Friday, 23 October 2026
International edition · English
Europe
News, routes, wildlife, plants and mountain and nature guides in France.
8 articles
When the cold arrives, the Alpine marmot shuts itself in a burrow with its family and spends almost half the year in deep torpor. Its heart almost stops and it lives off the fat it built up in summer.
Not all dangerous mountains are dangerous for the same reason. Some kill with avalanches, others with altitude, unpredictable weather or because they look easier than they are. Fifteen summits and their reasons.
Most bear encounters end with the animal walking away. But knowing what to do —and what not to do— makes all the difference. We explain it for the European brown bear and for North American species.
With a wingspan of almost three metres and a diet made up mostly of bones, the bearded vulture is one of the most astonishing birds on the planet. After disappearing from much of Europe, it is soaring over its mountains again.
More than a third of humanity cannot see the Milky Way from home. These are the places where the sky is still as it was centuries ago, and how to make the most of them even without a telescope.
Three countries, a dozen passes and Mont Blanc always on the horizon. The TMB is probably Europe's most famous trek: demanding for its total ascent, but with no technical sections on its classic route.
Polyester fibres above 8,000 metres, particles raining from the sky in remote Pyrenean valleys, plastic in Antarctic snow. The mountains are not safe from plastic, and part of the problem is what we wear.
Its velvety look is not decorative: it is armour against the radiation, cold and dryness of the high mountains. The natural and cultural history of the most famous flower in the Alps.
Our store · NMshop
Hiking footwear, jackets, backpacks, camping and climbing gear chosen for the mountains. Shipping worldwide.
NMshop is the outdoor gear store run by the publisher of Altavia.
