Monday 3 February 2014

A Mummy, a Matterhorn & a Massif

1.  The Alps are a crescent shaped mountain range that covers a distance of 1200 kilometres.

2.  The Alps can be found in Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Germany, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein & Monaco.

3.  There are 13,000 kinds of vegetation and 30,000 species of wildlife in the Alps.

4.  A mummified man, said to be 5,000 years old, was found in the Alps in 1991 at the Austrian/Italian border.

5.  The Alps comprise about 180 mountains.  Their highest peak, at 4810 metres, is Mont Blanc.  The Matterhorn, shaped like a pyramid, is considered even tougher to ascend than Mont Blanc.

6.  It is suggested that between 40,000 and 80,000 soldiers died in the Alps during the Second World War due to avalanches.

7.  The longest tunnel in the world, the Gotthard Massif, is under construction right now.  The 20 year project will allow trains to pass through the Alps at 160 mph.

8.  The biggest city in the Alps, Grenoble, has 500,000 people.  Is is called "The Capital of the Alps".

9.  The Austrian Alps have the world's largest accessible caves.  These caves, filled with frozen stalagmites, are located near Werfen.

10.  Vines grow to an elevation of 1,600 feet.  Below 1000 feet grow figs, olives and oranges.





The Matterhorn courtesy wikimedia.org.

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