Portal:Mountains

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Uluguru Mountains, in Tanzania

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...)

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Selected mountain-related landform

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...)

Selected mountain range

The Pisa Range is a mountain range in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. It lies on the western shore of the man-made Lake Dunstan and overlooks the town of Cromwell. Its highest point, Mount Pisa, is 1,963 m (6,440 feet). (Full article...)

Selected mountain type

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Selected climbing article

The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, commonly known by its French name Union internationale des associations d'alpinisme (UIAA; French for 'International Union of Alpine Clubs'), was founded in August 1932 in Chamonix, France when 20 mountaineering associations met for an alpine congress. Count Charles Egmond d'Arcis, from Switzerland, was chosen as the first president and it was decided by the founding members that the UIAA would be an international federation which would be in charge of the "study and solution of all problems regarding mountaineering". The UIAA Safety Label was created in 1960 and was internationally approved in 1965 and currently (2015) has a global presence on five continents with 86 member associations in 62 countries representing over 3 million people.

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the UIAA suspended all UIAA officials from Russia, and delegates from the Russian Mountaineering Federation (RMF) and Russian officials and athletes were excluded from all UIAA-sanctioned activities and events. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Selected skiing article

Ski mountaineering (abbreviated to skimo) is a skiing discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them, depending on the steepness of the ascent, and then descending on skis. There are two major categories of equipment used, free-heel Telemark skis and skis based on Alpine skis, where the heel is free for ascents, but is fixed during descent. The discipline may be practiced recreationally or as a competitive sport.

Competitive ski mountaineering is typically a timed racing event that follows an established trail through challenging winter alpine terrain while passing through a series of checkpoints. Racers climb and descend under their own power using backcountry skiing equipment and techniques. More generally, ski mountaineering is an activity that variously combines ski touring, Telemark, backcountry skiing, and mountaineering. (Full article...)