1.
Mountain Lodge
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Mountain Lodge was the former summer residence of the Governor of Hong Kong on Victoria Peak on the Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. The second building was a two-storey Renaissance style home and was demolished in 1946, the site is now the Victoria Peak Garden, a public park. The Gate Lodge, which served as living quarters for the keeper of Mountain Lodge, is still extant. A military sanatorium was proposed and established by Governor Hercules Robinson, a path was cut in December 1859 from what is now Robinson Road to the top of Victoria Peak, and the sanatorium was opened in the spring of 1862. It was well-built on the plateau below the flag-staff and 17 patients were sent there, however, the patients, like those in the rest of Hong Kong that year, did not improve and the military abandoned the site. The site was used for picnics until 1867 Granville and Matilda Sharp who had long advocated the Peak as a healthy alternative to the lower levels. Governor MacDonnell, in 1867, purchased the building from the War Department and he had noted that the temperature was 14 °F less than Central District in the summer. There were three buildings at the first Mountain Lodge. The Lodge itself, faced toward Pok Fu Lam on one side, two smaller buildings, rather like large European style cabins, and faced the lawn with their backs to the hillside. However, the lodge was damaged by a typhoon in the next year. In 1873, Governor Kennedy ordered to refurbish and extend the lodge, james Russell, Chief Justice of the Hong Kong supreme court, applied for a lease on the property in 1875, but it was not granted. Governor Hennessy engaged in a fight with a judge at Mountain Lodge. Photos of two of three buildings on the site are at this reference, Sir William H. Marsh was Colonial Secretary and then the acting Governor, from 1879–1886. His wife, Mrs. Marsh advertised at homes at Mountain Lodge, in 1892, another typhoon did some damage. You can see photos of both the first and second incarnations of Mountain Lodge at this reference, in 1892, Governor Robinson designated the Director of Public Works, Francis Cooper, to restore the lodge. But due to the condition of the lodge, the restoration scheme was given up. In 1892, the Gate Lodge was built is in Renaissance style, however, when Sir Henry Arthur Blake became Governor, he did not like the proposals. Instead, he appointed Palmer & Turner for another design and this second design was constructed in the Renaissance style of Scottish lodges and built between 1900 and 1902
2.
Austria
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Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, the territory of Austria covers 83,879 km2. The terrain is mountainous, lying within the Alps, only 32% of the country is below 500 m. The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene. The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty, from the time of the Reformation, many northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion. Following Napoleons defeat, Prussia emerged as Austrias chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany, Austrias defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany. In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary, Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis, which would ultimately escalate into World War I. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919, in 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss. This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies, in 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral, today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna, other major urban areas of Austria include Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $43,724, the country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, joined the European Union in 1995, Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999. The German name for Austria, Österreich, meant eastern realm in Old High German, and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi and this word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976, the word Austria is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. Accordingly, Norig would essentially mean the same as Ostarrîchi and Österreich, the Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern-day Austria, around 15 BC. Noricum later became a Roman province in the mid-first century AD, heers hypothesis is not accepted by linguists. Settled in ancient times, the Central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, the Celtic kingdom of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province
3.
Mountaineering
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The term mountaineering describes the sport of mountain climbing, including ski mountaineering. Hiking in the mountains can also be a form of mountaineering when it involves scrambling, or short stretches of the more basic grades of rock climbing. All require experience, athletic ability, and technical knowledge to maintain safety, mountaineering is often called Alpinism, especially in European languages, which implies climbing with difficulty such high and often snow and ice-covered mountains as the Alps. A mountaineer with such great skill is called an Alpinist, historically, many cultures have harbored superstitions about mountains, which they often regarded as sacred due to their proximity with heaven, such as Mount Olympus for the Ancient Greeks. In 1492 Antoine de Ville, lord of Domjulien and Beaupré, was the first to ascend the Mont Aiguille, in France, with a team, using ladders. It appears to be the first recorded climb of any technical difficulty, in 1573 Francesco De Marchi and Francesco Di Domenico ascended Corno Grande, the highest peak in the Apennine Mountains. During the Enlightenment, as a product of the new spirit of curiosity for the natural world, in 1741 Richard Pococke and William Windham made a historic visit to Chamonix. By the early 19th century many of the peaks were reached, including the Grossglockner in 1800, the Ortler in 1804, the Jungfrau in 1811, the Finsteraarhorn in 1812. In 1808 Marie Paradis became the first female to climb Mont Blanc and this inaugurated what became known as the Golden age of alpinism, with the first mountaineering club - the Alpine Club - being founded in 1857. Well-known guides of the era include Christian Almer, Jakob Anderegg, Melchior Anderegg, J. J. Bennen, Michel Croz, in the early years of the golden age, scientific pursuits were intermixed with the sport, such as by the physicist John Tyndall. In the later years, it shifted to a more competitive orientation as pure sportsmen came to dominate the London-based Alpine Club and this ascent is generally regarded as marking the end of the mountaineering golden age. By this point the sport of mountaineering had largely reached its modern form, with a body of professional guides, equipment, mountaineering in the Americas became popular in the 1800s. In North America, Pikes Peak in the Colorado Rockies was first climbed by Edwin James, though lower than Pikes Peak, the heavily glaciated Fremont Peak in Wyoming was thought to be the tallest mountain in the Rockies when it was first climbed by John C. Frémont and two others in 1842, pico de Orizaba, the tallest peak in Mexico and third tallest in North America, was first climbed by U. S. military personnel which included William F. Raynolds and a half dozen other climbers in 1848. Heavily glaciated and more technical climbs in North American were not achieved until the late 19th, in 1897 Mount Saint Elias on the Alaska-Yukon border was summitted by the Duke of the Abruzzi and party. But it was not until 1913 that Mount Mckinley, the tallest peak in North America was successfully climbed by Hudson Stuck, Mount Logan, the tallest peak in Canada was first summitted by a half dozen climbers in 1925 in an expedition that took more than two months. In 1879-1880 the exploration of the highest Andes in South America began when English mountaineer Edward Whymper climbed Chimborazo, the summit of Aconcagua was finally reached on January 14,1897 by Swiss mountaineer Matthias Zurbriggen during an expedition led by Edward FitzGerald that began in December 1896. The Andes of Bolivia were first explored by Sir William Martin Conway in 1898 and it took until the late 19th century for European explorers to penetrate Africa
4.
Climbing
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Climbing is the activity of using ones hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep object. It is done recreationally, competitively, in trades that rely on it and it is done indoors and out, on natural and manmade structures. Climbing activities include, Bouldering, Ascending boulders or small outcrops, often with climbing shoes, canyoneering, Climbing along canyons for sport or recreation. Chalk climbing, Ascending chalk cliffs uses some of the techniques as ice climbing. Competition Climbing, A formal, competitive sport of recent origins, competition Climbing has three major disciplines, Lead, Bouldering and Speed. Ice climbing, Ascending ice or hard snow formations using special equipment, usually ice axes, techniques of protecting the climber are similar to those of rock climbing, with protective devices adapted to frozen conditions. Indoor climbing, Top roping, lead climbing, and bouldering artificial walls with bolted holds in a climbing gym, mountaineering, Ascending mountains for sport or recreation. It often involves rock and/or ice climbing, pole climbing, Climbing poles and masts without equipment. Lumberjack tree-trimming and competitive tree-trunk or pole climbing for speed using spikes, rock climbing, Ascending rock formations, often using climbing shoes and a chalk bag. Equipment such as ropes, bolts, nuts, hexes and camming devices are normally employed, rope access, Industrial climbing, usually abseiling, as an alternative to scaffolding for short works on exposed structures. Rope climbing, Climbing a short, thick rope for speed, not to be confused with roped climbing, as in rock or ice climbing. Scrambling which includes rock climbing, and is considered part of hillwalking. Sport climbing is a form of climbing that relies on permanent anchors fixed to the rock. Top roping, Ascending a rock climbing route protected by a rope anchored at the top and protected by a belayer below Traditional climbing is a form of climbing without fixed anchors and bolts. Climbers place removable protection such as camming devices, nuts, free solo climbing, Climbing without ropes or protection. Tree climbing, Recreationally ascending trees using ropes and other protective equipment, a tower climber is a professional who climbs broadcasting or telecommunication towers or masts for maintenance or repair. Rock, ice and tree climbing all usually use ropes for safety or aid, pole climbing and rope climbing were among the first exercises to be included in the origins of modern gymnastics in the late 18th century and early 19th century
5.
Hiking
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Hiking is the preferred term, in Canada and the United States, for a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails, in the countryside, while the word walking is used for shorter, particularly urban walks. On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, the word hiking is also often used in the UK, along with rambling, hillwalking, and fell walking. The term bushwalking is endemic to Australia, having been adopted by the Sydney Bush Walkers club in 1927, in New Zealand a long, vigorous walk or hike is called tramping. It is an activity with numerous hiking organizations worldwide. In the United States, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, a day hike refers to a hike that can be completed in a single day. However, in the United Kingdom, the walking is also used, as well as rambling. In Northern England, Including the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, fellwalking describes hill or mountain walks, hiking sometimes involves bushwhacking and is sometimes referred to as such. This specifically refers to walking through dense forest, undergrowth, or bushes. In extreme cases of bushwhacking, where the vegetation is so dense that human passage is impeded, the Australian term bushwalking refers to both on and off-trail hiking. Common terms for hiking used by New Zealanders are tramping, walking or bushwalking, trekking is the preferred word used to describe multi-day hiking in the mountainous regions of India, Pakistan, Nepal, North America, South America, Iran and in the highlands of East Africa. Hiking a long-distance trail from end-to-end is also referred to as trekking, in North America, multi-day hikes, usually with camping, are referred to as backpacking. The idea of taking a walk in the countryside for pleasure developed in the 18th-century, in earlier times walking generally indicated poverty and was also associated with vagrancy. Thomas West, an English priest, popularized the idea of walking for pleasure in his guide to the Lake District of 1778. To this end he included various stations or viewpoints around the lakes, published in 1778 the book was a major success. Another famous early exponent of walking for pleasure, was the English poet William Wordsworth, in 1790 he embarked on an extended tour of France, Switzerland, and Germany, a journey subsequently recorded in his long autobiographical poem The Prelude. His famous poem Tintern Abbey was inspired by a visit to the Wye Valley made during a tour of Wales in 1798 with his sister Dorothy Wordsworth. Wordsworths friend Coleridge was another keen walker and in the autumn of 1799, he and Wordsworth undertook a three weeks tour of the Lake District. John Keats, who belonged to the generation of Romantic poets began, in June 1818, a walking tour of Scotland, Ireland
6.
Swiss Alpine Club
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The Swiss Alpine Club is the largest mountaineering club in Switzerland. It was founded in 1863 in Olten and it is now composed of 111 sections with 110,000 members and these include the Association of British Members of the Swiss Alpine Club. The Swiss Alpine Club was the first Alpine club founded in continental Europe after the foundation of the Alpine Club in London, one of the founders and the first president of the Club was Dr. Melchior Ulrich, other members were Gottlieb Samuel Studer and Dr. Simler. The inaugural meeting was held in Olten, with the increasing number of climbers, steps had to be taken to make the approach to the mountains a little less complicated and exhausting. The Matterhorn hut was built in 1865, the Mountet in 1871, the Weisshorn Hut in 1876, the Concordia on the Aletsch glacier,1863, Foundation of the club, after the Alpine Club and the Austrian Alpine Club. The total effectives reach 75‘600 members, Association of British Members of the Swiss Alpine Club
7.
Appalachian Mountain Club
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Appalachian Mountain Club is one of the United States oldest outdoor groups. Created in 1876 to explore and preserve the White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U. S. with 12 chapters stretching from Maine to Washington, D. C. The AMCs 150,000 members, advocates, and supporters mix outdoor recreation, particularly hiking and backpacking, additional activities include cross-country skiing, whitewater and flatwater canoeing and kayaking, sea kayaking, sailing, rock climbing and bicycle riding. The Club has about 2,700 volunteers, who lead roughly 7,000 trips, the organization publishes a number of books, guides, and trail maps. Appalachian Mountain Club was organized in 1876, incorporated in 1878, the group helped map the White Mountains and in 1888 built the first of eight High Huts in the range, modeled on Alpine shelters. It has converted a portion of the purchase to a preserve, logged a portion. The Club is considering purchasing more sporting camps in the vicinity, in September 2016, it was reported in The Boston Globe that Appalachian Mountain Club sold their Joy Street headquarters to a group of real estate investors for $15 million. The deal would turn the 22,000 square feet of space on Beacon Hill into residential units. Appalachian Mountain Clubs headquarters is located at 5 Joy Street in Boston, Appalachian Mountain Club employed 686 individuals in 2014. AMC estimated that 16,000 individuals volunteered for the organization in 2014, Appalachian Mountain Club earns over $13,000,000 per year from its outdoor program centers, educational activities, membership dues, trail activities, and advertising. Sale of products nets over $700,000 per year, Appalachian Mountain Club receives $11,000,000 per year of charitable contributions and $2,000,000 of revenue from its investments. In 2014, Appalachian Mountain Club paid two outside telemarketing firms $108,837 for fundraising services, the telemarketing firms raised $146,842 for Appalachian Mountain Club. Appalachian Mountain Club has chapters located in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Appalachian Mountain Club owns and maintains a series of eight mountain huts in the White Mountains. Modeled after similar shelters in the Alps, the various huts hold between 36 and 90 people, hikers may reserve bunks, at most huts dinner and breakfast are included with an overnight fee. Although extremely popular, the huts are also controversial, facilitating thousands of hikers entering the back woods, Four years and an environmental impact statement were required to get the huts permits renewed by the U. S. Forest Service in 1999. A committee of Appalachian Mountain Club administers the Four Thousand Footer Club, anyone who has climbed to and from each of the 48 New Hampshire Four-thousand footers is eligible to apply for membership to the club. Members are given a patch and new inductees are invited to attend a celebration dinner. The Four Thousand Footer Club also recognizes individuals who complete the New England Four Thousand Footers, appalachia, the club journal, has been published since 1894
8.
New Hampshire
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New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, New Hampshire is the 5th smallest by land area and the 9th least populous of the 50 United States. Concord is the capital, while Manchester is the largest city in the state and in northern New England, including Vermont. It has no sales tax, nor is personal income taxed at either the state or local level. The New Hampshire primary is the first primary in the U. S. presidential election cycle and its license plates carry the state motto, Live Free or Die. The states nickname, The Granite State, refers to its extensive granite formations, the state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire by Captain John Mason. New Hampshire is part of the New England region and it is bounded by Quebec, Canada, to the north and northwest, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Massachusetts to the south, and Vermont to the west. New Hampshires major regions are the Great North Woods, the White Mountains, the Lakes Region, the Seacoast, the Merrimack Valley, the Monadnock Region, and the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee area. New Hampshire has the shortest ocean coastline of any U. S. coastal state, New Hampshire was home to the rock formation called the Old Man of the Mountain, a face-like profile in Franconia Notch, until the formation disintegrated in May 2003. Major rivers include the 110-mile Merrimack River, which bisects the lower half of the state north–south and ends up in Newburyport and its tributaries include the Contoocook River, Pemigewasset River, and Winnipesaukee River. The 410-mile Connecticut River, which starts at New Hampshires Connecticut Lakes and flows south to Connecticut, only one town – Pittsburg – shares a land border with the state of Vermont. The northwesternmost headwaters of the Connecticut also define the Canada–U. S, the Piscataqua River and its several tributaries form the states only significant ocean port where they flow into the Atlantic at Portsmouth. The Salmon Falls River and the Piscataqua define the southern portion of the border with Maine, the U. S. Supreme Court dismissed the case in 2002, leaving ownership of the island with Maine. New Hampshire still claims sovereignty of the base, however, the largest of New Hampshires lakes is Lake Winnipesaukee, which covers 71 square miles in the east-central part of New Hampshire. Umbagog Lake along the Maine border, approximately 12.3 square miles, is a distant second, Squam Lake is the second largest lake entirely in New Hampshire. New Hampshire has the shortest ocean coastline of any state in the United States, Hampton Beach is a popular local summer destination. It is the state with the highest percentage of area in the country. New Hampshire is in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome, much of the state, in particular the White Mountains, is covered by the conifers and northern hardwoods of the New England-Acadian forests
9.
Alps
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The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc, Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,810 m is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains about a hundred peaks higher than 4000 metres, the altitude and size of the range affects the climate in Europe, in the mountains precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m. Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era, a mummified man, determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991. By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established, Hannibal famously crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800 Napoleon crossed one of the passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, in World War II, Adolf Hitler kept a base of operation in the Bavarian Alps throughout the war. The Alpine region has a cultural identity. The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, at present, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors. The English word Alps derives from the Latin Alpes, maurus Servius Honoratus, an ancient commentator of Virgil, says in his commentary that all high mountains are called Alpes by Celts. The term may be common to Italo-Celtic, because the Celtic languages have terms for high mountains derived from alp and this may be consistent with the theory that in Greek Alpes is a name of non-Indo-European origin. According to the Old English Dictionary, the Latin Alpes might possibly derive from a pre-Indo-European word *alb hill, Albania, a name not native to the region known as the country of Albania, has been used as a name for a number of mountainous areas across Europe. In Roman times, Albania was a name for the eastern Caucasus, in modern languages the term alp, alm, albe or alpe refers to a grazing pastures in the alpine regions below the glaciers, not the peaks. An alp refers to a mountain pasture where cows are taken to be grazed during the summer months and where hay barns can be found. The Alps are a crescent shaped geographic feature of central Europe that ranges in a 800 km arc from east to west and is 200 km in width, the mean height of the mountain peaks is 2.5 km. The range stretches from the Mediterranean Sea north above the Po basin, extending through France from Grenoble, the range continues onward toward Vienna, Austria, and east to the Adriatic Sea and Slovenia. To the south it dips into northern Italy and to the north extends to the border of Bavaria in Germany
10.
Classical antiquity
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It is the period in which Greek and Roman society flourished and wielded great influence throughout Europe, North Africa and Southwestern Asia. Conventionally, it is taken to begin with the earliest-recorded Epic Greek poetry of Homer, and continues through the emergence of Christianity and it ends with the dissolution of classical culture at the close of Late Antiquity, blending into the Early Middle Ages. Such a wide sampling of history and territory covers many disparate cultures, Classical antiquity may refer also to an idealised vision among later people of what was, in Edgar Allan Poes words, the glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome. The culture of the ancient Greeks, together with influences from the ancient Near East, was the basis of art, philosophy, society. The earliest period of classical antiquity takes place before the background of gradual re-appearance of historical sources following the Bronze Age collapse, the 8th and 7th centuries BC are still largely proto-historical, with the earliest Greek alphabetic inscriptions appearing in the first half of the 8th century. Homer is usually assumed to have lived in the 8th or 7th century BC, in the same period falls the traditional date for the establishment of the Ancient Olympic Games, in 776 BC. The Phoenicians originally expanded from Canaan ports, by the 8th century dominating trade in the Mediterranean, carthage was founded in 814 BC, and the Carthaginians by 700 BC had firmly established strongholds in Sicily, Italy and Sardinia, which created conflicts of interest with Etruria. The Etruscans had established control in the region by the late 7th century BC, forming the aristocratic. According to legend, Rome was founded on April 21,753 BC by twin descendants of the Trojan prince Aeneas, Romulus and Remus. As the city was bereft of women, legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins and the Sabines. Archaeological evidence indeed shows first traces of settlement at the Roman Forum in the mid-8th century BC, the seventh and final king of Rome was Tarquinius Superbus. As the son of Tarquinius Priscus and the son-in-law of Servius Tullius, Superbus was of Etruscan birth and it was during his reign that the Etruscans reached their apex of power. Superbus removed and destroyed all the Sabine shrines and altars from the Tarpeian Rock, the people came to object to his rule when he failed to recognize the rape of Lucretia, a patrician Roman, at the hands of his own son. Lucretias kinsman, Lucius Junius Brutus, summoned the Senate and had Superbus, after Superbus expulsion, the Senate voted to never again allow the rule of a king and reformed Rome into a republican government in 509 BC. In fact the Latin word Rex meaning King became a dirty and hated throughout the Republic. In 510, Spartan troops helped the Athenians overthrow the tyrant Hippias, cleomenes I, king of Sparta, put in place a pro-Spartan oligarchy conducted by Isagoras. Greece entered the 4th century under Spartan hegemony, but by 395 BC the Spartan rulers removed Lysander from office, and Sparta lost her naval supremacy. Athens, Argos, Thebes and Corinth, the two of which were formerly Spartan allies, challenged Spartan dominance in the Corinthian War, which ended inconclusively in 387 BC
11.
Roman roads
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They provided efficient means for the overland movement of armies, officials, and civilians, and the inland carriage of official communications and trade goods. Roman roads were of several kinds, ranging from local roads to broad, long-distance highways built to connect cities, major towns. These major roads were often stone-paved and metaled, cambered for drainage and they were laid along accurately surveyed courses, and some were cut through hills, or conducted over rivers and ravines on bridgework. Sections could be supported over marshy ground on rafted or piled foundations, at the peak of Romes development, no fewer than 29 great military highways radiated from the capital, and the late Empires 113 provinces were interconnected by 372 great roads. The whole comprised more than 400,000 kilometres of roads, in Gaul alone, no less than 21,000 kilometres of roadways are said to have been improved, and in Britain at least 4,000 kilometres. The courses of many Roman roads survived for millennia, some are overlaid by modern roads, livy mentions some of the most familiar roads near Rome, and the milestones on them, at times long before the first paved road—the Appian Way. Unless these allusions are just simple anachronisms, the referred to were probably at the time little more than levelled earthen tracks. Thus, the Via Gabina is mentioned in about 500 BC, the Via Latina in about 490 BC, the Via Nomentana, in 449 BC, the Via Labicana in 421 BC, and the Via Salaria in 361 BC. There is hardly a district to which we expect a Roman official to be sent, on service either civil or military. They reach the Wall in Britain, run along the Rhine, the Danube, and the Euphrates, and cover, as with a network, a road map of the empire reveals that it was generally laced with a dense network of prepared viae. Beyond its borders there were no paved roads, however, it can be supposed that footpaths, there were, for instance, some pre-Roman ancient trackways in Britain, such as the Ridgeway and the Icknield Way. For specific roads, see Roman road locations below, the Laws of the Twelve Tables, dated to about 450 BC, specified that a road shall be 8 Roman feet wide where straight and twice that width where curved. Actual practices varied from this standard, the Tables command Romans to build roads and give wayfarers the right to pass over private land where the road is in disrepair. Roman law defined the right to use a road as a servitus, the ius eundi established a claim to use an iter, or footpath, across private land, the ius agendi, an actus, or carriage track. A via combined both types of servitutes, provided it was of the width, which was determined by an arbiter. The default width was the latitudo legitima of 8 feet, Roman law and tradition forbade the use of vehicles in urban areas, except in certain cases. Married women and government officials on business could ride, the Lex Iulia Municipalis restricted commercial carts to night-time access in the city within the walls and within a mile outside the walls. Such roads led either to the sea, or to a town, or to a public river and these roads bear the names of their constructors
12.
High Middle Ages
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The High Middle Ages or High Medieval Period was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, by 1250 the robust population increase greatly benefited the European economy, reaching levels that would not be seen again in some areas until the 19th century. This trend was checked in the Late Middle Ages by a series of calamities, notably the Black Death but also including numerous wars, from about the year 780 onwards, Europe saw the last of the barbarian invasions and became more socially and politically organized. The Carolingian Renaissance led to scientific and philosophical revival of Europe, the first universities were established in Bologna, Paris, Oxford and Modena. The Vikings had settled in the British Isles, France and elsewhere, the Magyars had ceased their expansion in the 10th century, and by the year 1000, a Christian Kingdom of Hungary was recognized in Central Europe, forming alliances with regional powers. With the brief exception of the Mongol invasions in the 13th century, in the 11th century, populations north of the Alps began to settle new lands, some of which had reverted to wilderness after the end of the Roman Empire. In what is known as the clearances, vast forests. At the same time settlements moved beyond the boundaries of the Frankish Empire to new frontiers in Europe, beyond the Elbe River. The High Middle Ages produced many different forms of intellectual, spiritual, the rediscovery of the works of Aristotle led Thomas Aquinas and other thinkers of the period to develop Scholasticism, a combination of Catholicism and ancient philosophy. For much of the time period Constantinople remained Europes most populous city, in architecture, many of the most notable Gothic cathedrals were built or completed during this era. The Crisis of the Late Middle Ages, beginning at the start of the 14th century, in England, the Norman Conquest of 1066 resulted in a kingdom ruled by a Francophone nobility. The Normans invaded Ireland by force in 1169 and soon established throughout most of the country. Likewise, Scotland and Wales were subdued to vassalage at about the same time, the Exchequer was founded in the 12th century under King Henry I, and the first parliaments were convened. In 1215, after the loss of Normandy, King John signed the Magna Carta into law, from the mid-tenth to the mid-11th centuries, the Scandinavian kingdoms were unified and Christianized, resulting in an end of Viking raids, and greater involvement in European politics. King Cnut of Denmark ruled over both England and Norway, after Cnuts death in 1035, England and Norway were lost, and with the defeat of Valdemar II in 1227, Danish predominance in the region came to an end. Meanwhile, Norway extended its Atlantic possessions, ranging from Greenland to the Isle of Man, while Sweden, under Birger Jarl, however, the Norwegian influence started to decline already in the same period, marked by the Treaty of Perth of 1266. Also, civil wars raged in Norway between 1130 and 1240, by the time of the High Middle Ages, the Carolingian Empire had been divided and replaced by separate successor kingdoms called France and Germany, although not with their modern boundaries. Germany was under the banner of the Holy Roman Empire, which reached its mark of unity
13.
Alpine transhumance
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Alpine transhumance is transhumance as practiced in the Alps, that is, a seasonal droving of grazing livestock between the valleys in winter and the high mountain pastures in summer. Transhumance is a practice that has shaped much of the landscape in the Alps, as without it. In some places, cattle are taken care of by local families who move to higher places. In others, this job is for herdsmen who are employees of the cooperative owning the pastures, most Alpine pastures are below 2,400 m, all are below 2,800 m. The higher regions not suitable for transhumance are known as the High Alps, the German word Alp or Alm is originally identical to the name of the Alps itself, probably a pre-Roman term for mountain. In French, the word for alpine pasture is alpage. Evidence survives of an economy in the Alps dating to the later Neolithic period. With evidence for pastures above the treeline reported for the Bronze Age in the Northern Limestone Alps, the transhumance system in the Alps has remained virtually unchanged since at least the High Middle Ages, with a document referring to a summer pasture from 1204. Along the edge of the Alps, starting around 1300 in west and central Switzerland, a number of specialized cattle markets grew up in Arona, Bellinzona, Como and Varese in the south and Villeneuve in the west. In these communities on the edge of the Alps, transhumance included both the movement of cattle to the alpine pastures as well as horizontal movement to the cattle markets. In the communities located in the central Alps, the herds were more diverse, generally there were large herds of sheep with much smaller cattle herds and other animals such as pigs and goats. Cattle production was much less manpower-intensive than farming, which was ideal with the reduced population, however, cattle production is much more capital- and especially land-intensive. Cattle production became an investment opportunity for monasteries and citizens of nearby cities, the investors would purchase the cattle and then rent the beasts out to small farmers or to herders for the summer. In the valleys along the edge of the Alps cattle production with associated transhumance was generally the rule, however, in the inner alpine valleys the climate was drier which allowed farming even at higher elevations. These areas tended to be mixed between farming and animal husbandry, with the animals being kept mainly for fertilizer and plowing rather than food, however, in both regions the yearly movement was generally similar. Throughout the year, most of the population of the village remained on the floor and farmed the surrounding land for grains. In the spring the herdsmen took the animals up to the middle pastures on the mountain slopes, in the summer, pigs were left in the middle pastures while the rest of the animals were moved to the high alpine pasture. At the end of September the animals were moved back to the lower pastures, sheep and goats were stabled in December, unless the winter was mild, then they remained at the middle pastures with the pigs
14.
Alpine club hut
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Alpine club huts or simply club huts form the majority of the over 1,300 mountain huts in the Alps and are maintained by branches, or sections, of the various Alpine clubs. They provide hikers and climbers with accommodation and shelter, mainly in the Alpine region, the greater number of these huts are managed, several are only suitable for those able to be self-contained. Although fundamentally all those involved in mountain activities have access to the huts and these include, reduced accommodation rates, mountaineers meals, hot water for tea, the right to provide ones own food and alcohol-free drink. For unmanaged huts members can obtain a key for a deposit from the local alpine branch. Sleeping accommodation may consist of beds, a room and emergency beds or shakedowns. The larger alpine clubs in Europe have an agreement to treat members of other clubs as their own members at their clubs huts. Some are tiny shelters near the summit of a mountain, in larger huts food and beverages may be served. Members have priority only in allocation of accommodation and claim a minimum discount of 50%, category II, located in popular areas, and usually accessible by road or cableway, these huts are often open throughout the year. With better facilities and more varied catering than category I huts, category III, primarily used by day visitors and accessible by car or cableway. These huts are almost akin to hotels, offering a minimum discount of 10% to alpine club members. In addition to the alpine club huts there is also a number of alpine accommodation huts run by private individuals. These are listed in the List of mountain huts in the Alps, the Alpine Club of Canada is Canadas national mountain club, based in Canmore, Alberta, the ACC has been a focal point for Canadian mountaineers since 1906. The Alpine Club of Canada operates the largest network of accommodation in North America. Its network of 25 alpine club huts are scattered across Canada, predominantly throughout the Canadian Rockies
15.
Matratzenlager
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A Matratzenlager, sometimes called Massenlager or Touristenlager, is the simplest and cheapest type of sleeping accommodation offered in mountain huts. It generally consists of a room with mattresses usually placed very close together. The Matratzenlager is usually found in the attic of the hut, large Matratzenlagers are divided into rooms with a maximum of 20-30 bedspaces in order to ensure a reasonable nights sleep. Often there are smaller rooms for families. The mattresses usually do not lie on the floor, but on a wooden frame and each bedspace is given its own pillow. At the head or the foot are small storage areas, at Alpine club huts the use of hut sleeping bags is mandatory
16.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
17.
Bothy
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A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate, Bothies are to be found in remote, mountainous areas of Scotland, Northern England, Ireland and Wales. They are particularly common in the Scottish Highlands but related buildings can be found around the world, a bothy was also a semi-legal drinking den in the Isle of Lewis. These, such as Bothan Eòrapaidh, were used until recent years as gathering points for local men, the etymology of the word bothy is uncertain. Suggestions include a relation to both hut as in Irish bothán and Scottish Gaelic bothan or bothag, a corruption of the Welsh term bwthyn, also meaning small cottage, and a derivation from Norse būð, cognate with English booth with a diminutive ending. Most bothies are ruined buildings which have restored to a basic standard, providing a windproof. They vary in size from more than a large box up to two-storey cottages. They usually have designated sleeping areas, which commonly are either a room or a raised platform, thus allowing one to keep clear of cold air. No bedding, mattresses or blankets are provided, public access to bothies is either on foot, by bicycle or boat. Most bothies have a fireplace and are near a source of water. A spade may be provided to bury excrement, there are thousands of examples to draw from. A typical Scottish bothy is the Salmon Fishermans Bothy, Newtonhill, another Scottish example from the peak of the salmon fishing in the 1890s is the fishermans bothy at the mouth of the Burn of Muchalls. A further example is the Lairig Leacach Bothy in Lochaber, not far to the east of Fort William, the best-known estate bothy is the one in the Royal Gardens at Windsor Castle, which could house about 25 people. It was used by the gardeners and disabled ex-servicemen who worked on the estate. Most reasonably sized estates had a bothy, which housed single men only, in fact, if they got married, the most famous person to live in a bothy of this type was Percy Thrower when he worked in the Royal gardens. Another example of an estate bothy is the one at Horwood House, there is also one at Attingham Park which is being restored along with the walled gardens. Because they are available to all, the continued existence of bothies relies on users helping look after them. Report any damage to whoever maintains the bothy, take out all rubbish which you cant burn
18.
Snowdonia
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Snowdonia is a mountainous region in north Wales and a national park of 823 square miles in area. It was the first to be designated of the three parks in Wales, in 1951. The English name for the area derives from Snowdon, which is the highest mountain in Wales at 3,560 ft, in Welsh, the area is named Eryri. The term ‘Eryri’ first appeared in a manuscript in the 9th-century Historia Brittonum, in the Middle Ages the title Prince of Wales and Lord of Snowdonia was used by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, his grandfather Llywelyn Fawr used the title Prince of north Wales and Lord of Snowdonia. This is apparent in books published prior to 1951, such as the classic travelogue Wild Wales by George Borrow, F. J. North, as editor of the book Snowdonia, states When the Committee delineated provisional boundaries, they included areas some distance beyond Snowdonia proper. The traditional Snowdonia thus includes the ranges of Snowdon and its satellites, the Glyderau, the Carneddau and it does not include the hills to the south of Maentwrog. As Eryri, this area has a place in Welsh history, tradition. Snowdonia National Park was established in 1951 as the national park in Britain, following the Peak District. It covers 827 square miles, and has 37 miles of coastline, the park is governed by the Snowdonia National Park Authority, which is made up of local government and Welsh representatives, and its main offices are at Penrhyndeudraeth. Unlike national parks in countries, Snowdonia are made up of both public and private lands under central planning authority. The makeup of land ownership at Snowdonia is as follows, More than 26,000 people live within the park,58. 6% of the population could speak Welsh in 2011. While most of the land is open or mountainous land. Since the local government re-organisation of 1998, the park partly in the county of Gwynedd. Unusually, Snowdonia National Park has a hole in the middle, around the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog and this was deliberately excluded from the park when it was set up to allow the development of new light industry to replace the reduced slate industry. The Snowdonia Society is a charity formed in 1967. It is a group of people with an interest in the area. Amory Lovins led the successful 1970s opposition to stop Rio Tinto digging up the area for a massive mine. Research indicates that there were 3.67 million visitors to Snowdonia National Park in 2013, total tourist expenditure was £433.6 million in 2013
19.
Lake District
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The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests and mountains and its associations with the early 19th century writings of William Wordsworth and the other Lake Poets. It is located in the county of Cumbria, and all the land in England higher than 3,000 feet above sea level lies within the National Park, including Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England. It also contains the deepest and longest bodies of water in England, respectively Wast Water, the Lake District National Park includes nearly all of the Lake District, though the town of Kendal and the Lakeland Peninsulas are currently outside the park boundary. Its aim is to protect the landscape by restricting unwelcome change by industry or commerce, Most of the land in the park is in private ownership, with about 55% registered as agricultural land. Landowners include, Individual farmers and other landowners, with more than half of the agricultural land farmed by the owners. The National Trust owns about a quarter of the total area, the Forestry Commission and other investors in forests and woodland. United Utilities owns 8% Lake District National Park Authority The National Park Authority is based at offices in Kendal and it runs a visitor centre on Windermere at a former country house called Brockhole, Coniston Boating Centre, and Information Centres. Much of the land has statutory open access rights, which cover around 50% of the park. The lakes and mountains combine to form impressive scenery, farmland and settlement have altered the natural scenery, and the ecology has been modified by human influence for millennia and includes important wildlife habitats. However, in 2016 the English Lake District bid for World Heritage Status was submitted to UNESCO in the category of cultural landscape, a decision is expected in 2017. In December 2009, Natural England proposed extending the National Park in the direction of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and this would include land of high landscape value in the Lune Valley. The proposal was opposed by Cumbria County Council who said it would lead to less democratic control, a public inquiry was held into the proposals, which required a decision by the Secretary of State. The decision to recommend approval was announced on October 23,2015, the precise extent of the Lake District was not defined traditionally, but is slightly larger than that of the National Park, the total area of which is about 912 square miles. The park extends just over 32 miles from east to west, the Lake District is one of the most highly populated national parks. There are, however, only a handful of settlements within this mountainous area, the towns of Keswick, Windermere, Ambleside. Villages such as Coniston, Threlkeld, Glenridding, Pooley Bridge, Broughton-in-Furness, Grasmere, Newby Bridge, Staveley, Lindale, Gosforth, the economies of almost all are intimately linked with tourism. Beyond these are a scattering of hamlets and many isolated farmsteads, some of which are tied to agriculture
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Ben Nevis
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Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles, located in Scotland. Standing at 1,345 metres above sea level, it is located at the end of the Grampian Mountains in the Lochaber area of the Scottish Highlands. The mountain is a destination, attracting an estimated 100,000 ascents a year. The 700-metre cliffs of the face are among the highest in Scotland, providing classic scrambles. They are also the locations in Scotland for ice climbing. The summit, which is the dome of an ancient volcano. The meteorological data collected during this period are still important for understanding Scottish mountain weather, C. T. R. Wilson was inspired to invent the cloud chamber after a period spent working at the observatory. Ben Nevis is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic name Beinn Nibheis, Beinn is the most common Gaelic word for mountain, Nibheis is variously understood, though the word is commonly translated as malicious or venomous. An alternative interpretation is that Beinn Nibheis derives from beinn nèamh-bhathais, from nèamh heavens, clouds, one translation would therefore be the mountain with its head in the clouds, though mountain of Heaven is also frequently given. As is common for many Scottish mountains, it is both to locals and visitors as simply the Ben. Ben Nevis forms a massif with its neighbour to the northeast, Càrn Mòr Dearg, both mountains are among the nine in Scotland over 4,000 feet, Aonach Beag and Aonach Mòr are also on the Nevis massif. The hut is situated just above the confluence of Allt a Mhuilinn, in addition to the main 1, 345-metre summit, Ben Nevis has two subsidiary tops listed in Munros Tables, both of which are called Càrn Dearg. The higher of these, at 1,221 metres, is situated to the northwest, the other Càrn Dearg juts out into Glen Nevis on the mountains southwestern side. A lower hill, Meall an t-Suidhe, is located further west, forming a saddle with Ben Nevis which contains a small loch, the popular tourist path from Glen Nevis skirts the side of this hill before ascending Ben Neviss broad western flank. Ben Nevis is all that remains of a Devonian volcano that met an end in the Carboniferous period around 350 million years ago. Evidence near the summit shows light-coloured granite lies among dark basaltic lavas, the two lying side-by-side is evidence the huge volcano collapsed in on itself creating an explosion comparable to Thera or Krakatoa. The mountain is now all that remains of the inner dome of the volcano. Its form has been shaped by glaciation
21.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
22.
Norwegian Trekking Association
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The Norwegian Trekking Association is a Norwegian association which maintains mountain trails and cabins in Norway. The association was founded on 21 January 1868 with the scope to help, today the goal is to work for simple, secure and environmentally friendly outdoor activities. DNT has currently more than 200,000 individual members, the secretary-general of the association is Nils Øveraas. The mountains of Norway have always been utilised by the Norwegian people since the first Norwegians followed the reindeer when the ice cap retracted ten thousand years ago, dNTs first hut was Krokan by the Rjukan waterfall. The waterfall was harnessed for hydropower production and the hut was sold. Today it is re-opened, situated by the road from Tinn to Vinje. Together with local organisations all over Norway, it more than 400 cabins in Norwegian mountains. Olav Thon, a Norwegian real-estate investor and hobby trekker, has so far donated 55 million kr to the association, the money has been spent to build new and refurbish existing cabins. 41 of the huts are staffed, the rest are self-service, some with provisions and some without. The self-service huts are occasionally locked, and to use them it is necessary to get a key from the DNT for a NOK100 deposit, every self-service hut contains a stack of debit/credit card forms for payment. This form must be filled out at the conclusion of a stay, most self-service huts have solar panels, and therefore electricity, but no running water, so they are usually located very close to a river from which buckets may be filled. Before leaving a self-service hut, it is considered good etiquette to carry in firewood, do the dishes, clean the floor and lock the door behind you. Tourism in Norway List of national parks of Norway UT. no Official website UT. no Trip planning website by DNT and NRK Yr. no weather forecasts for DNT huts Maps with DNT huts
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Poland
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Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church
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PTTK
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Polskie Towarzystwo Turystyczno-Krajoznawcze, PTTK is a Polish non-governmental tourist organization with 312 branches across the country. The PTTK is one of the oldest tourist societies in Europe and its origins stretch back to the foreign Partitions of Poland. In August 1873 a group of enthusiasts including painter and photographer Walery Eljasz Radzikowski from Kraków. A parallel Polish Sightseeing Society was founded by ethnographer Zygmunt Gloger in 1906, the two organizations merged after World War II in 1950 to form the PTTK. The Society aims to promote qualified tourism and sightseeing, the Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society has approximately 61,000 members, with over 260 branches throughout Poland. It brings together about 2,500 rings and nearly 200 clubs, the society is organised into several regional authorities each with its own staff. The membership fee and the PTTK membership card provide a discount on all accommodation and courses offered by PTTK. Each member of the Polish Tourist Association is a paying member awarded with one of a system of over a dozen badges, including Climbing, Hiking, Skiing, Cycling, Sailing and even a Diving Badge
25.
Mattress
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A mattress is a large pad for supporting the reclining body, used as a bed or as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a quilted or similarly fastened case, usually of heavy cloth, mattresses may also be filled with air or water. Mattresses are usually placed on top of a bed base which may be solid, as in the case of a bed, or elastic, e. g. with an upholstered wood. Popular in Europe, a divan incorporates both mattress and foundation in a single upholstered, footed unit, divans have at least one innerspring layer as well as cushioning materials. They may be supplied with a secondary mattress and/or a removable topper, mattresses may also be filled with air or water, or a variety of natural fibers, such as in futons. Kapok is a common material in Southeast Asia, and coir in South Asia. The word mattress derives from the Arabic matrah, which means something thrown down or place where something is thrown down and hence mat, cushion. During the Crusades Europeans adopted the Arabic method of sleeping on cushions on the floor, the oldest known mattress dates to around 77,000 years ago. Early mattresses contained a variety of materials including straw, feathers or horse hair. In the first half of the 20th century, a typical mattress sold in North America had an innerspring core, modern mattresses usually contain either an inner spring core or materials such as latex, viscoelastic or other flexible polyurethane foams. In 1899 James Marshall introduced the first individually wrapped pocketed spring coil now commonly known as Marshall coils. In Europe, polyurethane foam cores and latex cores have long been popular, a conventional mattress consists of two primary sections – a core or support layer and the upholstery or comfort layer – wrapped in a thick fabric called the ticking. Upholstery layers cover the mattress and provide cushioning and comfort, the upholstery layer consists of three parts, the insulator, the middle upholstery, and the quilt. Mattresses are typically made to conform to bed sizing standards that vary by market, innerspring mattresses commonly consist of just the spring core, and the top and bottom upholstery layers. The core of the mattress supports the sleeper’s body, modern spring mattress cores, often called innersprings, are made up of steel coil springs, or coils. The gauge of the coils is another factor which determines firmness, coils are measured in quarter increments. The lower the number, the thicker the spring, in general, higher-quality mattress coils have a 14-gauge diameter. Coils of 14 to 15. 5-gauge give more easily under pressure, while a 12. 5-gauge coil, connections between the coils help the mattress retain its shape
26.
Slovakia
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Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Slovakias territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres and is mostly mountainous. The population is over 5 million and comprises mostly ethnic Slovaks, the capital and largest city is Bratislava. The Slavs arrived in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries, in the 7th century, they played a significant role in the creation of Samos Empire and in the 9th century established the Principality of Nitra. In the 10th century, the territory was integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary, which became part of the Habsburg Empire. After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a separate Slovak Republic existed in World War II as a client state of Nazi Germany. In 1945, Czechoslovakia was reëstablished under Communist rule as a Soviet satellite, in 1989 the Velvet Revolution ended authoritarian Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The country maintains a combination of economy with universal health care. The country joined the European Union in 2004 and the Eurozone on 1 January 2009, Slovakia is also a member of the Schengen Area, NATO, the United Nations, the OECD, the WTO, CERN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. The Slovak economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and its legal tender, the Euro, is the worlds 2nd most traded currency. Although regional income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their homes, in 2016, Slovak citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 165 countries and territories, ranking the Slovak passport 11th in the world. Slovakia is the world’s biggest per-capita car producer with a total of 1,040,000 cars manufactured in the country in 2016 alone, the car industry represents 43 percent of Slovakia’s industrial output, and a quarter of its exports. Radiocarbon datingputs the oldest surviving archaeological artefacts from Slovakia – found near Nové Mesto nad Váhom – at 270,000 BC and these ancient tools, made by the Clactonian technique, bear witness to the ancient habitation of Slovakia. Other stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic era come from the Prévôt cave near Bojnice, the most important discovery from that era is a Neanderthal cranium, discovered near Gánovce, a village in northern Slovakia. The most well-known finds include the oldest female statue made of mammoth-bone, the statue was found in the 1940s in Moravany nad Váhom near Piešťany. Numerous necklaces made of shells from Cypraca thermophile gastropods of the Tertiary period have come from the sites of Zákovská, Podkovice, Hubina and these findings provide the most ancient evidence of commercial exchanges carried out between the Mediterranean and Central Europe. The Bronze Age in the territory of modern-day Slovakia went through three stages of development, stretching from 2000 to 800 BC
27.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
28.
Rocky Mountains
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The Rocky Mountains, commonly known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 3,000 miles from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the Southwestern United States. Within the North American Cordillera, the Rockies are somewhat distinct from the Pacific Coast Ranges, the Rocky Mountains were initially formed from 80 million to 55 million years ago during the Laramide orogeny, in which a number of plates began to slide underneath the North American plate. The angle of subduction was shallow, resulting in a belt of mountains running down western North America. Since then, further tectonic activity and erosion by glaciers have sculpted the Rockies into dramatic peaks, at the end of the last ice age, humans started to inhabit the mountain range. The first mention of their present name by a European was in the journal of Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre in 1752, the Rocky Mountains are commonly defined as stretching from the Liard River in British Columbia south to the Rio Grande in New Mexico. The United States definition of the Rockies includes the Cabinet and Salish Mountains of Idaho and their counterparts north of the Kootenai River, the Columbia Mountains, are considered a separate system in Canada, lying to the west of the huge Rocky Mountain Trench. This runs the length of British Columbia from its beginnings in the middle Flathead River valley in western Montana to the bank of the Liard River. The Rockies vary in width from 70 to 300 miles, also west of the Rocky Mountain Trench, farther north and facing the Muskwa Range across the trench, are the Stikine Ranges and Omineca Mountains of the Interior Mountains system of British Columbia. A small area east of Prince George, British Columbia on the side of the Trench. In Canada geographers define three main groups of ranges, the Continental Ranges, Hart Ranges and Muskwa Ranges, the Muskwa and Hart Ranges together comprise what is known as the Northern Rockies. The western edge of the Rockies includes ranges such as the Wasatch near Salt Lake City, the Great Basin and Columbia River Plateau separate these sub-ranges from distinct ranges further to the west, most prominent among which are the Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range and Coast Mountains. The Rocky Mountain System within the United States is a United States physiographic region, the Rocky Mountains are notable for containing the highest peaks in central North America. The ranges highest peak is Mount Elbert located in Colorado at 14,440 feet above sea level, Mount Robson in British Columbia, at 12,972 feet, is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. The Continental Divide of the Americas is located in the Rocky Mountains, triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park is so named because water that falls on the mountain reaches not only the Atlantic and Pacific, but Hudson Bay as well. Farther north in Alberta, the Athabasca and other rivers feed the basin of the Mackenzie River, see Rivers of the Rocky Mountains for a list of rivers. Human population is not very dense in the Rocky Mountains, with an average of four people per square kilometer, however, the human population grew rapidly in the Rocky Mountain states between 1950 and 1990. The 40-year statewide increases in range from 35% in Montana to about 150% in Utah
29.
Appalachian Mountains
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The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period and it once reached elevations similar to those of the Alps and the Rocky Mountains before naturally occurring erosion. The Appalachian chain is a barrier to east-west travel, as it forms a series of alternating ridgelines, definitions vary on the precise boundaries of the Appalachians. A common variant definition does not include the Adirondack Mountains, which belong to the Grenville Orogeny and have a different geological history from the rest of the Appalachians. The range covers parts of the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the system is divided into a series of ranges, with the individual mountains averaging around 3,000 ft. The highest of the group is Mount Mitchell in North Carolina at 6,684 feet, the term Appalachian refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range. Most broadly, it refers to the mountain range with its surrounding hills. The Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas and Oklahoma were originally part of the Appalachians as well, the name was soon altered by the Spanish to Apalachee and used as a name for the tribe and region spreading well inland to the north. Pánfilo de Narváezs expedition first entered Apalachee territory on June 15,1528, now spelled Appalachian, it is the fourth-oldest surviving European place-name in the US. After the de Soto expedition in 1540, Spanish cartographers began to apply the name of the tribe to the mountains themselves. The first cartographic appearance of Apalchen is on Diego Gutierrezs map of 1562, the name was not commonly used for the whole mountain range until the late 19th century. A competing and often more popular name was the Allegheny Mountains, Alleghenies, in the early 19th century, Washington Irving proposed renaming the United States either Appalachia or Alleghania. In U. S. dialects in the regions of the Appalachians. In northern parts of the range, it is pronounced /ˌæpəˈleɪtʃᵻnz/ or /ˌæpəˈleɪʃᵻnz/, the third syllable is like lay. There is often debate between the residents of the regions as to which pronunciation is the more correct one. Elsewhere, a commonly accepted pronunciation for the adjective Appalachian is /ˌæpəˈlætʃiən/, the whole system may be divided into three great sections, Northern, The northern section runs from the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador to the Hudson River. The Monteregian Hills, which cross the Green Mountains in Quebec, are also unassociated with the Appalachians, Central, The central section goes from the Hudson Valley to the New River running through Virginia and West Virginia. Southern, The southern section runs from the New River onwards and it consists of the prolongation of the Blue Ridge, which is divided into the Western Blue Ridge Front and the Eastern Blue Ridge Front, the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, and the Cumberland Plateau
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High Huts of the White Mountains
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The High Huts of the White Mountains are eight mountain huts in the White Mountains, in the U. S. state of New Hampshire, owned and maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club. Modeled after similar huts in the Alps, they are positioned at intervals along the Appalachian Trail and they are generally separated by six to eight miles, about a days hike. Hikers can reserve overnight bunks at the huts, which hold from 36 to 96 people each, in summer season the huts are full service, serving dinner and breakfast. Three huts stay open the rest of the year as self service, the huts are staffed by a team of five to nine caretakers - often called the croo, using that spelling - during full-service season. Each crew member works for days on, three days off. During the eleven working days, they must make four trips back down the mountain to get food and other supplies. At the beginning of season, fuel and supplies are flown into the huts by helicopter. The huts were built and are maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Clubs construction crew, the huts are very popular, having handled thousands of hikers entering the back woods and environmentally sensitive areas above tree line. Four years and an impact statement were required to get the huts permits renewed by the U. S. Forest Service in 1999. The following High Huts are presented in south to north order relative to their location along the Appalachian Trail, Lonesome Lake Hut is the southernmost hut in the system, and second lowest. It started out in 1876 as a camp on Lonesome Lake. The hut officially became part of the AMC system in 1929 and it has since become popular with families due to its low altitude and relative ease of ascent. It is tied with Greenleaf, its closest neighbor, for the fourth highest capacity, Greenleaf Hut lies on a prominent shoulder of Mount Lafayette, offering spectacular views of Franconia Ridge. Its construction was the first to leave behind the stone and masonry construction technique utilized by earlier huts, completed in 1930, it pioneered running water and indoor toilets, reflecting an evolution of AMC huts from simple shelters towards becoming more like mountainside hostels. Much of Greenleafs construction funding came from Colonel Charles Greenleaf, for whom it is named and its design — a central dining room and kitchen flanked by two bunkrooms — became the model for Galehead and Zealand Falls huts, both constructed within the next year. At 4,200 feet above sea level, Greenleaf is the third highest hut in the system and is tied with Lonesome Lake Hut for the fourth highest capacity, Lonesome Lake is also the huts closest southern neighbor, with Galehead Hut to the north. Galehead Hut lies nearly 3,800 feet above sea level on rugged Garfield Ridge, construction on the original structure there began in 1931, using wood from the surrounding trees. It was completed in 1932, along with Zealand Falls Hut, a small space under the front porch was used to store perishable foods
31.
Monte Rosa Hut
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It is owned by the Swiss Alpine Club SAC. The hut is the start of the route to the summit. The first hut was built in 1894–1895 just next to the then much higher Border Glacier at an altitude of 2,795 metres. A completely new building was inaugurated in 2009, a hi-tech, energy-wise almost self-sufficient, the Monte Rosa Hut lies on the western side of Monte Rosa massif, on the place named Untere Plattje. The hut can be reached using the Gornergratbahn, from the station Rotenboden a trail leads to the Gorner Glacier. Then the Gornergletscher has to be crossed, then over the end of the Grenzgletscher. The first hut, known under the name Betemps hut, was built between 1894 and 1895 and it had 25 beds and was owned by the Swiss Alpine Club central committee. The hut was enlarged in 1918 to host 20 more people, the Betemps hut was offered to the Monte Rosa section in 1929 then transformed and renamed Monte Rosa hut. Between 1939-1940 a new hut with 86 beds was built, the capacity was raised up to 146 in 1972 and 160 in 1984. A new hi-tech environmentally friendly mountain hut was designed by architect Andrea Deplazes of ETH Zurich, the project of the Swiss Alpine Club, to mark the 150th anniversary of ETH Zurich, was launched in 2003. The construction materials prefabricated elements were transported by train to Zermatt and 3,000 helicopter trips were needed to take 35 workers, the five-story polygonal building was built on stainless steel foundations with a spiral interior made out of wood, the exterior being covered with an aluminum shell. The building is designed to obtain 90 percent of its needs from the sun. Excess energy is stored in valve-regulated lead-acid accumulators, which supply power when it is overcast, water is collected from melting glaciers and stored in a large reservoir 40 meters above the hut. Bands of windows allow the sun to heat air inside the building with the redistribution of thermal energy produced by visitors. Over the next few years the hut will become a station for the students from the ETH Zurich. They will use it to investigate how to use energy and resources efficiently, self-Sufficient Building in the High Alps Zurich, gta,2010. ISBN 978-3-85676-274-2 Futuristic eco-hut opens doors above Zermatt, swissinfo Official website Monte Rosa Hut on SummitPost. org
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Bertol Hut
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The Bertol Hut is a mountain hut overlooking the Bertol Pass, south of Arolla in the Swiss canton of Valais. It is known for its precarious position on a ridge at 3,311 metres south of the Pointe de Bertol and is accessed by a number of fixed ladders, all accesses to the hut involve glacier crossing. On its east side it overlooks the large plateau of the Mont Miné Glacier, the Bertol Hut is situated on the Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt. Nearby peaks include the Dent Blanche, Aiguille de la Tsa, list of buildings and structures above 3000 m in Switzerland Swisstopo topographic maps Media related to Cabane de Bertol at Wikimedia Commons Hut web site
33.
Swiss Alps
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The Swiss Alps extend over both the Western Alps and the Eastern Alps, encompassing an area sometimes called Central Alps. The Swiss Alps comprise almost all the highest mountains of the Alps, such as Dufourspitze, the Dom, the Liskamm, the Weisshorn, the other following major summits can be found in this list of mountains of Switzerland. Since the Middle Ages, transit across the Alps played an important role in history, the region north of St Gotthard Pass became the nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the early 14th century. The Alps cover 65% of Switzerlands total 41,285 square kilometres surface area, making it one of the most alpine countries. The glaciers of the Swiss Alps cover an area of 1,220 square kilometres — 3% of the Swiss territory, the Swiss Alps are situated south of the Swiss Plateau and north of the national border. The limit between the Alps and the runs from Vevey on the shores of Lake Geneva to Rorschach on the shores of Lake Constance, passing close to the cities of Thun. The not well defined regions in Switzerland that lie on the margin of the Alps, the Swiss Prealps are mainly made of limestone and they generally do not exceed 2,500 metres. The Alpine cantons are Valais, Bern, Graubünden, Uri, Glarus, Ticino, St. Gallen, Vaud, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Schwyz, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Fribourg, Lucerne and Zug. The countries with which Switzerland shares mountain ranges of the Alps are, France, Italy, Austria, the Alps are usually divided into two main parts, the Western Alps and Eastern Alps, whose division is along the Rhine from Lake Constance to the Splügen Pass. The western ranges occupy the greatest part of Switzerland while the more numerous eastern ranges are smaller and are all situated in the canton of Graubünden. The latter are part of the Central Eastern Alps, except the Ortler Alps which belong to the Southern Limestone Alps, the Pennine, Bernese and Bernina Range are the highest ranges of the country, they contain respectively 38,9 and 1 summit over 4000 metres. The lowest range is the Appenzell Alps culminating at 2,500 metres, Western Alps Eastern Alps The north side of the Swiss Alps is drained by the Rhône, Rhine and Inn while the south side is mainly drained by the Ticino. The rivers on the empty into the Mediterranean, North and Black Sea. The major triple watersheds in the Alps are located within the country, they are, Piz Lunghin, Witenwasserenstock, between the Witenwasserenstock and Piz Lunghin runs the European Watershed separating the basin of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. The European watershed lies in fact only partially on the main chain, Switzerland possesses 6% of Europes fresh water, and is sometimes referred to as the water tower of Europe. Since the highest dams are located in Alpine regions, many mountain lakes are artificial and are used as hydroelectric reservoirs. Some large artificial lakes can be found above 2,300 m, the melting of low-altitude glaciers can generate new lakes, such as the 0.25 km² large Triftsee which formed between 2002–2003. The following table gives the area above 2000 m and 3000 m
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Dolomites
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The Dolomites are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form a part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Valley in the east, the northern and southern borders are defined by the Puster Valley and the Sugana Valley. The Dolomites are nearly equally shared between the provinces of Belluno, South Tyrol and Trentino. There are also groups of similar geological structure that spread over the River Piave to the east – Dolomiti dOltrepiave. There is also another group called Piccole Dolomiti located between the provinces of Trentino, Verona and Vicenza. The Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park and many other parks are located in the Dolomites. In August 2009, the Dolomites were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, during the First World War, the front line between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces ran through the Dolomites and there was fierce mine warfare. There are now open-air war museums at Cinque Torri and Mount Lagazuoi, many people visit the Dolomites to climb the vie ferrate, protected paths created during the First World War. A number of long distance footpaths run across the Dolomites, which are called alte vie, such long trails, which are numbered from 1 to 8, require at least a week to be walked through and are served by numerous Rifugi. The first and, perhaps, most renowned is the Alta Via 1, radiocarbon dating has been used in the Alta Badia region to draw a connection between landslide movement and climate change. The layering of rocks and organic matter make for a trove of material that can used to perform these scientific investigations. Landslides are caused by processes, most notably the humidity of soil. The region is divided into the Western and Eastern Dolomites. Free climbing has been a tradition in the Dolomites since 1887, the Maratona dles Dolomites, an annual single-day road bicycle racing race covering seven mountain passes of the Dolomites, occurs in the first week of July. Other characteristic places are, Mount Pasubio and Strada delle 52 Gallerie Altopiano di Asiago and Calà del Sasso, with 4444 steps, nomination of the Dolomites for inscription on the World Natural Heritage List UNESCO. Walks and Via Ferrata in the Dolomites, franco Grisa Timelapse Italian official cartography, on-line version, www. pcn. minambiente. it
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Belluno
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Belluno listen, is a town and province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Located about 100 kilometres north of Venice, Belluno is the capital of the province of Belluno, with its roughly 36,000 inhabitants, it is the largest populated area of Valbelluna. It is one of the 15 municipalities of the Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park, together with other Alpine towns, Belluno engages in the Alpine Town of the Year Association for the implementation of the Alpine Convention to achieve sustainable development in the Alpine Arc. Belluno was named Alpine Town of the Year in 1999, the ancient city of Belluno rises above a cliff spur near the confluence of the Torrente Ardo and the Piave River. To the north is the imposing Schiara range of the Dolomites, with the famous Gusela del Vescovà, to the south, the foothills of the Alps separate Belluno from the Venetian plain. Further to the south is the Nevegal, in the Castionese area, the average annual temperature in Belluno is 9 °C, and the average annual precipitation is 137 cm. The name of the city is derived from Celtic belo-dunum which means splendid hill, the name was inspired by the favorable position within the valley. It is conjectured that the population of the area that became Belluno was largely Venetic with a strong Celtic minority, however, as the Romans expanded northward into the Alps, the Celtic either emigrated or were absorbed. The people of the area swore friendship to Rome in the 225 BC conflict with the Gauls, founded perhaps around 220-200 BC the initial influence of Rome was military and commercial. Strategically located, the town protected cities to the south, Belluno also became a supplier of iron and copper. Already within the Roman sphere of influence, the town was juridically and polictically incorporated into the Roman Republic by the second century BC. Sometime between the death of Julius Caesar and the ascent of Augustus, Bellunum became a Roman municipium, the town was ruled by quattorviri juri dicendo, by quattorviri aedilicia potestate, and by a Council of Elders. Under Augustus, it part of Regio X Venetia et Histria. Among its citizens were Caius Flavius Hostilius and his wife Domitia, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was ruled by the Lombards and the Carolingians, the famous Belluno Treasure in the British Museum dates from this period. From the late 9th century it was ruled by a count-bishop and it received a castle, later it was a possession of the Ghibelline family of the Ezzelino. After having longly contended the nearby territory with Treviso, in the end Belluno gave itself to the Republic of Venice, the city was thenceforth an important hub for the transport of lumber from the Cadore through the Piave river. After the fall of the Republic, Belluno was an Austrian possession, the cathedral was much damaged by the earthquake of 1873, which destroyed a considerable portion of the town, though the campanile stood firm. The Duomo, with the 18th-century bell tower designed by Filippo Juvarra and it includes five paintings by Andrea Schiavone, three by Sebastiano Ricci
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Trient Hut
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The Trient hut is a mountain hut in the Swiss alps, near the Swiss town of Martigny and the French town of Chamonix. The hut sits at an altitude of 3,170 m and it can be reached on foot by mountaineers and strong hikers with experience of glacier travel. From the hut you can walk to the Albert Premier and Argentière huts in France, the hut is run by the SAC, the Swiss Alpine Club, and has 130 beds. It is a base for mountaineers exploring the area, e. g. Aiguille du Tour etc
37.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
38.
Julian Alps
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They are named after Julius Caesar, who founded the municipium of Cividale del Friuli at the foot of the mountains. A large part of the Julian Alps is included in Triglav National Park, the second highest peak of the range, the 2,775 m high Jôf di Montasio, lies in Italy. The Julian Alps cover an estimated 4,400 km2 and they are located between the Sava Valley and Canale Valley. They are divided into the Eastern and Western Julian Alps, there are many peaks in the Eastern Julian Alps over 2,000 m high, and they are mainly parts of ridges. The most prominent peaks are visible by their height and size, there are high plains on the eastern border like Pokljuka, Mežakla and Jelovica. Only the Kanin group lies in part in Slovenia, the main peaks by height are, Jôf di Montasio Jof Fuart High Mount Kanin Important passes of the Julian Alps are, The Vršič Pass,1,611 m, links the Sava and Soča valleys. It is the highest mountain pass in Slovenia
39.
Slovenia
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Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a nation state in southern Central Europe, located at the crossroads of main European cultural and trade routes. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and it covers 20,273 square kilometers and has a population of 2.06 million. It is a republic and a member of the United Nations, European Union. The capital and largest city is Ljubljana, additionally, the Dinaric Alps and the Pannonian Plain meet on the territory of Slovenia. The country, marked by a significant biological diversity, is one of the most water-rich in Europe, with a river network, a rich aquifer system. Over half of the territory is covered by forest, the human settlement of Slovenia is dispersed and uneven. Slovenia has historically been the crossroads of South Slavic, Germanic, Romance, although the population is not homogeneous, the majority is Slovene. South Slavic language Slovene is the language throughout the country. Slovenia is a largely secularized country, but its culture and identity have been influenced by Catholicism as well as Lutheranism. The economy of Slovenia is small, open, and export-oriented and has strongly influenced by international conditions. It has been hurt by the Eurozone crisis, started in the late 2000s. The main economic field is services, followed by industry and construction, Historically, the current territory of Slovenia was part of many different state formations, including the Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, followed by the Habsburg Monarchy. In October 1918, the Slovenes exercised self-determination for the first time by co-founding the State of Slovenes, Croats, in December 1918, they merged with the Kingdom of Serbia into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. During World War II, Slovenia was occupied and annexed by Germany, Italy, and Hungary, with a tiny area transferred to the Independent State of Croatia, in June 1991, after the introduction of multi-party representative democracy, Slovenia split from Yugoslavia and became an independent country. Present-day Slovenia has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and there is evidence of habitation from around 250,000 years ago. A pierced cave bear bone, dating from 43100 ±700 BP, in the 1920s and 1930s, artifacts belonging to the Cro-Magnon such as pierced bones, bone points, and needle were found by archaeologist Srečko Brodar in Potok Cave. It shows that wooden wheels appeared almost simultaneously in Mesopotamia and Europe, in the transition period between the Bronze age to the Iron age, the Urnfield culture flourished. Archaeological remains dating from the Hallstatt period have been found, particularly in southeastern Slovenia, among them a number of situlas in Novo Mesto, in the Iron Age, present-day Slovenia was inhabited by Illyrian and Celtic tribes until the 1st century BC
40.
Tatra Mountains
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The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra, are a mountain range that form a natural border between Slovakia and Poland. They are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains, the Tatras should be distinguished from the Low Tatras which are located south of the Tatra Mountains in Slovakia. The Tatra Mountains occupy an area of 785 square kilometres, of which about 610 square kilometres lie within Slovakia, the highest peak, called Gerlach, at 2,655 m is located north of Poprad. The highest point in Poland, Rysy, at 2,499 m is located south of Zakopane. The Tatras length, measured from the foothills of the Kobyli Wierch to the southwestern foot of Ostry Wierch Kwaczański, in a straight line is 57 km. The range is only 19 km wide, the Tatras main ridge leads from Huciańska Pass in the west to Zdziarska Pass to the east. In 1992 the Polish and Slovak parks were designated a transboundary biosphere reserve by UNESCO in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves under its Man. It is the highest mountain range within Carpathians, by the end of the First Polish Republic and the Polish border between the Kingdom of Hungary in the Tatras was not strictly defined. The Tatras became an unoccupied borderland, two years later, the First Partition of Poland allocated the lands to Austria. In 1824, Zakopane good and Fish Creek Valley with Morskie Oko purchased from the authorities of the Austrian Hungarian Emanuel Homolacs. In 1867 formed the Austria-Hungary and the Tatra Mountains have become imaginary border between the two states of the monarchy, but the border still has not been exactly determined. In 1889, Count Władysław Zamoyski purchased at auction a good Zakopane, due to numerous disputes over lands belonging in the late nineteenth century, attempts were made to the delimitation of the border. They did not bring effect in 1897, and the case went to a court that on September 13,1902 determined the exact course of the Austria-Hungary border in the disputed area. The Tatras lie in the zone of Central Europe. They are an important barrier to the movements of air masses and their mountainous topography causes one of the most diverse climates in that region. Winds The average wind speed on the summits is 6 m/s. southerly winds on the northern side westerly winds at the base of Tatra foehn winds most often occur between October and May and they are warm and dry and can cause extensive damage. On 19 November 2004, large parts of the forests in the southern Slovak part of the High Tatras were damaged by a wind storm. Three million cubic metres of trees were uprooted, two died and several villages were totally cut off
41.
Tronador
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Tronador is an extinct stratovolcano in the southern Andes, located along the border between Argentina and Chile, near the Argentine city of Bariloche. The mountain was named Tronador by locals in reference to the sound of falling seracs, with an altitude of 3,470 m, Tronador stands more than 1000 m above nearby mountains in the Andean massif, making it a popular mountaineering destination. Tronador is located in the Wet Andes, a zone of high precipitations in form of snow and rain. The humid temperate climate of the southern Andes allows several glaciers to develop due to high accumulation rates, most of the precipitation is produced by western frontal systems from the Pacific. Located in the middle of the Andean massif at a latitude of 41° S Tronador is part of a landscape of fjords, glacial lakes. The forming of the landscape took place during the Quaternary glaciations, since then, glaciations and other erosive processes shaped the mountain freely without new output of lava or tephra. As in the case of nearby Lanín volcano Tronador is built up mostly of basalts, Tronador is notable for the many glaciers covering parts of its flanks. Up to eight glaciers have been inventoried, Alerce, Ventisquero Negro, Casa Pangue, Castaño Overa, Río Blanco, Frías, Peulla, over the last decades the glaciers on Tronador, like the majority of southern Andean glaciers, have been retreating. The Casa Pangue glacier on the side of Tronador experienced a thinning between 1961 and 1998, with an increased rate of retreat between 1981-1998 at 52 m a−1. The retreat and thinning is attributed to a decrease in precipitations, Alerce Glacier, on the Argentinian side, can be visited from Refugio Otto Meiling, a mountain hut that is sandwiched between it and Castaño Overo Glacier. Castaño Overa, also on the Argentinian side, is smaller, guided trekking tours allow visitors to cross Castaño Overa or walk to Tronadors peak. Ventisquero Negro is a rather unusual glacier at the base of Tronador in Nahuel Huapi National Park. This glaciers unusual dark brown colour comes from dirt and sediment picked up in the accumulation zone. Brown icebergs calve from the glacier and then float in a lake until eventually melting. According to the Aoneker map, these are the peaks on Tronador, Anon or Internacional, Argentino, Chileno. Ridges, Filo Sur, Filo Blanco, Filo La Vieja, Tronador was first climbed by Hermann Claussen solo on 29 January 1934, after several attempts. A mountain hut, Refugio Otto Meiling, is the destination of day hikes, named after a mountaineer who made dozens of ascents. The hut is located about 1200m vertically above Pampa Linda, at the mountains base, most summers the International or Anon peak, is climbable
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Bariloche
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San Carlos de Bariloche, usually known as Bariloche, is a city in the province of Río Negro, Argentina, situated in the foothills of the Andes on the southern shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake. It is located within the Nahuel Huapi National Park, after development of extensive public works and Alpine-styled architecture, the city emerged in the 1930s and 1940s as a major tourism centre with skiing, trekking and mountaineering facilities. In addition, it has restaurants, cafés, and chocolate shops. The city has a permanent population of 108,205 according to the 2010 census, the name Bariloche comes from the Mapudungun word Vuriloche meaning people from behind the mountain. The Poya people used the Vuriloche pass to cross the Andes, Nahuel Huapi lake was known to Spaniards since the times of the Conquest of Chile. Francisco de Villagra crossed the Andes through Mamuil Malal Pass and headed south until reaching Limay River in the vicinity of Nahuel Huapi Lake, another early Spaniard to visit the zone of Nahuel Huapi Lake was the Jesuit priest Diego de Rosales. A new mission at the shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake was established in 1703, backed financially from Potosí, historians disagree if the mission belonged to the jurisdiction of Valdivia or Chiloé. According to historic documents, the Poya of Nahuelhuapi requested the mission to be reestablished, following the 1712 Huilliche rebellion in Chiloé Archipelago some insurgents sought refuge with Father Manuel del Hoyo in the mission. The mission was destroyed in 1717 by the Poya following their disagreement with the superior of the mission and he had refused to give them a cow. Soon thereafter authorities learned that four or five people travelling to Concepción had been killed by the Poya, the colonists assembled a punitive expedition in Calbuco and Chiloé. Composed of both Spaniards and indios reyunos, the expedition did not find any Poya and it thought the area was a natural expansion of the Viedma colony, and the Andes were the natural frontier to Chile. In the 1881 border treaty between Chile and Argentina, the Nahuel Huapi area people decided to be recognized as a province of Argentina, the modern settlement of Bariloche developed from a shop established by Carlos Wiederhold. The German immigrant had first settled in the area of Lake Llanquihue in Chile, Wiederhold crossed the Andes and established a little shop called La Alemana. A small settlement developed around the shop, and its site is the city center. By 1895 the settlement was made up of German-speaking immigrants, Austrians, Germans, and Slovenians, as well as Italians from the city of Belluno. A local legend says that the name came from a letter addressed to Wiederhold as San Carlos instead of Don Carlos. Most of the commerce in Bariloche related to goods imported and exported at the seaport of Puerto Montt in Chile. In 1896 Perito Moreno wrote that it took three days to reach Puerto Montt from Bariloche, but traveling to Viedma on the Atlantic coast of Argentina took one month or more
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