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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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Side valleys and tributary valleys are valleys whose brooks or rivers flow into greater ones.

Upstream, the valleys can be classified in an increasing order which is equivalent to the usual orographic order: the tributaries are ordered from those nearest to the source of the river to those nearest to the mouth of the river. A confluence is where two or more tributaries or rivers flow together. (Full article...)

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View to north of Cerro Guido and Estancia Cerro Guido

Sierra Baguales or Sierra de los Baguales is a mountain range in the southernmost Andes. Sierra Baguales is a 60 kilometres (37 mi) long east–west chain, secondary to the main chain of the Andes that lie further west. It lies along the border between Chile and Argentina near the localities of Puerto Natales and Río Turbio. (Full article...)

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IUGS classification of aphanitic extrusive igneous rocks to their relative alkali (Na₂O + K₂O) and silica (SiO₂) weight contents. Blue area is roughly where alkaline rocks plot; yellow area where subalkaline rocks plot. Original source: *Le Maitre, R.W. (*ed.*); **1989**: *A classification of igneous rocks and glossary of terms*, Blackwell Science, Oxford.

Extrusive rock refers to the mode of igneous volcanic rock formation in which hot magma from inside the Earth flows out (extrudes) onto the surface as lava or explodes violently into the atmosphere to fall back as pyroclastics or tuff. In contrast, intrusive rock refers to rocks formed by magma which cools below the surface.

The main effect of extrusion is that the magma can cool much more quickly in the open air or under seawater, and there is little time for the growth of crystals. Sometimes, a residual portion of the matrix fails to crystallize at all, instead becoming a natural glass like obsidian. (Full article...)

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Selected climbing article

Climbing is a major US-based rock climbing magazine first published in 1970. In 2007, it was bought by Skram Media, the publisher of Urban Climber Magazine. The headquarters of the magazine is in Boulder, Colorado. It is published nine times a year. Climbing was purchased by Outside in 2021. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Selected skiing article

Skiers employing the stem christie through slalom gates.

The stem christie or wedge christie, is a type of skiing turn that originated in the mid-1800s in Norway and lasted until the late 1960s. It comprises three steps: 1) forming a wedge by rotating the tail of one ski outwards at an angle to the direction of movement, initiating a change in direction opposite to the stemmed ski, 2) bringing the other ski parallel to the wedged ski, and 3) completing the turn with both skis parallel as they carve an arc, sliding sideways together. (Full article...)

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