All posts tagged: Mountains

Terrain in Spain: gravel biking in the mountains of Andalucía | Andalucia holidays

Terrain in Spain: gravel biking in the mountains of Andalucía | Andalucia holidays

Published by Sam Flores

When you get into a van with an Englishman, five Irishmen and a Scotsman, you know someone is going to end up looking silly. For the next few days, my aim is for it not to be me. The van is taking us from busy Málaga to remote Andalucía for four days of gravel biking, something I have never done and for which I am not sure I am cut out. Most of my cycling experience is limited to a flat five-mile commute through London, or long-distance road touring holidays. I love sailing across smooth asphalt, and have always been slightly snobby about the rough stuff. Why bump along when you can glide? My trepidation levels rise further when it becomes clear my companions are all veteran gravel and mountain bikers who have been training for this tour. They are mostly medical professionals – doctors, dentists and physiotherapists – which will be good news if something goes wrong, but also means they are all fitter than I am. I can see I have bitten off …

Extreme heats leaves California mountains in a snow drought

Extreme heats leaves California mountains in a snow drought

Published by Sam Flores

California’s snowpack is supposed to reach its peak April 1, but when state surveyors went out Wednesday for their final snow survey of the year near Lake Tahoe, they found only some sparse patches of snow on the bare grass. “We’re calling today’s measurement zero,” said Andy Reising, manager of snow surveys for the California Department of Water Resources. “It came off really fast.” Snow across California’s Sierra Nevada is at just 18% of average — the second smallest since 1950. A month of record-shattering heat thawed the snow and sent runoff coursing into streams and rivers, leaving only minimal water in the mountains as the state heads into dry season. Scientists say this is exactly what climate change looks like, and it’s compounding the water problems of California and other Western states. The early melt reflects a long-term pattern that is becoming more pronounced as temperatures rise. “This particular year is as clear an indication of the influence of climate change as anything we’ve seen,” said Peter Gleick, a leading water scientist and co-founder …

Finding Ground in the High Mountains

Finding Ground in the High Mountains

Published by Sam Flores

From the window of my classroom in the Pir Panjal range, the view is often distracting. Depending on the month, the slopes outside are either blanketed in a blinding, pristine white or bursting with the chaotic green of the monsoon. Visitors who trek through this part of Jammu and Kashmir often pause to catch their breath, look up at the serrated ridgelines cutting the sky and exhale some variation of the same sentiment: “God is surely here.” It is a natural reaction. The scale of the Himalayas is so crushing to the human ego that it feels intuitive to reach for the supernatural to explain it. The sheer verticality of the landscape suggests a cathedral; the silence of the cedar forests suggests prayer. But living here, teaching here and navigating these paths every day has cured me of the need for mysticism. Ironically, dwelling in one of the most “spiritual” landscapes on Earth has cemented my commitment to naturalism. When you live at this altitude, the mountains stop being symbols of the divine and start …

Farmers left with ‘potato mountains’ as fat jabs hit demand

Farmers left with ‘potato mountains’ as fat jabs hit demand

Published by Sam Flores

Farmers and fish‑and‑chip shops across the UK report falling demand for potatoes, partly blaming weight‑loss jabs like Ozempic and Mounjaro. Grower Andy Goodacre says he may have to dump 600 tonnes after major buyers cut orders. Chip shops also note customers choosing smaller portions and sharing chips. Producers warn that if current demand stays low, future potato planting may also decline. Source link

Overdrawn, underpaid and over it: how four people conquered their debt mountains | Money

Overdrawn, underpaid and over it: how four people conquered their debt mountains | Money

Published by Sam Flores

Abbie Marton Bell, a National Debtline adviser, is often the first person her clients will speak to about their debt, after years of carrying the weight of their financial worries alone. Most of the time, they haven’t even told their partner or family, she says, and “you can literally hear the relief in their voice”. Debt carries a lot of shame, but it’s more common than people might think. In the UK, 84% of adults had some form of credit or loan in the year leading up to May 2024. The average household holds about £2,700 in credit card debt, and it’s only getting worse. Borrowing has been rising at its fastest rate for almost two years, with those hit hardest by the cost of living crisis increasingly using credit to pay for essentials. When the National Debtline reopened after Christmas last year, they had 1,400 calls for help – their busiest day on record. “There just isn’t enough money to go around,” says Bell. “About 43% of the people who give us details about …

Law enforcement says eight killed by avalanche in California mountains | Weather News

Law enforcement says eight killed by avalanche in California mountains | Weather News

Published by Sam Flores

One person remains missing after a heavy avalanche engulfed a group of skiers in the Sierra Nevada mountains of the US. Listen to this article | 2 mins info Published On 18 Feb 202618 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Local authorities say that at least eight people have been found dead following an avalanche in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, the deadliest incident of its kind in more than 40 years. Nevada County Sheriff Shannon Moon said on Wednesday that rescue crews have been hindered by difficult conditions during a powerful winter storm. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list One person remains missing. Six of the 15 skiers buried by the avalanche were found alive. “We are still looking for one of the members at this time,” Moon confirmed to reporters, adding that family members have been informed that the search has moved from rescue to recovery. The deadly incident comes as California experiences a winter storm that has deluged the mountains near the popular winter destination of …

Forget the Algarve – Portugal’s best winter escape is in the mountains | Portugal holidays

Forget the Algarve – Portugal’s best winter escape is in the mountains | Portugal holidays

Published by Sam Flores

Navigating the high slopes of Portugal’s Serra da Estrela in midwinter requires serious negotiation with the elements, but my guide, João Pedro Sousa, makes it look simple. Angling his lean frame into the wind, he digs his plastic snow-shoes into a steep drift and pauses, scanning the white ridgeline. He’s looking for mariolas – small cairns of rocks, fused by ice, that will indicate our onward trail. “The landscape changes every day so you have to learn how to read it afresh,” he says, setting off again. “At this time of year, nature is a true artist.” Manteigas locator map I plod inelegantly in his wake, still clumsy in the frames clipped to my boots to keep me from sinking into the powder. At a quartzite outcrop rippled with rose and amber, we pause and drink in the view. Below us, cupped in the glacial scar of the Zêzere valley, is the terracotta-roofed town of Manteigas – founded in the 12th century and today the modest hub for tourism in the region. Ahead, on the …

Deep in China’s Mountains, a Nuclear Revival Takes Shape

Deep in China’s Mountains, a Nuclear Revival Takes Shape

Published by Sam Flores

In the lush, misty valleys of southwest China, satellite imagery reveals the country’s accelerating nuclear buildup, a force designed for a new age of superpower rivalry. One such valley is known as Zitong, in Sichuan Province, where engineers have been building new bunkers and ramparts. A new complex bristles with pipes, suggesting the facility handles highly hazardous materials. Another valley is home to a double-fenced facility known as Pingtong, where experts believe China is making plutonium-packed cores of nuclear warheads. The main structure, dominated by a 360-foot-high ventilation stack, has been refurbished in recent years with new vents and heat dispersers. More construction is underway next to it. Above the Pingtong facility entrance, a hallmark exhortation of China’s leader, Xi Jinping, appears in characters so large they are visible from space: “Stay true to the founding cause and always remember our mission.” Source: Satellite image from Airbus, Feb. 2. These are among several secretive nuclear-related sites in Sichuan Province that have expanded and undergone upgrades in recent years. China’s buildup complicates efforts to revive global …

‘Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest’ Film Trailer, Interview: Berlin

‘Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest’ Film Trailer, Interview: Berlin

Published by Daniella Wilson

Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest – the title of her feature directorial debut describes how Viv Li, a self-described Chinese artist wannabe, has been feeling ever since she got stuck in Berlin after the COVID pandemic and ventured into the German capital’s alternative culture scene. “A Chinese misfit ricochets between Berlin’s alternative frenzy and Beijing’s family order, transforming cultural whiplash into an offbeat search for identity and a playful quest for belonging,” reads a logline for the genre-bending movie that world premieres in the Berlin International Film Festival‘s Panorama Dokumente section on Feb. 13. Raised to follow traditional, “standard” family life, Li finds Berlin to seem to be bursting with excitement. But her family in China just can’t stop wondering why she is such an oddball. “Drifting between new environments and traditional expectations, Li is constantly adapting to shifting opinions about herself, the world, and, of course, China, only to feel more lost than ever,” highlights a synopsis of the film. In Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest, we follow Li as she searches …

New map shows Antarctica’s buried landscape in unprecedented detail

New map shows Antarctica’s buried landscape in unprecedented detail

Published by Jenni Sidey

Picture Antarctica not as a smooth, frozen plain, but as a rugged world of mountains, valleys, and deep channels buried beneath kilometers of ice. That unseen landscape is now coming into focus. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh and the Institut des Geosciences de l’Environnement in France have produced the most detailed map yet of Antarctica’s bedrock, revealing terrain that looks more like the Alps than a flattened plain. The work, led by Helen Ockenden, appears in the journal Science. It tackles one of Earth’s least understood surfaces. Nearly 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that can reach two to three miles thick. While satellites have mapped the icy surface in detail, the ground below has remained largely hidden. In many places, scientists have known more about Mars than about the base of Earth’s southernmost continent. That lack of detail matters. The Antarctic ice sheet holds enough frozen water to raise global sea levels by many meters. Its icy surface also reflects sunlight and helps regulate Earth’s climate. To predict how fast the ice …