118
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Where is this photo of a group of hikers taken? Is it really in the Ural?
Ushba, Upper Svaneti, Georgia
I dug around in the photos posted by that same photographer on Shutterstock, and found this landscape image. The peak in the landscape appears to be the same peak as in ...
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101
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What is the easiest place to cross the US Rocky Mountains, going to Oregon, in a large truck?
Downshifting - you gotta know it
Avoiding hills is simply not an option.
Mountain driving is a lot like a roller coaster. The truck works really hard going up a long, long uphill, and then on the ...
33
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Why are Chinese mountains scaled by steps? (instead of winding paths)
To add to the other answers, some paths my be susceptible to soil erosion - from foot traffic and rainfall. This eventually makes some sections almost impassable for some people, as well as damaging ...
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30
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Roads in Switzerland in December
If you really want to go 'only' by car, you will have to approach from the south. Coming from the north, you would either have to cross the Grimsel Pass on route 6 or the Furka Pass on route 19. Both ...
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22
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Is it safer to drive up or down a dangerous mountain road?
Usually driving down a steep hill with narrow turns is more dangerous down than up for the simple reason that gravity will accelerate you going downhill.
Going up hill gravity slows you down and your ...
- 45k
21
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Is the water potable in Swiss mountain huts?
Water regulations in Switzerland are very strict and most tap water is of impeccable quality. There is also a law which states that any fountain, which doesn't have regulated drinking water, has to be ...
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18
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How correct is my intuition that tap water is safer in the mountains than in cities?
My parents live in the countryside (in the UK, not Colombia, admittedly), their tap water comes from a natural spring. They don't drink it.
The problem is the water like this tends to be in the open ...
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18
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Is it safer to drive up or down a dangerous mountain road?
Pick the side that hugs you closest to the interior.
No matter if it zig-zags or has switchbacks, take a look at it and stick to the inside. In Australia, this may mean taking the route that hugs ...
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18
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What is the easiest place to cross the US Rocky Mountains, going to Oregon, in a large truck?
Is your concern traffic, snow, difficulty of the road, ...?
Google Maps thinks that I-80 and I-84 will be your best routes to Portland from, say, Kansas City (other parts of Kansas won't have a ...
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18
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What is the easiest place to cross the US Rocky Mountains, going to Oregon, in a large truck?
The answers by Jim MacKenzie and Harper are both full of good advice, and the suggestions to use I-80/I-84 are great. I have taken that route with a 16ft box van.
I just want to note one more thing ...
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Why are Chinese mountains scaled by steps? (instead of winding paths)
When many people climb the same path every day, natural rocks become smooth, slippery and dangerous. An example in Europe is the path to Château de Montségur in the french Pyrenees.
Stairs are less ...
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13
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Is it safer to drive up or down a dangerous mountain road?
Down is more dangerous.
There are three factors contributing to this.
When you need to decide on a slowdown in case of potential accident, you basically need to annihilate momentum, and when you are ...
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How can I hike the Etna on my own and then reach the summit with a guide?
I have asked the Gruppo Guide Etna Sud, which is an official guide group which is responsible for organizing excursions to Etna and supervision over the tourists. Although it took some time to explain ...
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13
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Does this painting depict the Alps or Rockies?
This painting can be found online (and a friend of mine did) and here is a link.
That site mentions the picture to be by an unknown artist but the title to the picture: "Herbst Am Silsersee".
Herbst ...
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12
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What is the easiest place to cross the US Rocky Mountains, going to Oregon, in a large truck?
Something other answers haven't gone into details about are how the interstates are designed through most of these passes. On the steeper uphill sections, the interstate expands into extra lanes to ...
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10
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How to choose international mountain insurance, mostly for Europe?
The best I can recommend to you is to become a member of the German Alpine Club (Deutscher Alpenverein, DAV) or the Austrian Alpine Club (ÖAV, all links in German). Membership costs varies depending ...
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10
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Kawah Ijen (Indonesia) volcano at night
You typically want to enter (yes, there is a kind of park entrance) Kawa Ijen as early as possible in order to avoid the dozens of people arriving by organized tours.
I entered at 1am & it felt ...
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10
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Why are Chinese mountains scaled by steps? (instead of winding paths)
European point of view:
Back in the times (or what I was told many years ago by some locals) is that they would let a donkey lead the group to find the path of least resistance. The natural instincts ...
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10
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Why are Chinese mountains scaled by steps? (instead of winding paths)
I'm very familiar with the European alps, but not at all familiar with the sacred mountains in China. So I can only address why stairs are rare in the alps:
You mentioned hiking up the sacred ...
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10
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Chamonix - Mont Blanc
The cable car you have in mind is the Aiguille du Midi cable car. It goes all the way to the summit… of the Aiguille du Midi, not to the Mont Blanc itself. It's very close to the mont Blanc and you ...
- 101k
8
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Why are Chinese mountains scaled by steps? (instead of winding paths)
I have another possible explanation that I cannot corraborate with online sources at this time.
I visited Japan several years ago, and as one does (and should definitely do), I visited many Buddhist ...
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7
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What is the highest altitude town or village with accommodation in Cambodia?
It is difficult to answer accurately as I do not know exactly what level of accommodation is required. Also the definition of a "settled place" place is unclear to me. However I will give it a go and ...
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Is it safer to drive up or down a dangerous mountain road?
I think the relative risk depends on the road, the traffic, your skill as a driver, and other conditions.
If it's a relatively empty road (very low traffic), then going up is probably safer, as the ...
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7
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How to find mountain parking in Switzerland?
It depends on the location and the popularity of the area. A good hiking book would tell you, and large parking areas may be shown on car maps and/or openstreetmap. But sometimes you will just park ...
- 53.3k
6
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Is it safer to drive up or down a dangerous mountain road?
I am a terrible driver and can have mishaps at the drop of a hat. For the scenario you have described, I would consult the navigator and attempt to infer the route that has the most traffic. This ...
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6
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What is the easiest place to cross the US Rocky Mountains, going to Oregon, in a large truck?
As others have noted, the U.S. Interstate Highway system is well built and likely your best choice. Given that you are driving in June and the weather ought to be nice, my biggest concern would be ...
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What challenge can I face staying in Talesh mountains in Iran?
There is an equipped hospital in Talesh city. Talesh peaks are usually less than 3,000 meters high and have a very clean climate. There is generally electricity at high altitudes but no internet.
...
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Drive from Detroit MI to Pigeon Forge, Tenn. - Is it scary?
We can't know what scares you, but I can say that if you stick to the interstate highway system, those roads have maximum grade of a 6% in mountainous areas, and 4% in general. These are not steep ...
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Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible