What is A Mountain?

[Tonguez]

yeah living in the alpine zone between Tongariro (6,490) and Pihanga (4,350) I'm often amused when people elsewhere mention their local 'mountain' when its less than 1000 ft, though I’m okay with Mountain being used for hills over 500 ft.

 

[Tonguez]

Any natural geographical feature that rises from the ground that is notably impressive, and is awe-inspiring?

Would you consider this a mountain?

 

[Ryujin]

Would you consider this a mountain? View attachment 321226

That would be a geographical formation known as a "pillar", usually formed by the action of running water. If something doesn't look even vaguely like the following, I have a difficult time considering it to be a mountain.

 

[Zardnaar]

yeah living in the alpine zone between Tongariro (6,490) and Pihanga (4,350) I'm often amused when people elsewhere mention their local 'mountain' when its less than 1000 ft, though I’m okay with Mountain being used for hills over 500 ft.

Bit to volcanic for me.
. Trying to work out safest place in country from cyclones, volcanoes, earthquakes or Tsunamis. Think it's Oamaru or Gore.

Volcano, Gore Volcano Gore hmmnnn.....

 

[Yora]

In Schleswig-Holstein, we have mountains that are 20 meters above sea level. And maybe 10 meters above the surrounding landscape. Though while they have "berg" in their name, I think everyone would still call them a hill.

When RPG maps indicate an area as mountains, my assumption is that its side are too steep to have a closed cover of vegetation. Though of course lack of water or lack of soil can still get you hills of bare rock as well.
My rule of thumb would be that you have to climb a mountain, but you hike up a hill. Though again, some conical volcanoes have very flat and smooth slopes that you can walk up to the top but are still absolutely massive in size.

Even as a Sea German, I would say that the Brocken in central Germany is a big hill and not a mountain. But Ben Nevis in Britain certainly looks like one, even though it's not a lot taller.

 

[Zardnaar]

In Schleswig-Holstein, we have mountains that are 20 meters above sea level. And maybe 10 meters above the surrounding landscape. Though while they have "berg" in their name, I think everyone would still call them a hill.

When RPG maps indicate an area as mountains, my assumption is that its side are too steep to have a closed cover of vegetation. Though of course lack of water or lack of soil can still get you hills of bare rock as well.
My rule of thumb would be that you have to climb a mountain, but you hike up a hill. Though again, some conical volcanoes have very flat and smooth slopes that you can walk up to the top but are still absolutely massive in size.

Even as a Sea German, I would say that the Brocken in central Germany is a big hill and not a mountain. But Ben Nevis in Britain certainly looks like one, even though it's not a lot taller.

1800 metre track?

Mueller Hut Route

At 1800 metres on the Sealy Range, Mueller Hut provides a 360-degree panorama encompassing glaciers, ice cliffs, vertical rock faces and New Zealand’s highest peaks.

www.doc.govt.nz

 

[Kobold Stew]

Here's a slightly relevant movie form the 90s, about this exact question.

 

[Yora]

Don't feel too bad. White Plume Mountain is only 1100' tall. As it's a Strombolian volcano, compare it to the real Stromboli- 3,031 fee

The highest point in Wisconsin is 425 feet above the surrounding land. 1000 must sound pretty damn tall in that context.

 

[Dioltach]

Once I was hiking along the Portuguese coast, right up to the mouth of the river Minho, which forms the border with Spain. For about a day and a half there's conical peak rising up ahead, like the picture of the Lonely Mountain on the maps of Middle Earth. I think it's about 600 metres high, but if you're staring at it for hour after hour of hiking it comes to dominate the whole area.

 

[Pedantic]

I am very close to the Rockies, and "how many 14ers have you done?" is a standard topic of conversation here, meaning mountains over 14,000 feet. I would put 700 meters at the small starting end of an impressive mountain, and scale up to the 2.5k range.