Glossary

.....also, what's the difference between a hill and a mountain ?

"-- Paul --" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Does anyone no where there is a glossary of hill / mountain terms please?

I'm looking for answers to these questions and more :-

I want to know what a marilyn is ? (As in .....and head to Leith Hill (a
"Marilyn" at 294m)....)
What is the difference between hiking, trekking and walking?
Define the word fell, as in fell walking?

Thanks
Paul

-- Paul -- said:

Does anyone no where there is a glossary of hill / mountain terms please?

I'm looking for answers to these questions and more :-

I want to know what a marilyn is ? (As in .....and head to Leith Hill (a
"Marilyn" at 294m)....)

The name is an in-joke playing on "Munro", a 3000' mountain in Scotland.
A MArilyn is defined as any peak with over 150m of re-ascent needed to
get to the top. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_(hill)

Quoted message said:

What is the difference between hiking, trekking and walking?

Up to the person saying it, there's no formal definition. Similarly
"rambling". Some people may feel "walking" doesn't differentiate from
toddling down to the corner shop enough, so prefer "hiking" to imply a
more strenuous and primarily recreational sort of walking. Thus, a hike
is a walk, but a walk isn't necessarily a hike. Similarly for trkking,
though that /may/ carry baggage suggesting multi-day walks.

Quoted message said:

Define the word fell, as in fell walking?

A corruption of the Norwegian "fjell", which means "mountain". It's one
of many words originating from Viking times, more common in Viking
occupied areas in N. Britain where it remains as a normal word for a
local feature. A bit like "force" for a waterfall, a corruption of the
Norwegian "fos".

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

"Peter Clinch" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

-- Paul -- said:

Does anyone no where there is a glossary of hill / mountain terms please?

I'm looking for answers to these questions and more :-

I want to know what a marilyn is ? (As in .....and head to Leith Hill (a
"Marilyn" at 294m)....)

The name is an in-joke playing on "Munro", a 3000' mountain in Scotland. A
MArilyn is defined as any peak with over 150m of re-ascent needed to get
to the top. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_(hill)

Quoted message said:

What is the difference between hiking, trekking and walking?

Up to the person saying it, there's no formal definition. Similarly
"rambling". Some people may feel "walking" doesn't differentiate from
toddling down to the corner shop enough, so prefer "hiking" to imply a
more strenuous and primarily recreational sort of walking. Thus, a hike
is a walk, but a walk isn't necessarily a hike. Similarly for trkking,
though that /may/ carry baggage suggesting multi-day walks.

Quoted message said:

Define the word fell, as in fell walking?

A corruption of the Norwegian "fjell", which means "mountain". It's one
of many words originating from Viking times, more common in Viking
occupied areas in N. Britain where it remains as a normal word for a local
feature. A bit like "force" for a waterfall, a corruption of the
Norwegian "fos".

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Very good
Thanks

What about the mountain / hill question ?

Here you will find an answer to your question. It seems there is not a
definitive answer.
http://interactive2.usgs.gov/faq/list_faq_by_category/get_answer.asp?id=787

Here, you will see a list of hills and mountains in Great Britain and
Ireland. (Thought it may be of interest)
http://www.liv.ac.uk/SportsandRecreation/hillwalking/mountain.html

Fells. I remember that the definition of a fell varies according to where
you are. The Derbyshire fells are different from the Cumbria fells -
although I don't recall the detail.

My view-
Trekking- may take several days, carrying everything, living off the land
(perhaps), as little as possible contact with civilisation
Ramble- either a half or whole day, carrying only essentials including a
packed lunch, usually starting and ending at a rail station, organised by a
club
Walk (country)- as ramble but usually more spontaneous, not organised, at a
more leisurely pace, small group
Amble- very short walk
Walk (town)- not usually done as a pleasure activity

Bill Ridgeway

"-- Paul --" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Does anyone no where there is a glossary of hill / mountain terms please?

I'm looking for answers to these questions and more :-

I want to know what a marilyn is ? (As in .....and head to Leith Hill (a
"Marilyn" at 294m)....)
What is the difference between hiking, trekking and walking?
Define the word fell, as in fell walking?

Thanks
Paul

On Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:09:22 +0100, Peter Clinch <[email hidden]>
wrote:

|!A corruption of the Norwegian "fjell", which means "mountain". It's one
|!of many words originating from Viking times, more common in Viking
|!occupied areas in N. Britain where it remains as a normal word for a
|!local feature. A bit like "force" for a waterfall, a corruption of the
|!Norwegian "fos".

Not a corruption at all a real word derived from the Viking in several
dialects, the Vikings were assimilated into the English population 800-1000
years ago, Norway did not exist then, also words change over time, as an
example read The Canterbury tales : Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400.
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/Cha2Can.html which is only
some 600 years old.

--
Dave Fawthrop <sf hyphenologist.co.uk> 165 *Free* SF ebooks.
165 Sci Fi books on CDROM, from Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page Completely Free to any
address in the UK. Contact me on the *above* email address.

"-- Paul --" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Very good
Thanks

What about the mountain / hill question ?

Have a look on Google - the question has come up many times before and the
answer to it seems to be fairly subjective.

Graham

-- Paul -- said:

I want to know what a marilyn is ?

Marilyn - summit with a drop (prominence or re-ascent) of at least 150m
Hewitt - summit over 610m with a drop of 30m
Nuttall - summit over 610m with a drop of 15m
Dewey - summit over 500m, less than 610m, with a drop of 30m

Many more types in Scotland.

Quoted message said:

What is the difference between hiking, trekking and walking?

You forgot backpacking and tramping!

All various forms of walking.

Quoted message said:

Define the word fell, as in fell walking?

mountain, hill.

Paul
--
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk

-- Paul -- said:

....also, what's the difference between a hill and a mountain ?

No, no, no, no, no! I'm not going to answer that! I must have answered that
a million times!

Search the archives...

Paul
--
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk

Peter Clinch said:

Some people may feel "walking" doesn't differentiate from
toddling down to the corner shop enough, so prefer "hiking" to imply a
more strenuous and primarily recreational sort of walking.

I agree. We really should have a separate term to differentiate this sort of
thing. "Walking" is a bit misleading. A co-worker once used to take the [censored]
out of me for "going for a walk" and complaining about my aches and pains
the next day. Until that is, I took him "for a walk" one day.

He never took the [censored] again...

Paul
--
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk

In message <[email hidden]>, -- Paul --
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

What about the mountain / hill question ?

We had this out ad nauseam about a month ago:

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk.rec.walking/browse_thread/thread/5498
39eafe166f7d/8bbebc8c5db46ca8?lnk=gst&q=According+to+URW+what+makes+a+Hil
l+a+mountain%3F+&rnum=1&hl=en#8bbebc8c5db46ca8

233 posts I see, still no answer. Don't let's start again!

Regards,
--
Neil Pugh

Neil Pugh said:

233 posts I see, still no answer. Don't let's start again!

I'm glad we're in agreement about this.

Paul
--
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk

In message <[email hidden]>, Paul Saunders
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Neil Pugh said:

233 posts I see, still no answer. Don't let's start again!

I'm glad we're in agreement about this.

Paul

Never more so, Paul.

Regards,
--
Neil Pugh

In message <[email hidden]>

Neil Pugh said:

233 posts I see, still no answer. Don't let's start again!

Plenty of answers but no agreement from what I recall!

--
Simon Challands

"Paul Saunders" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

-- Paul -- said:

I want to know what a marilyn is ?

Marilyn - summit with a drop (prominence or re-ascent) of at least 150m
Hewitt - summit over 610m with a drop of 30m
Nuttall - summit over 610m with a drop of 15m
Dewey - summit over 500m, less than 610m, with a drop of 30m

Many more types in Scotland.

Quoted message said:

What is the difference between hiking, trekking and walking?

You forgot backpacking and tramping!

All various forms of walking.

Quoted message said:

Define the word fell, as in fell walking?

mountain, hill.

Paul
--
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk

Excellent you've anticipated my next question by providing info on Hewitts,
Nuttals and Deweys.

Please clarify though, a Hewitt for instance, over 610m with a 30m drop.
When you say drop, I assume you're talking about a near vetical drop as some
point on the hill/mountain. An example would be perhaps Pen y Fan, with a
real steep side dropping away from the summit??

I guess these names, Nuttall and so on, are peoples surnames?
Why didn't they just go with 600 m instead of 610 m and why is it that these
categories of mountains are named after them, what did they ever do??

I've lots of questions me!!

"Neil Pugh" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In message <[email hidden]>, Paul Saunders
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Neil Pugh said:

233 posts I see, still no answer. Don't let's start again!

I'm glad we're in agreement about this.

Paul

Never more so, Paul.

Regards,
--
Neil Pugh

Ok I'll shut up on that one then!

Paul Saunders said:

Peter Clinch said:

Some people may feel "walking" doesn't differentiate from
toddling down to the corner shop enough, so prefer "hiking" to imply a
more strenuous and primarily recreational sort of walking.

I agree. We really should have a separate term to differentiate this sort of
thing. "Walking" is a bit misleading. A co-worker once used to take the [censored]
out of me for "going for a walk" and complaining about my aches and pains
the next day. Until that is, I took him "for a walk" one day.

I call the stuff I do in Snowdonia and Scotland Mountain Walking. in
the Lake District and The Dales and Peak District it turns into Fell
Walking. You could say you were Fan Walking in The Beacons but it
might easily be misunderstood.
--
Phil Cook, last hill: Heron Pike via Nab Scar.

-- Paul -- said:

Please clarify though, a Hewitt for instance, over 610m with a 30m drop.
When you say drop, I assume you're talking about a near vetical drop as some
point on the hill/mountain. An example would be perhaps Pen y Fan, with a
real steep side dropping away from the summit??

No, the drop doesn't have to be steep, it can be as gradual as you want.
The key is that the 30m is a distnace you can't avoid going down
before going up something else.

So if you have a mountain with a plateau top at 1000m and a couple of
mounds on, one 20m high and one 10m high, you have 1 mountain over
1,000m high (1020m), not two mountains, one 1,020m' and one 1010'. If
you're at the top you won't have come down 30m before you go up the
second mound, so it's the same relative mountain.

This is also the distinction between a "summit" and a "top", a top being
a local high point but that's still lower than the absolute highest
point of the same mountain.

Quoted message said:

I guess these names, Nuttall and so on, are peoples surnames?

Usually, though not the case with Marilyns.

Quoted message said:

Why didn't they just go with 600 m instead of 610 m and why is it that these
categories of mountains are named after them, what did they ever do??

What they did was make up the list, probably according to their own
private criteria...

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

The message <[email hidden]>
from "-- Paul --" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Please clarify though, a Hewitt for instance, over 610m with a 30m drop.
When you say drop, I assume you're talking about a near vertical drop
as some
point on the hill/mountain. An example would be perhaps Pen y Fan, with a
real steep side dropping away from the summit??

No. The drop referred to is the minimum difference in elevation between
the summit in question and the lowest point you absolutely couldn't
avoid dropping down to anywhere between it and any higher peak.

Quoted message said:

I guess these names, Nuttall and so on, are peoples surnames?
Why didn't they just go with 600 m instead of 610 m and why is it that
these
categories of mountains are named after them, what did they ever do??

John and Anne Nuttall who wrote the guides to their hills in England and
Wales all of which they have researched and ascended.

Hewitt is just an acronym (hills England Wales Ireland two thousand or
some such). As was SWEAT that preceded it (summits Wales England above
two or some such). Sweats and presumably the Hewitts that followed were
compiled by Alan Dawson along with his Marilyn list. No one has yet
ascended all Marilyns and quite possibly no one ever will. The same can
not be said for any of the other lists.

The 610m line is a tacit acknowledgement that all these lists started
out as Imperial ideas and the 610m, 150m, 30m, etc. are loosely based on
2000 feet, 500 feet, 100 feet, etc.

--
Roger Chapman
Nearest Marilyn still to be visited - Great Orme.
89 miles as the crow flies,
considerably more as the walker drives.

Peter Clinch said:

-- Paul -- wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Why didn't they just go with 600 m instead of 610 m and why is it that these
categories of mountains are named after them, what did they ever do??

What they did was make up the list, probably according to their own
private criteria...

Just like I have made up my own list, though it turns out to be a
subset of another person's list, I've just remembered whose; Mr
Yeaman's. I used 900m and 100m drop for Scotland.
--
Phil Cook, last hill: Heron Pike via Nab Scar.