Three-thousander

[2] In temperate latitudes three-thousanders play an important role, because even in summer they lie below the zero degree line for weeks.

In the Alps or Pyrenees, expeditions to areas of over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), with their often steep mountainsides and sudden changes in weather conditions, require mountaineers to have considerable experience and weatherproof equipment, which distinguishes them from ascents of many two-thousanders.

Typical "easy" three-thousanders, for example, include the Piz Boe (3,152 metres (10,341 ft)) in South Tyrol, which is an hour's walk from the Pordoi Cable Car, or the 3,033 metres (9,951 ft) high Piz Umbrail, accessible from the Umbrail Pass.

A large part of this sensitive, high Alpine region is protected by conservation areas, but it also forms the touristic heart of the Alps.

Apart from the Alps, the dominant range in Europe – if one excludes the Caucasus, which otherwise, in Mount Elbrus (5,642 m), would have the highest mountain in the continent – only the following ranges have three-thousanders: Musala at 2,925 m, the highest mountain in southern Europe (i.e. excluding the Iberian Peninsula), does not come close to the mark.