A grass mountain (german: Grasberg) in

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

is a mountain covered with low

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic character ...

, typically in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

and often steep-sided. The nature of such cover, which often grows particularly well on

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

, will reflect local conditions.

Distribution

The following mountain ranges of the

Eastern Alps Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley up to the Splügen Pass at the Alpine divide and down the Liro River to Lake Como in the ...

in Europe are often referred to as grass mountains (''Grasberge''): * the

Allgäu Alps The Allgäu Alps (german: Allgäuer Alpen) are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps, located in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany and Tyrol and Vorarlberg in Austria. The range lies directly east of Lake Constance. Character ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, * the

Kitzbühel Alps The Kitzbühel Alps (german: Kitzbüheler Alpen or ''Kitzbühler Alpen'') are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps surrounding the town of Kitzbühel in Tyrol, Austria. Geologically they are part of the western slate zone (greywacke zone) ...

in the Austrian states of

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

and Tyrol, and * the Dienten Mountains in Salzburg. Other areas where grass mountains occur include: the gorges of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

,Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal, Vol 32, Issues 171-174, 1980, p. 206.

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, Poland's

Tatra Mountains The Tatra Mountains (), Tatras, or Tatra (''Tatry'' either in Slovak language, Slovak () or in Polish language, Polish () - ''plurale tantum''), are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Slovak ...

, and

Lofoten Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolvær ...

Individual examples

Geißstein The Geißstein, sometimes also called the Gaisstein, is a mountain in the Kitzbühel Alps with a height of that straddles the border between the federal Austrian states of Tyrol and Salzburg The Geißstein lies about seven kilometres southeast ...

(2,366 m), Kitzbühel Alps. * Höfats (2,259 m), Allgäu Alps * Schneck (2,268 m), Allgäu Alps *

Latschur Latschur, at , is the highest mountain of the Latschur Group in the Gailtal Alps range, in the Austrian state of Carinthia. Geography The Latschur group stretches south and east of the Drava valley, from Weissensee lake to the river bend at S ...

(2,236 m), Gailtal Alps

Ascent techniques

Negotiating the steep grass-covered sides of grass mountains requires a special type of climbing known as

grass climbing Grass climbing (german: Grasklettern) is a type of climbing in which, unlike rock climbing, the climber has to scale very steep grass mountainsides, through which the underlying rock protrudes in places. Description This type of climbing is us ...

(''Grasklettern'').Wilfrid Noyce. ''The Alps''. Thames and Hudson, 1961, p. 221.

References

{{Reflist Biogeomorphology Mountain geomorphology