What angle are you coming at from? As a viewer of mountains? As a hiker? As a Rock climber? Like, what criteria are we viewing this comparison through?
Mountain-ness. Despite not even being 2 km, Mt Washington’s prominence, weather, view, etc all make it more like a mountain, while “mt” Marcy, you can hike in like 3 hours and it’s mostly gradual forest trail.
Washington fills the social role of a mountain, it’s something you prepare to hike, bring a bag with food and water and a heavy jacket, maybe even microspikes, you check the weather to make sure you’re not going to get swept away by 200+ mph gusts, you leave at daybreak so you don’t get caught by night during descent, you get to the top and say “This is definitely a mountain”, any Adirondack, you walk up casually with zero preparation , not even water and that’s it. Maybe you check for avalanche warnings if it’s winter.
As someone who has lived near both sets of mountains, I’ll take the Appalachians and Adirondacks over the Rockies.
I love the Adirondacks, but they’re not mountains.
They were when life first started, but not anymore.
Mt Washington is a mountain tho.
What angle are you coming at from? As a viewer of mountains? As a hiker? As a Rock climber? Like, what criteria are we viewing this comparison through?
Mountain-ness. Despite not even being 2 km, Mt Washington’s prominence, weather, view, etc all make it more like a mountain, while “mt” Marcy, you can hike in like 3 hours and it’s mostly gradual forest trail.
Washington fills the social role of a mountain, it’s something you prepare to hike, bring a bag with food and water and a heavy jacket, maybe even microspikes, you check the weather to make sure you’re not going to get swept away by 200+ mph gusts, you leave at daybreak so you don’t get caught by night during descent, you get to the top and say “This is definitely a mountain”, any Adirondack, you walk up casually with zero preparation , not even water and that’s it. Maybe you check for avalanche warnings if it’s winter.