LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Alps: Mountains
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The derivation of the name Alps is still very uncertain, some writers connecting it with a Celtic root alb, said to mean height, while others suggest the Latin adjective albus (white), referring to the colour of the snowy peaks. But in all parts of the great chain itself, the term Alp (or Alm in the Eastern Alps) is exclusively applied to the high mountain pastures (see ALP), and not to the peaks and ridges of the chain.
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The Alps do not form an impassable barrier; they have been traversed for war and commerce, and later by pilgrims, students and tourists. Crossing places by road, train or foot are called passes. These are depressions in the mountains to which a valley leads from the plains and hilly pre-mountainous zones.
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Tourism (and the economy in general) is very much geared towards Skiing, snowboarding, and other Winter sports throughout most of the Alps. In ski resorts despite a new focus on summer time activities such as hiking or golf some of the hotels and other facilities may close. This increase in summer time sports such as Mountain Biking, Golf, Parapenting, or Whitewater Kayaking is now fulling the growth of the alps as a year round tourist destination. The Alps have always been popular as a mountaineering and hiking destination, but clearly this is nowhere near as lucrative for the locals, as the tourist invasion during the winter season.
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The Reindl's is a pretty Bavarian hotel with a warm welcoming atmosphere, located at the foot of Germany's tallest mountain in the Alps between Garmisch and Partenkirchen. Guests will find easily their way to the ski slopes, the shopping center and many restaurants. The Hotel is perfect for couples, as well as families on vacations or single travelers looking for some peace.
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The sport of mountaineering was invented in the Alps, and the variety of peaks and routes that can be climbed is staggering, ranging from easy walk-ups to some of the hardest routes on earth. As a range in the heart of a densely settled and advanced continent, access to the Alps is good, perhaps too good: roads, trains, tunnels, cableways, and ski lifts honeycomb the range and often take casual tourists high up towards the peaks. An extensive network of huts in the Alps make backpacking in the American tradition almost unheard of.
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The Dolomites landscape, due to the particular geological formation, is completely different compared to other areas of the Alps. The rock itself, dolomia from the name of the natural scientist Dolomieu, is a type of carbonate of marine origin formed during the Triassic period by the work of corals and algae that continuously uplifted ledges, forming high vertical rock faces, which do not have comparison in other mountain ranges, and landscapes of extraordinary beauty, rich of geological, mineralogical, botanical and wildlife peculiarities in an exceptional variety of ecosystems.
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