Life in the mountains

Mountain terrain (the land and its features) is usually rugged, rough, with steep slopes. So ordinary farming is possible only in some valleys (low land between hills or mountains, often with a river or stream running through).

On the slopes, people farm by cutting steps into the hillside, like a staircase of small flat fields. This is called terrace farming. Water can then rest on each step instead of rushing downhill and carrying the soil away. In many mountain regions of the world, herding (keeping animals) is preferred over farming.

Tourism is often an important source of income in the mountains. The crisp air and beautiful views attract many visitors. Some come for sports such as skiing, hiking, mountaineering and paragliding. And for many centuries people have climbed to holy places on pilgrimages, as many still do to Kedarnath or Vaishno Devi.

But too many visitors can put the fragile mountain environment under pressure, and finding the right balance is often hard. The same tourism that pays wages can wear out the place people came to see.

The book pictures seven challenges of mountain life: uncontrolled tourism, landslides, heavy snowfall, cloudbursts, cold weather, avalanches and flash floods.

• An avalanche is a sudden fall of snow, ice or rocks down a mountainside, often when the snow starts melting.
• A landslide is a sudden collapse of earth or rock from a mountainside.
• A cloudburst is a sudden, violent rainstorm, and a flash flood is a sudden local flood, often caused by one.

Two climbers. Bachendri Pal started climbing young and led many women's expeditions. In 1984 she became the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest, and was given the Padma Shri that year (and the Padma Bhushan in 2019). Arunima Sinha lost a leg in an accident when she was 22. With Bachendri Pal's encouragement and training, she climbed Everest in 2013, and then the highest peak of every continent, including Mount Vinson in Antarctica! She received the Padma Shri in 2015.

Many traditional communities treat mountains as sacred. Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world at 8,848 m, has many names: Tibetans call it 'Chomolungma', 'Mother Goddess of the World', and Nepalis call it 'Sagarmatha', 'Goddess of the Sky'. Mount Kailash in Tibet is sacred to followers of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Bon (an ancient Tibetan religion).