Referat The Rocky Mountains

) Geography

In general

Climate

Flora and Fauna

) History

2.1) Formation of the Rocky Mountains

) Indigenous people

) European exploration

) Settlement

) Economy

Industry

3.2) Tourism generally

) Tourism in summer

) Tourism in winter

) Skiing areas in the Rocky Mountains in comparison with skiing areas in the Alps

4.1) Snow and ski runs

4.2) Service

4.3) Fun-Factor

4.4) Culture and Accommodation

) Prices

) Problems concerning the nature

5.1) Climate change

5.2) Skiing Tourism (Heli-skiing)

5.3) Tourism and Economy

) Geography

1.1) Generally

The Rocky Mountains, in the USA commonly known as the Rockies, is a large mountain range which is located in western North America. They start in the northern part of New Mexico and pass through the American states Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana till they find their end across the

border, in the Canadian states Alberta and British Columbia. But most experts simply define the Rocky Mountains by stretching from the “Laird River” in British Columbia to the Rio Grande” in New Mexico. In total, the Rookies stretch for over 0 km in length and form the Continental Divide of North America, which determines whether water will flow to the Pacific or the Atlantic Ocean. In width they vary from 0 to 0 km. Moreover, the Rocky Mountains are famous for containing the highest peaks in central North America. “Mount Elbert” which is located in Colorado at m above sea level is the highest peak of the Rockies. Canadians however are proud to say that “Mount Robson” in British Columbia at m above sea level is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. Additionally, the Rocky Mountains supply a quarter of the United States with water, not least because the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado itself contains more than 0 lakes and 0 miles of streams. One of the largest lakes of the National Park is Grand Lake” which is also Colorado´s largest and deepest natural lake with a length of more than 5 km.

1.2) Climate

Generally the climate for the Rockies is considered to be a highland or an alpine climate, which

means that the summers are normally quite warm and dry, in spite of heavy rains and thunderstorms which sometimes occur. By contrast, winters usually are very wet and cold and bring along big amounts of snow especially for the higher areas of the Rocky Mountains.

But precipitation ranges vary in the Rocky Mountains from 250mm per year in the southern valleys up to 1500mm per year on the northern peaks. Furthermore, the average January temperatures can range between °C to °C from north to south. That´s why there does not only one single climate zone for the entire Rocky Mountain Range exist. Ecologists divide the Rockies into several biotic zones, which are defined by whether they support trees or not. So there exist two zones that don´t support trees which are the “Plains” and the Alpine Tundra” because they are either to dry, to cold or too high above sea level. Ten forested zones are divided into northern and southern areas. In the northern areas summers are short and chilly, while winters are cold and snow falls deep. The reason for the big range of precipitations during winters is the westerly wind, which brings along humidity from the Pacific. Because of this humidity clouds accumulate at the mountainsides in the northern part of the Rocky Mountains and it often starts to rain heavily. In contrast the climate of the southern areas of the Rocky Mountains tends to be dry, because precipitation generally increases from south

to north. Therefore, huge sand dunes are formed in the southernmost point of the Rocky Mountains, in New Mexico, at the end of the mountain chain.

1.3) Flora and Fauna

The flora of the Rocky Mountains contains more than 0 different species of plants, which have the possibility to grow at different places according to the altitude. Unfortunately some of the plants are nearly extinct. Therefore big areas of the Rockies including rare plants, are protected by nature protection legislation.

The almost untouched natural landscape of the Rocky Mountains offers a perfect habitat for a large number of animals. To be exact, over 0 species of mammals, four amphibians and over 0 species of birds live in the Rocky Mountains as well as grizzly bears, wolves, buffalos, marmots, beavers and mooses. Even the Puma, which is almost extinct in free hunting grounds, wanders through the lonely forests of the Rockies. But the most impressive natives of the Rocky Mountains are the black or the grizzly bear, which are very shy of humans. Nevertheless they can still be found in the lonely woods

in the Canadian part of the Rockies. Moreover, also packs of wolves can be observed in the National park of Yellowstone, because they were resettled there in 5 with the intention to decimate the remaining stock of game.

) History

2.1) Formation of the Rocky Mountains

There doesn t exist a certain geologic age for the entire Rocky Mountains range, because it varies based on location. The oldest parts of the Rockies are for example nearly 0 million to 0 million years old, whereas the youngest parts were only uplifted between 5 million and 0 million years ago. Nevertheless, the whole range of the Rocky Mountains was formed in the same way, by the collision of tectonic plates, the North American and the Pacific plate. When they collided, rocks were uplifted in the western part of North America and further tectonic activity formed the present-day mountain chain of the Rockies over millions of years. Like the Alps, the Rocky Mountains also have been affected by severe erosion and that´s the reason why deep river canyons and flat mountains slopes were formed over millenniums. Moreover, the last glaciation which lasted from between

0 years and . 0 years ago also shaped valleys by erosion.

The central areas of the Rockies consist of volcanic rock, whereas its margins are famous for the sedimentary rock.

2.2) Indigenous people

Since the last great Ice Age, 0 years ago, the Rockies provided first home to the Paleo-Indians and then to different Native American tribes like the Apache, Cheyenne, Sioux and a few others.

Nowadays discoveries show that the Paleo-Indians lived during spring and summer in the mountains, where they nourished on fish, deer, elk, roots and berries. But in fall and winter they migrated to the plains, where it didn´t snow and the temperatures were a lot higher. In addition, in the plains they had the possibility to feed the entire tribe for a long time by hunting the now-extinct mammoth or ancient bisons. This kind of hunting however was quite dangerous and they didn´t often succeed. That´s the reason why every spring the Paleo-Indians headed back to the foothills of the mountains, where a greater variety of food was offered by nature.

The Native America tribes showed first up in the Rockies 0 years ago after the disappearance of the Paleo-Indians. They got perfectly adapted to the environment and had better techniques to hunt game and cultivate plants on their own. For instance they built in Colorado, along the crest of the Continental Divide, rock walls for driving game easily together. Nowadays scientific evidences indicate that this behaviour of the Native Americans had significant effects on mammal population

and on vegetation, because they burnt huge vegetation areas down and hunted some mammals until

their extinction.

2.3) European exploration

Francisco V squez de Coronado, a Spaniard, was the first European explorer, who marched into the Rocky Mountains with a group of soldiers, missionaries and African slaves. In 0 he arrived in the south of North America and tried to make his way up to the north through the mountain range of the Rockies, but he failed because he was totally unexperienced and underequipped regarding the harsh conditions.

At the same time, however, the introduction of the horse, rifles, new diseases and metal tools changed the Native American cultures. The different Native American tribes weren´t able to handle this new change and great parts of their population were extirpated by diseases, warfare, habitat loss, earlier extermination of the bison and continued assault on their culture.

Later, in , Pierre and Paul Mallet, who were French fur traders, discovered a range of mountains in western North America, which local American Indian tribes called the “Rockies”. That´s why they were the first Europeans to report about this uncharted mountain range.

In 1793, Sir Alexander MacKenzie became the first European, who crossed successfully the Rocky Mountains. After his transcontinental crossing of North America through the Rockies, he landed in a territory that is now Canada.

From 4 to 6 Lewis and Clark started the first scientific expedition to the Rocky Mountains, on which specimens were collected and stored for botanists, zoologists and geologists. This mission paved the way through the Rocky Mountains from east to west for further European explorations

2.4) Settlement

The first people who settled from 0 to 0 in the Rocky Mountains were American, French and Spanish fur traders and explorers. As a consequence, beavers were nearly trapped to extinction during this period of time, because of their good selling fur.

Later in , the Mormons, which is a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, began to settle in the middle of the Rocky Mountain range near the Great Salt Lake. Only 2 years later, in 1859, the discovery of gold in Colorado changed the regional economy of the Rockies forever. So, the first transnational railroad, connecting San Francisco to the eastern part of North America, was built over a distance of more than 0 kilometres to transport gold gains to the east. Furthermore, the Yellowstone National Park was established to boost tourism. This economies changes offered a lot of people work and therefore settlers began to fill valleys and mining towns. Over the next following years the economy of the Rocky Mountains started to concentrate on mining, agriculture and foresting. Out of this reasons the development of the settlement in the Rockies went on and small farmers’ camps became ranches and farms; train stations became towns and some towns even became cities. As a consequence the human population of the Rocky Mountains grew rapidly between 0 and . Especially in the middle of the Rockies, in the Colorado and Utah the population increased up to %, whereas in Montana up to %. Furthermore, the population of several mountain towns doubled within 0 years. The population of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, increased incredible , mostly due to the existence of gold. This rapid growth of population however brought along some problems concerning the demand of water, power and natural resources.

Nowadays, human population in the Rocky Mountains is not very dense: There only lives an average of 4 persons per square kilometre. Moreover only few cities in the Rocky Mountains count over

0 residents these days and a lot of old miner cities had been deserted over the years, because mines weren´t productive enough anymore.

) Economy

3.1) Industry

The economy of the Rocky Mountains contains several different sectors owing to a great abundance and variety of natural resources. The natural resources of the Rockies were first discovered in the second half of the ^th century, when lonely gold seekers found valuable minerals like gold, silver and copper. As a consequence millions of people all over the world were lured into the lonely valleys and mountain slopes of the Rockies because of these precious metals, hoping to get easily wealthy without making any big efforts. This kind of thinking was responsible for the biggest gold rush in the history of the United States and marked as well the beginning of an economy in the Rocky Mountains. But nowadays only very few gold seekers still try their luck in the Rockies to become rich by finding gold, silver or copper.

Nevertheless, there are still several exploitable and significant mineral deposits in the Rocky Mountains which contain copper, gold, zinc, lead, silver and tungsten. That´s why small mines are scattered all over the Rockies and some of them even had been achieving a major significance over the years by finding and exploiting great deposits of gold, lead, zinc or silver. Especially in the last

quarter of the ^th century big findings happened with an increasing frequency around Leadville, Colorado. That´s the reason why Leadville also continues to be a mining centre these days and why it is the home of the Climax Mine”, which employs over 0 workers. The Climax Mine” is the world´s largest producer of molybdenum, which is one of the most heat-resistant steels because of its high melting point. Out of this reason it is used with an increasing frequency in automobiles, aircraft and various industrial appliances. But also the northern part of Idaho as well as the trail region of British Columbia or parts of Montana are still very productive mining centres which produce big amounts of silver, lead and zinc every year and sell it on the world market.9

But nowadays a lot of former mines are abandoned and their mine tailings and toxic wastes burden the environment of the Rocky Mountains. Especially the eighty years of zinc mining polluted several rivers, as well as the bank of the Eagle River” in north-central Colorado.

A recently revealed economic analysis of mining effects even shows that the high concentration of metal degrades water quality and brings a lot of drinking-water reserves of the Rockies in danger. Furthermore, the analysis revealed also that a clean-up of several rivers would cost up to $ 3 million. That’s why former owners of zinc mines were sued by the Colorado Attorney General for the clean-up costs and just within 5 years an ecological recovery was achieved

Meanwhile natural resources like coal, natural gas, oil shale and petroleum which are more demanded by society these days, were found in the Wyoming Basin and in several smaller areas of the Rocky Mountains. The first oil shale found was back in the s which lead the economy of the Rockies from time to time to an increasing oil industry.

Nowadays a lot of big companies like BP, Royal Dutch Shell etc. exploit great petroleum deposits of the Rocky Mountains. On one hand they create a lot of jobs, but on the other hand the exploring and extracting of petroleum, natural gas and coal causes massive environmental problems. Especially coal mines and the development of new natural gas fields pollute water and soil and endanger living flora and fauna

The Rockies are furthermore well-known for their water surplus. That means that the annual amount of precipitation exceeds losses from evaporation. The economy uses these water supplies for two different kinds of industrial purposes.

On one hand, the lands on either side of the mountain front have an enormous water deficit and that´s the reason why they use the melting water of the Rockies for their agriculture. Their agriculture mostly includes dryland and irrigated farming and livestock ranching. Moreover their livestock is frequently moved depending on water supplies. One the other hand the water surplus is also used for hydroelectric power generation. But these days most of the good places for large dams are already applied and therefore smaller dams are now being constructed in the headwater regions. One of the most ambitious projects is now being built in the Colorado Rockies, where a complex network of reservoirs, tunnels and pipelines utilize the entire flow of the “Colorado River” to produce electricity by water power.

The forestry represents the major part of the Rocky Mountains´ industry, because wood is the most occurring natural resource there. Since the growth rate of timber exceeded the deforestation rate between 0 and 0 the forests of the Rockies increased over the years. However, the vast forests of the Rocky Mountains are nowadays under government control and supervision, that the valuable supplies of wood and the endangered flora are protected. That s why forestry activities in the Rockies are mainly limited to Montana, Idaho and British Columbia

Only recently high-tech companies found a perfect location for their branch offices in the Rocky Mountains. The reasons for this development are government support and a highly educated population in the western regions of the Rocky Mountains. A study revealed that Salt Lake City ranks even second strongest among all metropolitan areas in the country in terms of high-tech economic performance. Five out of the 0 best high-tech companies of the USA are placed in or near a region of the Rocky Mountains. These companies even made a profit during the last economy recession, while the profit of others high-tech companies declined.

A recent study which had measured 3 different economic factors over a -year period revealed that no region is more stable and better developped than the states in the Rocky Mountain. Out of this reason, the five-state region of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming invested more than 2 billion into company expansion projects and generated at least more than 0 new jobs in 2010.14

3.2) Tourism

The Rocky Mountains are one of the most frequently visited and fascinating tourist attractions worldwide. They offer tourists an incredible landscape with snowy peaks and lush valleys at the same

time. As mentioned before, the nature of the Rocky Mountains is rich with thousands of different species of flora and animals. Also the good and mostly stable weather throughout the year provides tourists a perfect stay in the Rockies. Moreover, the main language English makes communication for tourists a lot easier.

Out of these reasons the recreational opportunities and especially the plenty of different National Parks, which are situated in the Rockies, draw millions of tourist from all over the world every year. The two most famous National Parks are the official Rocky Mountain National Park’ and the

‘Yellowstone National Park . Both of them offer the tourists hundreds kilometres of hiking and riding paths as well as a whole bunch of camping sides, which are located in the pure wilderness. These Parks are therefore perfect for tourists who are interested in the beauty of the nature and not in commercial tourist attractions

3.3) Tourism in summer (compared to Austria)

In the following statistic we can see that the ‘Rocky Mountain National’ Park draws the most tourists during the summer. Especially during the months from June to September, when the weather is quite

warm and the nature shows itself in all its glory.

http://www.nps.gov/romo/parkmgmt/statistics.htm

The most parts of the Rocky Mountains are undeveloped and therefore they are protected by multiple National Parks, as mentioned above. Despite this rugged nature the Rockies are a popular summer destination for several outdoor tourists. In summer tourists mostly go to the Rockies to enjoy activities like hiking, camping, fishing, mountain biking or horse riding. Therefore a lot of sport shops and equestrian shops are located at the entrance of National Parks, where the tourists can borrow all the necessary equipment for each particular type of sport. In addition, the Rocky Mountain National Park’ provides its tourists more than 0 kilometres of hiking, riding and

mountain biking paths. The high peaks of the Rockies are popular for sports like mountain climbing or glacier trekking.

But the summer tourism of the Rocky Mountains has been extremely endangered since 2 years, because the last hot and dry summers often led to brutal wildfires. As a consequence tourist accommodations, hiking paths and especially big parts of the nature were burnt down or destroyed. Now especially the 5 billion tourism industry of Colorado is on edge because the fires already show a huge effect on the number of summer tourists, who visit the region of the Rockies. But experts say that there is no need for sorrows, because in the next years more humid summers will follow

Austria:

In comparison to the Rocky Mountains, many people think that the Alps are only a snow sports destination, but there is a long tradition of holidaying in the Alps in summer as well. You can even expect there clear, blue skies and warm temperatures as well as a wide range of activities like in the Rockies. The hottest sunny days are during July and August and the southern zones of the Alps dispose over a milder climate than the northern ones.

The most popular summer activity in the Alps is walking, which range from a comfortable walk through the nature to a serious hike that can even take several days. But also mountain biking is increasingly popular in the Alps. The Alps offer its tourists also adventure sports like canyoning, paragliding or river rafting. If you go up high enough, summer skiing or snowboarding is also a possible option on Alpine glaciers like Sölden or Hintertux. The more luxury activities in the Alps are playing golf on golf courses that could even be located on steep slopes or you could undertake a culinary voyage through the Alps by degustating different wines and cheeses.

The accommodations of the Alps range from old mountain huts to luxury hotels and spas which of

course attract more wealthy people than families

3.4) Tourism in winter (compared to Austria as well)

The Rocky Mountains are also a popular tourist destination in wintertime for several outdoor activities.

Although there is no possibility in the ‘Rocky Mountain National Park’ itself for skiing or snowboarding, they offer the tourists lots of different winter activities like dog sledging, cross- country skiing, sledging and snowmobiling. Due to the several big lakes and rivers, which are located in or near the plenty of National Parks, it’s also possible for tourists to do ice skating or to make romantic excursions by snowshoeing through the wilderness and over the frozen lakes

Many travel companies became specialised of luring tourists to the Rockies during the winter season which resulted in a strong growth of accommodations. Winter tourism in the Rocky Mountains is even not exhausted at his full capacity yet.

Most of the travel companies offer the tourists to spend their stay in Banff, the most famous town in the Rockies. From there the tourist could try out all nearby winter activities like dog sledding, ice walking, skiing or snowboarding. As a consequence, Banff has developed itself over the past years into a significant industrial sector of the Rocky Mountain and a lot of new jobs were created

The Rockies are famous for their legendary snow quality, because the high altitude and the thin air are responsible for a very low humidity, which leads to a very dry snow. This fact provides perfect conditions for many ski areas, which are located in the Rockies.

Out of this reason, Colorado possesses the most famous ski areas of the USA inter alia Aspen Snowmass” or Vail Resorts”. Aspen is even one of the best known ski places in the world, because it contains four ski areas, which provide the tourists with more than 0 kilometres of ski trails. In addition, a huge advantage of Colorado is as well that all the ski areas are easily accessible from the nearby airport of Denver. Wyoming is also famous for its skiing areas, for instance ‘Jackson Hole’ which is especially popular by advanced skiers for its steep mountain slopes.

Furthermore, there don´t exist so many peaks with an altitude over 0 metres above sealevel anywhere else in the world. Many valley stations of the mountain railways were even built on 0

metres above sea level.

Austria:

In comparison to the Rocky Mountains the Alps are - 0 years million years younger, which means that the valleys of the Alps are typically deeper and the peaks typically steeper than the ones of the Rockies. Another big difference is that the Alps are still in a significant state of active glaciation, which means that glaciers exist everywhere in the Alps, whereas they are a rare occurrence in the Rockies. So if you want to see glaciers you should better go to the Alps

Out of these facts the ski areas of the Alps are completely different to the Rockies and demand above all more skills from their tourists. Furthermore ski tourism in the Alps is considered to be more prestigious and distributed than in the USA. Therefore there are currently existing over 0 ski areas throughout the Alps including 0 transport facilities, which provide their customers more than 0 km² of ski trails.

Similar to the Rockies, also the Alps offer their tourists a wide range of outdoors activities in winter besides skiing and snowboarding, like sledging, country-cross, ice skating and so on.

) Skiing areas in the Rocky Mountains in comparison to the Alps

4.1) Snow and ski runs

Indeed it snows more frequently in the Rocky Mountains than in the Alps, which means that 6 metres of snow are no rarity. In addition, the low humidity ensures that snow of the Rockies, the so called between 0 to 0 metres above sea level, guarantees that the ski season lasts much longer than in the Alps.

Furthermore, the Americans are far ahead in knowledge of slope preparation business compared to ski areas in the Alps. With extremely high efforts and expenses ski runs are prepared each night for the so called Signature Run”, which provides the tourists perfectly shaped and non-traced ski runs on the next day. Due to the dry snow, big pieces of ice which cover ski runs are also very uncommon

in the Rocky Mountains.

4.2) Service

The American ski resorts are known for their friendliness and courtesy. They especially prove their reputation by offering their skiers freshly baked cookies or hot apple cider with cinnamon at ski shuttle or lift stations. There even exist some hotels which turn out to be a little bit too helpful to their clients compared to the Alps, because they don´t let the skiers carry their skis by themselves to the nearby lift station. Moreover, the sport and rental shops in the Rockies are known for their excellent technical service and equipment.

4.3) Fun Factor

The timberline in the Rockies is with 0 metres above sea level much higher situated than in the Alps. That means that most ski runs lead the skiers through vast forest aisle. Many skiers use this opportunity to do the so called Tree Skiing” besides the ski runs in the fresh powder. What is more, many perfectly shaped Fun Parks ensure also great fun for younger generations. But also Heli Skiing guarantees an exceptionally fun factor in the Rockies, which is however associated with high cost.

4.4) Culture and Accommodation

Many of the ski areas in the Rocky Mountains are former Western-or silver mining towns, which means that they still create a certain Wildwest-Feeling. Especially ski areas like Aspen, Park City or Jackson Hole possess many old western pubs, where country bands perform on stage or Cowboys from nearby entertain tourists by a dance interlude.

The accommodation of the Rockies provides their tourist generally a higher standard than in the Alps. That means, that the hotels rooms a more spacious and that even simple hotels possess an outside whirlpool, where guests can relax their tired legs after a long ski day.

4.5) Price

The ski areas of the Rocky Mountains are currently affordable, because the exchange rates of the American and Canadian Dollar are still very cheap. Out of this reason the expenses for the accommodation and the ski pass could be compared to a stay in a Swiss or Austrian ski resort. A seven night´s stay including the ski pass costs about € per person at the moment. The flight

would cost about another .

) Problems concerning the nature

5.1) Climate Change

The global climate change constitutes the biggest danger for the Rocky Mountains. The warming of the atmosphere is responsible for the melting of glaciers and the dehydration of rivers as well as entire lakes. In addition, the winters are much warmer than in former times and animals like the bark beetle are able to multiply explosively. As a consequence they destroy enormous forests reserves

that nowadays about 0 percent of the Rocky Mountains´ forests are extremely threatened by the bark beetle plague.

These days experts aren´t able to estimate exactly in which way the global climate change will threat the nature paradise of the Rockies in the medium and long term. But a recent study of the USA revealed that the Rocky Mountains are one of the most endangered mountain regions in the world besides the Himalayas and the Alps. Out of this reason, an urgent rethinking and replanning by the American government is essential

5.2) Skiing Tourism

Especially the construction of ski runs and ski lifts causes irreparable damages to the landscape of the Rocky Mountains. Out of this purpose enormous forests reserves are destroyed and slopes are dug over. Moreover, the increasing use of snow canons also causes problems to the ecosystem of the Rockies by using huge amounts of water and energy or by spraying the additionally added chemical and biological supplements.

Many of the European skiers not just come to the Rocky Mountains because of the fluffy snow and the perfect conditions, but also for ‘Heli-Skiing’. It was firstly invented in 0 and since then it has been extremely threatening the ecosystem of the Rockies. Skiers who are brought up to lonely peaks from where they run cross-country through the untouched nature endanger and destroy young trees and scare animals away.

5.3) Tourism and Economy

‘The Rocky Mountain Park’ accommodates despite its small size about 3 million tourists each year, what leads to disastrous consequences as overcrowding, trodden plants, eroded trails and distressed animals. The construction of hotels and accommodations for tourists shrinks as well the habitats of elk and other wildlife

Also the economy harms the ecosystem of the Rockies and first problems show up as a result of timber harvesting, oil exploration, mining and reservoir operations. Logging and oil exploration are for example responsible for slope erosion. As a consequence of the erosion, a lot of nearby streams are silted. Furthermore, a lot of toxic and harmful substances from mining operations have been released into streams and groundwater. Reservoir operations harm the fishery by altering the temperature and flow patterns of streams. But also the wildlife habitat is endangered by the development of land for agriculture. Out of these economic and touristic reasons the flora and fauna

of the Rocky Mountains declines or is extremely harmed