called skins because they resemble sealskin, from which the first ski skins were made. They are typically made from nylon or mohair or a combination thereof, and are designed to let the ski slide forward on snow but not backward. They are usually narrower than the ski to allow the ski edges to get a grip. Some ski resorts permit skinning. (Full article...)

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