Ken Norton wrote:
>> In the particular case at hand, the mountains in question are the Olympic
>> range on the Olympic Peninsula, in Mike's neck of the woods. Not
>> particularly tall, relative to other Western ranges, but properly rugged,
>> with steep slopes, sawtooth ridges, snow caps with several glaciers....
>>
>
> Absolute altitude isn't necessarily an accurate way of describing what a
> "mountain" is. I prefer to really look at how much it rises from the
> surrounding average terrain.
I agree, in the area of "how big". For example, Mt. McKinley/Denali is
more massive and 50% taller than Everest, when based on rise from the
surrounding plateaus, rather than height above sea level. But then Mauna
Kea has a much higher rise again, measured from the sea floor from which
it rises.
> In Colorado, there are some really decent sized mountains in the University
> Range, but compared to surrounding elevation they really aren't that
> impressive. There are "bumps" in the 4-corners area that you can walk up in
> five minutes without breaking a sweat that would be called "mountains" based
> on absolute altitude.
>
Yup. I was amazed when I first visited mountains in the Eastern US, like
the Great Smokies and White Mountains. Sure, they scenic places worth
visiting, and big compared to anything East of the Rockies, but modest
compared to what I grew up with. I recall my surprise when I drove into
the Great Smokies from the West. I kept expecting the 'real' mountains
to be revealed behind modest foothills Then we were across. Even the
very pretty valley at the top is very unlike alpine valleys I've known.
There are countless peaks in the Sierra foothills that would be the
biggest mountain in the East, but don't even have names here.
> What makes the western slope of the Sierras so impressive is the fact that
> the rise from the valley floor is so great.
I find the Eastern slope more impressive. On the West side, the total
rise is greater, but it's quite gradual. On the East side, it's very
steep, rising suddenly from the Owens Valley.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owens_Valley#California_Water_Wars>
I've been up a few of those places. We used to backpack in from the East
side because one can get into the real high country in one day, rather
than 3-4 days of slogging from the West.
> This is also why the mountains of Snowdonia, which in altitude terms can
> barely be called "hills", are
> imposing because they rise almost directly from the sea.
>
As Mike notes, that's also one reason the Olympics are impressive.
Moose
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