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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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An outwash plain, also called a sandur (plural: sandurs), sandr or sandar, is a plain formed of glaciofluvial deposits due to meltwater outwash at the terminus of a glacier. As it flows, the glacier grinds the underlying rock surface and carries the debris along. The meltwater at the snout of the glacier deposits its load of sediment over the outwash plain, with larger boulders being deposited near the terminal moraine, and smaller particles travelling further before being deposited. Sandurs are common in Iceland where geothermal activity accelerates the melting of ice flows and the deposition of sediment by meltwater. (Full article...)

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The Gagarin Mountains (Russian: Khrebet Yuriya Gagarina; Norwegian: Kurzefjella) are a linear group of mountains, trending in a north–south direction for 10 miles (16 km) between the Kurze Mountains and the Conrad Mountains of the Orvin Mountains in Queen Maud Land, East Antarctica. (Full article...)

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A polygenetic volcanic field is a group of polygenetic volcanoes, each of which erupts repeatedly, in contrast with monogenetic volcanoes, each of which erupts only once. Polygenetic volcanic fields generally occur where there is a high-level magma chamber. These volcanic fields may show lithological discontinuities due to major changes in magma chemistry, volcanotectonic events, or long erosional intervals, and may last over 10 million years.

Unlike monogenetic volcanoes, polygenetic volcanoes reach massive sizes, such as Mauna Loa, which is the world's largest active volcano. (Full article...)

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A spring-loaded camming device (also SLCD, cam or friend) is a piece of rock climbing or mountaineering protection equipment. It consists of two, three, or four cams mounted on a common axle or two adjacent axles, so that pulling on the axle forces the cams to spread farther apart. This is then attached to a sling and carabiner at the end of the stem. The SLCD is used by pulling on the "trigger" (a small handle) so the cams retract together, then inserting it into a crack or pocket in the rock and releasing the trigger to allow the cams to expand. A pull on the rope, such as that generated by a climber falling, will cause a properly placed SLCD to convert the pulling force along the stem of the unit into outwards pressure on the rock, generating massive amounts of friction and preventing the removal of the unit from the rock. Because of the large forces which are exerted on the rock when an SLCD is fallen on, it is very important that SLCDs are only placed in solid, strong rock. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Selected skiing article

The Winter Olympic Games (French: Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in Chamonix, France. The modern Olympic Games were inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from 776 BC to 394 AD. The Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 1,500 years later in 1894, leading to the first modern Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority. The original five Winter Olympic Sports (consisting of nine disciplines) were bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing (consisting of the disciplines military patrol, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, and ski jumping), and skating (consisting of the disciplines figure skating and speed skating). The Games were held every four years from 1924 to 1936, interrupted in 1940 and 1944 by World War II, and resumed in 1948. Until 1992, the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games were held in the same year. A decision to change this was made in 1986, when during the 91st International Olympic Committee session, IOC members decided to alternate the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games on separate four-year cycles in even-numbered years. Also, at that same congress it was decided that 1992 Winter Olympics would be the last to be held in the same year as the Summer Games and that to change the rotation, the edition that would be held in 1996 would be brought forward by two years, being scheduled to 1994. After this edition, the next one was to be held in 1998 when the 4-year Olympic Cycle resumed.

The Winter Olympic Games have evolved since their inception. Sports and disciplines have been added and some of them, such as alpine skiing, luge, short track speed skating, freestyle skiing, skeleton, and snowboarding, have earned a permanent spot on the Olympic program. Some others, including curling and bobsleigh, have been discontinued and later reintroduced; others have been permanently discontinued, such as military patrol, though the modern Winter Olympic sport of biathlon is descended from it. Still others, such as speed skiing, bandy and skijoring, were demonstration sports but never incorporated as Olympic sports. The rise of television as a global medium for communication enhanced the profile of the Games. It generated income via the sale of broadcast rights and advertising, which has become lucrative for the IOC. This allowed outside interests, such as television companies and corporate sponsors, to exert influence. The IOC has had to address numerous criticisms over the decades like internal scandals, the use of performance-enhancing drugs by Winter Olympians, as well as a political boycott of the Winter Olympic Games. Countries have used the Winter Olympic Games as well as the Summer Olympic Games to proclaim the superiority of their political systems. (Full article...)