Things to do and places to see. School is almost over, so it is time for you and the kids to hit the road! Try on some of these mountains for size. Although some of them are not so kid friendly!
1. One of the world’s tallest peaks, the Matterhorn, is a part of which European Mountain range? Alps; Caucasus; Carpathians; Sudetes.
2. The volcano, Mount Vesuvius, in Italy was responsible for the fall of which Ancient Roman city? Carthage; Pompeii; Sybaris; Luni.
3. In which national park can Mount McKinley, one of the United States highest peaks, be found? Lake Clark National Park and Preserve; Glacier Bay National Park; Denali National Park; Kenai Fjords National Park.
4. Mount Rushmore has the faces of four of our American Presidents engraved into it. What type of stone are they made of? Granite; Basalt; Limestone; Chalk.
5. True or False: The sixth highest mountain in the world, Cho Oyu, is also considered to be the safest to climb among the over 8 kilometers peaks of the world?
6. Where is the tallest active volcano in the world? Chile; Russia; Indonesia; Mexico.
7. In which mountain range is K2? Khumbu Himal; Karakoram; Hindu Kush;Urals.
8. All 8,000 meter peaks lie in the “death zone’,” an altitude above 23,000 feet where life becomes nearly impossible. The hearty Sherpa people of Nepal are much better suited to the thin air, having lived their lives in the high valleys of Nepal. In 1999, who established a record for time spent on top of Mt. Everest, as high in the “death zone” as you can get? Babu Chiri Sherpa; Ang Tsering Sherpa; Tenzing Norgay Sherpa; Glayzen Norbu.
ANSWERS
1. Alps. Part of the Pennine Alps, the Matterhorn, is one of the continent’s deadliest mountains, rising to a point 4,478 meters above ground. Although the Matterhorn takes on spontaneous weather shifts, most people who meet their fate do so by falling. The Matterhorn is the fifth-highest Alpine peak. 2. Pompeii. Along with the city of Herculaneum, Pompeii was left destroyed after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the year 79 AD. The city, built seven centuries earlier, stands now as an archaeological site protected by UNESCO. 3. Denali National Park. The North American contribution to the Seven Summits, the list of tallest peaks of the world, which includes Everest and Kilimanjaro, Mount McKinley reaches the skies at a total of 6,196 meters. Denali translates to “The High One.” 4. Granite. Blasted and carved into a South Dakota cliff side, Mount Rushmore looks upon its own National Park in Pennington County. Created by Gutzon Borglum (who also created the Stone Mountain etching in Georgia) and his son, coincidentally named Lincoln, upon his death, Mount Rushmore is the end result of almost 15 years of stonework. The mountain is made of granite, a strong, igneous rock common in the area. 5. False. Although Cho Oyu stands at 8,201 meters tall, it has a death/ascent rate of only 2.1 percent (as of January 2004). Over 1,200 people have climbed this peak, which is considered friendly to climbers. 6. Chile. Ojos del Salado, this volcano in the famous “Ring of Fire” is the world’s tallest active volcano, straddling the border between Argentina and Chile. Its last eruption was approximately 1,300 years ago, so as there to being some discussion as to whether it’s active or not. If not Ojos del Salado, then Llullaillaco would be the next candidate for the tallest active volcano in the world, and Guallatiri after that. All of these are in the Chilean Andes. 7. Karakoram. K2 is in the Karakoram mountain range, part of the great range of the Himalayas. K2 gets its K prefix from Karakoram, and the 2 from being the second mountain to be identified in that range when it was surveyed in 1856. 8. In May 1999, Babu Chiri, a legend among Sherpas, set the record for time on top of Mt. Everest with an astounding 21.5 hours spent on the summit without bottled oxygen. He even pitched a tent and spent the night! Sadly, he slipped while taking pictures near camp II (6,500 meters) and fell to his death.