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Introduction

Appalachian Mountains

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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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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Venediger Group of the High Tauern

The Central Eastern Alps (German: Zentralalpen or Zentrale Ostalpen), also referred to as Austrian Central Alps (German: Österreichische Zentralalpen) or just Central Alps, comprise the main chain of the Eastern Alps in Austria and the adjacent regions of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy and Slovenia. South them is the Southern Limestone Alps.

The term "Central Alps" is very common in the Geography of Austria as one of the seven major landscape regions of the country. "Central Eastern Alps" is usually used in connection with the Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps (Alpenvereinseinteilung, AVE). The Central Alps form the eastern part of the Alpine divide, its central chain of mountains, as well as those ranges that extend or accompany it to the north and south. (Full article...)

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A tuya is a flat-topped, steep-sided volcano formed when lava erupts through a thick glacier or ice sheet. They are rare worldwide, being confined to regions which were covered by glaciers and had active volcanism during the same period.

As lava that erupts under a glacier cools very quickly and cannot travel far, it piles up into a steep-sided hill. If the eruption continues long enough, it either melts all the ice or emerges through the top of the ice and then creates normal-looking lava flows that make a flat cap on top of the hill. Discovering and dating the lava flows in a tuya has proven useful in reconstructing past glacial ice extents and thicknesses. (Full article...)

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Selected climbing article

3rd Tier crag on Clark Mountain. Jumbo Love is on the lighter-coloured overhanging walls, centre-right.

Jumbo Love is a very long 76-metre (249 ft) sport climbing route, on remote limestone cliffs on Clark Mountain in the Mojave Desert. Bolted by American climber Randy Leavitt in the 1990s, he invited Chris Sharma to attempt it in 2007. When Sharma completed the first free ascent on September 11, 2008, the route became the first-ever rock climb in history to have a confirmed grade of 9b (5.15b), and it remains an important route in the history of rock climbing.

The route has been repeated, and its grade confirmed, by a number of subsequent climbers, including French climber Seb Bouin, who made the fourth ascent on October 25, 2022. Bouin followed up his ascent by adding a direct start to the route on November 1, 2022, to create a route called Suprême Jumbo Love, which at 9b+ (5.15c) became North America's hardest climbing route and only the sixth 9b+ sport climbing route in history. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Selected skiing article

Half-pipe skiing at the World Skiing Invitational

Half-pipe skiing is the sport of riding snow skis on a half-pipe. Competitors perform a series of tricks while going down the pipe. The current world record for highest jump in a half-pipe is held by Joffrey Pollet-Villard, with 26 feet 3 inches (8.00 metres). The sport is considered to be dangerous compared to other sports, and helmets are required to be worn during competitions. Half-pipe skiing has been part of the Winter X Games since 2002, and made its Olympic debut at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. David Wise of the United States of America became the first Olympic champion in this discipline with a total of 92.00 points. (Full article...)

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