Q 01/05

The Rocky Mountains run some 3,000 miles south from western Canada and end in which US state?

A) Colorado

B) California

C) New Mexico

D) Wyoming

Answer · why

C) New Mexico

New Mexico is where the Rockies give out in the south; the northern end is disputed, with some definitions stopping in British Columbia and others run...

Q 02/05

What is the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains?

A) Longs Peak

B) Mount Whitney

C) Mount Elbert

D) Mount Robson

Answer · why

C) Mount Elbert

Mount Elbert is barely taller than its neighbour Mount Massive, so Massive's fans once piled rocks on its summit to overtake it, and Elbert's supporte...

Q 03/05

Colorado's Mount Sneffels takes its name from a volcano in which Jules Verne novel?

A) Around the World in Eighty Days

B) Journey to the Center of the Earth

C) The Mysterious Island

D) Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Answer · why

B) Journey to the Center of the Earth

Journey to the Center of the Earth sends its explorers down the crater of Iceland's Snæfell, the volcano whose name was borrowed for the Colorado four...

Q 04/05

Which warm, dry wind sweeps down the eastern slopes of the Rockies and can strip away winter snow in a day?

A) Mistral

B) Chinook

C) Sirocco

D) Santa Ana

Answer · why

B) Chinook

The Chinook warms as it sinks down the lee side after shedding its rain and snow on the Pacific slopes; one such wind lifted temperatures by 27°C in t...

Q 05/05

The modern Rockies were raised during which mountain-building episode?

A) Alpine orogeny

B) Nevadan orogeny

C) Antler orogeny

D) Laramide orogeny

Answer · why

D) Laramide orogeny

The Laramide orogeny raised mountains unusually far from the coast, most likely because the ocean plate slid beneath the continent at a low angle inst...