August 2020 photo competition: Mountains

Question

The theme for the August photo competition is "Mountains" (proposed by Mark Mayo). Essentially, this covers any photo of a feature of land that meets the definition of a mountain: a natural elevation of the earth's surface rising more or less abruptly to a summit, and attaining an altitude greater than that of a hill, usually greater than 2000 feet (610 meters).

You may make your submission as an answer to this post. The standard rules for photo contests apply:

• Only one photo per answer.
• You can make up to three posts (attempts).
• Do not delete posts if you don't get votes: you posted it, stand by it. (You have two more attempts if your first one doesn't work out.)
• All submissions should have a line with when and where the photo was taken.
• The photo has to be taken by the person who posted it, or by a travel partner (needs to be named).
• Keep it nice, non-offensive, and non-NSFW.
• If you disagree with a photo, please consider leaving a comment on it or bringing it up in chat. For the purposes of judging, only upvotes will be considered; downvotes will not affect the score of the photo.
• The photo may have been taken any time.
• The photo competition will begin August 1, 2020, 0:00 UTC, and continue until the end of the month (again in UTC). If there is no tie for the highest number of upvotes at the end of the month, the winner will be announced then; if there is, the voting period may extend beyond the month.

If you'd like to suggest a theme for a future photo competition, please add it to the list of possible photo competition topics. Also, you can join us in chat to help us make the decision on which topic to choose.

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Results

Dirty-flow wins the bragging rights for having the highest-voted photo, of Aescher in Switzerland. Kuba wins the virtual prize, of their photo of the Tehran skyline with the mountains visible in the background.

Answer 1

Mountains over Tehran, Iran

April 2016

Answer 2

Aescher - mountain inn and restaurant with a stunning view, located in Switzerland.

photo taken today - Aug 5 2020

Answer 3

Mount Ngauruhoe in winter, seen from the slopes of Mount Ruapehu.

I took this in 2013 while on a skiing weekend on New Zealand's largest volcano. Both Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe are active volcanoes, which can be exciting when the lahar alarms go off.

The strangest thing about skiing here is the scenery. I learned to ski in the French Alps where mountains stretch as far as the eye can see. These two mountains are two isolated snow-covered peaks set in the midst of flat, lush green countryside!

Answer 4

Mountains at Denali National Park in Alaska.

Taken in June 2018, on my smartphone. (I hadn't gotten into film yet at the time.)

Answer 5

One of my favourite photos, taken at Yosemite National Park - with Half Dome and El Capitan visible.

Answer 6

Do shadows of mountains count?

This is the view from Volcán Barú in Panama, with the shadow of the mountain reaching the Pacific Ocean at dawn. It was a beautiful morning, and looking to the other side you could see the Atlantic Ocean (but without such an impressive shadow of course).

May 2016

Answer 7

Otay Mountain (near San Diego in the USA) on the left, Cerro Colorado (in Tijuana, Mexico) on the right. The border runs across the lower part of Otay Mountain.

Photo taken from Cañón del Sainz in Tijuana, Mexico, on January 3, 2019.

Answer 8

This is Machapuchare (माछापुच्छ्रे) in the Nepali Himalaya. The mountain, which was named for its fishtail shape, is considered sacred and has never been fully climbed. I took this photo on March 12 of this year, just before Nepal closed its borders to foreigners to prevent the spread of covid-19. I don't know when we'll be able to travel again, but I hope to be able to visit somewhere almost as striking!

Answer 9

This is the observatory on Pilatus, just outside of Luzern, Switzerland. This is a very easy mountain summit to reach, as you can take a gondola to the top (and buy an expensive Swiss watch while you're up there if you're so inclined), but still, at over 2100 meters high, this is not a mountain to be underestimated!

I took this photo on August 23, 2018.

Answer 10

This is Chacaltaya, at an altitude of over 5000 meters in the Bolivian Andes, a short drive from the capital city of La Paz. Although it's only 16° South of the Equator, the high altitude means a ski resort was built on this mountain in the 1930s. Skiing continued into the early 21st century, but, because of climate change, the glacier is, as you can see, now gone and the area is now suitable only for hiking — a pretty hike, even if the high altitude makes it quite tiring.

I took this photo on February 5, 2019.

Answer 11

This is taken at dawn in the Nelson Lakes National Park, New Zealand, from the Robert Ridge route, on the way back to St-Arnaud from the Angelus Hut (in February 2019).

The Robert Ridge route is a day hike to reach Angelus hut and its beautiful surroundings. It is located in the Nelson Lakes National Park, on the South island of New Zealand.

Answer 12

Walking up the Hooker Valley, with Mt Cook ahead, near Lake Pukaki, South Island of New Zealand.

Answer 13

This photo resembling the Dr.Mann's planet from Interstellar was taken at Dzongri in Sikkim, India. This is a short detour(1 or 2 hours) from the Goecha La pass trek on day 2.

Altitude: 13600 ft

Taken: 23rd April 2015

Answer 14

Sunrise in the Aosta Valley, July 7th 2012 at 4:57 in the morning. It's taken on the mountain ridge between Val d'Ayas and Val di Gressoney, on the Testa Grigia (we slept that night at Bivacco Lateltin). This Google Maps 3D view (for me, it only works in Chrome) shows where we stood and which mountain we were looking upon, the Pyramide Vincent, part of the Monte Rosa massif.

Answer 15

View of the mountains from Lindau. Taken on 25.07.2020.

Answer 16

Mount Teide, Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain), taken by me in January 2012.

The highest mountain in all of Spain – even the Pyrenees – is free from snow at this moment. Only the very top of the mountain is shown, with the land falling away sharply to the tree line which is above the cloud layer, and the north coast of Tenerife is unseen far below.

On the right horizon is La Palma island, a half moon is above the peak, and cable car pylons on its left.

Answer 17

Taken on the M41 highway in Tajikistan. I love this view as the left of the (mine-laden) river is Tajikistan, and the right side is Afghanistan. Spent two days travelling along this very militarised road from Dushanbe to Khorog, before needing to evac back to Dushanbe for medicine.

Answer 18

Northern Peru, mountains near Huaraz, close to Laguna Willcacocha.

March 2019

Answer 19

Cerro San Isidro, between Tijuana and Tecate, Mexico.

Photo taken on May 27, 2020.

The foreground in this photo (and in the other Tijuana photo I posted) means more to me than the mountains. These houses can look so awful from a distance, but the people who live in them are so proud they have their own place, a home that they've built and provided for their family. They sweep and clean out their yards and keep them far tidier than I ever bother with my own place, and inside each house is so clean and tidy and you forget what the "shack" might look like from the outside.

Answer 20

Grossglockner - the highest mountain in Austria, and the Pasterze Glacier - the longest glacier in Austria.

Photo taken on Jun 10 2018 from the Grossglockner High Alpine Road.

Answer 21

Mauao, or "The Mount" or Mount Maunganui (which is really the name of the town at the base), in Tauranga, New Zealand.

Photo taken on April 4, 2019, while we were back in NZ for a visit.

Answer 22

Aerial view of a mountain range somewhere over Romania. Photo taken in December of 2019 on a flight from Brussels to Doha:

Answer 23

Far in the distance one can see the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. Taken on 01.02.2019 from the Menara Gardens.

Answer 24

Stelvio Alpine Pass in Italy. It has snowed 2 days ago and the pass was closed until today.

photo taken today - Aug 5 2020

Answer 25

Workers repairing the path to the top of Doi Pui Ko, Thailand. Picture taken in November of 2018.

Answer 26

Mount Ruapehu, New Zealand. Photo taken on August 7, 2016.

We had taken a road trip to Wellington (from our then-home in Tauranga) to visit the Embassy of Mexico to get our residency visas, and on the drive home a couple of days later there had been a decent snow dumping on the Desert Road (the main highway through the central North Island) and so we were diverted around the back of the mountains and greeted with some stunning views! My kids first (and only) experience in snow, and only my second. We threw some snowballs on the side of the road 😁

Also got great photos of Mt Doom (I mean, Mount Ngāuruhoe) and Mount Tongariro. The mountains are active volcanoes, with eruptions as recently as 2012.

Thanks to @gparyani for special permission to post an additional entry

Answer 27

Traveling from Olot to Estany de Banyoles, both north of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain, looking north I saw these mountains. I was not sure at the time and can not find the name (or exact location) now. (Happy to hear which mountain it is.)

Photo taken 21-March-2013, by me.