Every climber must have been impressed by the strangely uniform level reached by most of the peaks. Hundreds or even thousands of summits rise from ten to twelve thousand feet above the sea, but very few get above that limit. Some geologists account for this by supposing that a vast tableland has been elevated and then carved into the innumerable crests and valleys; but it is very doubtful if such a tableland ever existed. Certainly no important remnant of it can be recognized now. It seems more probable that the higher summits, rising with steep slopes much above the protecting snowfields, have been more rapidly attacked by frost and storms, and so have paid the penalty of greatness. The higher the summit the more rapidly it is cut down, till it reaches a level where slopes are gentler and snow and ice give some protection from erosion; and so there is a tendency to uniformity of height.
One type of mountain scenery is lacking in our Rockies. No eruptive rocks have reached the surface in their elevation, so that none of the forms belonging to massive rocks can be seen.
From the comparative simplicity of their structure our Rockies make a splendid school for the study of folds and faults on a large scale, and it is well worth while for the members of our Club to add this geological interest to the many other attractions of the mountains.
