Disaster on the Mountain

• Definition: noun;
• 1. a large mass of snow and ice, or of earth and rock, that rapidly slides down a mountainside or over a cliff; 2. a sudden, overwhelming rush, as in “an avalanche of requests”; verb; to come down like an avalanche

• Definition: (noun)
• a sparsely populated rural area far from any settled area; wilderness

• Example sentence: Backcountry
• camping can be a lot of fun, but you really need to plan ahead. Once you’re out
• there, you can’t just pop into the nearest supermarket for more snacks.

• Definition: (noun) a ditch or ravine worn into the earth by running water after rain;
• a gully serves as a natural gutter to help drain excess water after heavy
• rainfall.

Example sentence: It hadn’t rained for weeks, and the gully was completely dry.

• Definition: (noun) a large body of ice moving slowly down a slope or valley, or
• spreading outward on a land surface; glaciers are made up of fallen snow that,
• over many years, compresses into ice. Glaciers have sculpted mountains and carved out valleys.

Example sentence: Maine has hundreds of glacial lakes—that is, lakes formed thousands of years ago by melting glaciers.

 

• Definition: (noun) layers of snow that become massed together, often found in
• mountain regions

Example sentence: When spring arrives, the snowpack will melt.

• Definition: (noun) an area of land that can have specific characteristics (for
• example, rough terrain, rocky terrain, hilly
• terrain)