![Schneeberg2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Schneeberg2.jpg)
Two-thousanders are
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
s that have a height of at least 2,000
metres above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
, but less than 3,000 metres. The term is used in Alpine circles, especially in Europe (e.g. German: ''Zweitausender'').
The two photographs show two typical two-thousanders in the Alps that illustrate different types of mountain. The Säuling (top) is a prominent, individual peak, whereas the Schneeberg (bottom) is an elongated limestone massif.
In ranges like 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 ...
, the
Gesäuse or the Styrian-Lower Austrian
Limestone Alps
The Limestone Alps (german: Kalkalpen) are a mountain ranges system of the Alps in Central Europe.
They are of economic importance, including as a watershed source of drinking water. They have many accessible dripstone and ice caves.
Geography
...
the
mountain tour descriptions for
mountaineer
Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...
s or
hiker
Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...
s commonly include the two-thousanders, especially in areas where only a few summits exceed this level. Examples from these regions 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 ...
are:
* the striking
Nebelhorn
The Nebelhorn is a mountain in the Allgäu Alps in Germany, near the village of Oberstdorf. It lends its name to the Nebelhorn Trophy figure skating competition and the Nebelhorn Classics a freeride race event. Also the Nine Knights freeski co ...
(2,224 m) near Oberstdorf or the
Säuling
Säuling or Saulingspitze is a twin-peak mountain in the German Allgäu, though part of the mountain is in Austria. The two summits have heights of and . It is located near the town of Füssen and the castle Neuschwanstein
Neuschwanstein C ...
(2,047 m) near Neuschwanstein,
* the
Admonter Reichenstein (2,251 m),
Eisenerzer Reichenstein
The Eisenerzer Reichenstein is a mountain in the Ennstal Alps in the Austrian federal state of Styria. It lies south of the Erzberg near Eisenerz.
Eisenerzer Reichenstein von Eisenerz.jpg, Eisenerzer Reichenstein from Eisenerz
Eisenerz (6). ...
(2,165 m),
Großer Pyhrgas
The Große Pyhrgas is a mountain in the Ennstal Alps on the border between Upper Austria and Styria.
At a height of it is the highest summit and western buttress of the Haller Mauern range.
Alpine hut
A mountain hut is a building located hig ...
(2,244 m) or
Hochtor
Hochtor, at , is the highest mountain in the Ennstaler Alps, part of the Northern Limestone Alps, in Styria, Austria.
The mountain is protected as part of Gesäuse National Park, the third largest in Austria.
Gallery
image:Hochtor.JPG, Hochto ...
(2,369 m),
* the
Hochschwab
The Hochschwab in the Upper Styria
Upper Styria (german: Obersteiermark), in the Austrian usage of the term, refers exclusively to the northwestern, generally mountainous and well-wooded half of the federal state of Styria. The southwestern half ...
(2,277 m) and
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
's local mountains, the
Schneeberg (2,076 m) and the
Rax (2,007 m).
The last-mentioned two are also the easternmost two-thousanders in the Alps, before their foothills descend to the
Carpathians
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The ...
and into the
Pannonian Plain
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only the ...
. Analogous examples may also be found in the
Western Alps
The Western Alps are the western part of the Alpine Range including the southeastern part of France (e.g. Savoie), the whole of Monaco, the northwestern part of Italy (i.e. Piedmont and the Aosta Valley) and the southwestern part of Switzerland ( ...
, but are rarer as the peaks are generally higher. In the
Carpathians
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The ...
, two-thousanders dominate large regions of highland, for example in
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
(including mountains in the
High Tatra
The High Tatras or High Tatra Mountains ( Slovak: Vysoké Tatry; pl, Tatry Wysokie; rue, Высокі Татри,'' Vysoki Tatry''; hu, Magas-Tátra; german: Hohe Tatra; french: Hautes Tatras), are a mountain range along the border of norther ...
,
Beskids
The Beskids or Beskid Mountains ( pl, Beskidy, cs, Beskydy, sk, Beskydy, rue, Бескиды (''Beskydŷ''), ua, Бескиди (''Beskydy'')) are a series of mountain ranges in the Carpathians, stretching from the Czech Republic in the west a ...
and
Low Tatra
The Low Tatras or Low Tatra ( sk, Nízke Tatry; hu, Alacsony-Tátra) is a mountain range of the Inner Western Carpathians in central Slovakia.
It is located south of the Tatras proper, from which it is separated by the valleys of the Váh ...
).
There are no mountains in the
UK that reach 2,000 metres. However the term is sometimes used there to refer to mountains over 2,000 ''feet'' in height.
[Nuttall, John and Nuttall, Anne (2009). ''The Mountains of England and Wales: Vol 1 Wales'', 3rd ed., Cicerone, p. 98. .]
See also
*
Three-thousander
Three-thousanders are mountains with a height of between , but less than above sea level. Similar terms are commonly used for mountains of other height brackets e. g. four-thousanders or eight-thousanders. In Britain, the term may refer to ...
s
*
Four-thousander
A four-thousander is a mountain summit that is at least 4,000 metres above sea level. Because the highest peaks in Europe fall into this category, the summits of four-thousanders are popular in Europe with climbers and mountaineers as climbing goa ...
s
*
Eight-thousander
The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) recognises eight-thousanders as the 14 mountains that are more than in height above sea level, and are considered to be sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no ...
s
References
{{Reflist
Mountains by height
Oronyms