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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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A moulin (or glacier mill) is a roughly circular, vertical (or nearly vertical) well-like shaft formed where a surface meltstream exploits a weakness in the ice. The term is derived from the French word for mill.

They can be up to 10 meters wide and are typically found on ice sheets and flat areas of a glacier in a region of transverse crevasses. Moulins can reach the bottom of the glacier, hundreds of meters deep, or may only reach the depth of common crevasse formation (about 10–40 m) where the stream flows englacially. They are the most typical cause for the formation of a glacier cave. (Full article...)

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The Desert Range is a mountain range in Clark County, Nevada.

Desert Range was descriptively named on account of its desert landscape. (Full article...)

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Golets (Russian: голец), plural Goltsy (Russian: Гольцы), is a type of bald mountain summit of certain areas of Siberia. The term is part of the geographical name of several peaks in the region. (Full article...)

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Climbing wall

A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with manufactured grips (or "holds") for the hands and feet. Most walls are located indoors, and climbing on such walls is termed indoor climbing. Some walls are brick or wooden constructions, but on most modern walls, the material most often used is a thick multiplex board with holes drilled into it. Recently, manufactured steel and aluminum have also been used. The wall may have places to attach belay ropes, but may also be used to practice lead climbing or bouldering.

Each hole contains a specially formed t-nut to allow modular climbing holds to be screwed onto the wall. With manufactured steel or aluminum walls, an engineered industrial fastener is used to secure climbing holds. The face of the multiplex board climbing surface is covered with textured products including concrete and paint or polyurethane loaded with sand. In addition to the textured surface and hand holds the wall may contain surface structures such as indentions (in cuts) and protrusions (bulges), or take the form of an overhang, underhang or crack. Some grips are formed to mimic the conditions of outdoor rock, including some that are oversized and can have other grips bolted onto them. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Fixed lines and ladders are distinguishing characteristics of expedition style mountaineering (from Mountaineering)
Image 2Illustration of mountains that developed on a fold that has been thrust (from Mountain)
Image 3Edelweiss, a plant associated with mountain sports (from Mountaineering)
Image 4Waimea Canyon, Hawaii, is known for its montane vegetation. (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 5Iranian oak scrub in the Zagros Mountains (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 6An alpine mire in the Swiss Alps (from Mountain)
Image 7Cabane du Trient, a mountain hut in the Swiss Alps (from Mountaineering)
Image 8Alpine landscape below Malyovitsa Peak, Rila Mountain, Bulgaria (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 9Edward Whymper (1840–1911), painting by Lance Calkin (from Mountaineering)
Image 10The northern Urals at high latitude and elevation have an alpine climate and barren ground. (from Mountain)
Image 11Tropical montane forest at around 2,000 m in Malaysia (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 12Stretcher box in Cumbria, England, prepositioned equipment saves mountain rescue teams having to trudge up mountains with it. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 13Mountain climbers ascending Mount Rainier looking at Little Tahoma Peak (from Mountaineering)
Image 14The Ocean Ridge, the world's longest mountain range (chain) (from Mountain range)
Image 15Chimborazo, Ecuador, whose summit is the point farthest away from the Earth's center (from Mountain)
Image 16Montes Apenninus on the Moon was formed by an impact event. (from Mountain range)
Image 17Mountaineers climbing in South Tyrol (from Mountain)
Image 18The Namcha Barwa Himal, east part of the Himalayas as seen from space by Apollo 9 (from Mountain range)
Image 19The Catskills in Upstate New York represent an eroded plateau. (from Mountain)
Image 20A subalpine lake in the Cascade Range, Washington, United States (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 21The 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 22Car of Horská služba (Czech Republic) (from Mountain rescue)
Image 23Winter campers bivouaced in the snow (from Mountaineering)
Image 24British 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 25Choppering out the injured – with Mt. Forbes in the background (from Mountain rescue)
Image 26Mountaineers, c. 1900 (from Mountaineering)
Image 27Antique climbing tools (from Mountaineering)
Image 28Everest 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 29A climber taking the final few steps to the 6,160 m (20,210 ft) summit of Imja Tse (Island Peak) in Nepal, 2004 (from Mountaineering)
Image 30Alpine flora near Cascade Pass (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 31Fuji volcano (from Mountain)
Image 32The city of La Paz reaches up to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) in elevation. (from Mountain)
Image 33Mountaineers proceed across snow fields on South Tyrol; other climbers are visible further up the slopes. (from Mountaineering)
Image 34A stand of mountain birch at around 750 m in Trollheimen, typical of Scandinavian subalpine forests (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 35Temperate montane forest in Bavaria, Germany (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 36Pirin Mountain, Bulgaria, part of the fault-block Rila-Rhodope massif (from Mountain)
Image 37A mountain rescue team in Iran moving a casualty. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 38Mountain rescue team members and other services attend to a casualty in Freiburg Germany. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 39Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain (from Mountain)
Image 40This 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)

Selected skiing article

The tables below list the FIS Cross-Country World Cup champions. The medalists are the three contestants with the highest total scores at the end of the cross-country skiing World Cup season. The list extends from 1973–74 onwards for overall men, 1978–79 onwards for overall women, 1996–97 onwards for sprint and distance (both genders), as well as Nations Cup winners beginning for 1981–82. (Full article...)

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