Further north,
they hold other dangers.
Moving at 250 miles an hour,
an avalanche destroys
everything in its path.
In the American Rockies
a 100,000 avalanches devastate
the slopes every winter.
This huge mountain chain
continues the great spine
that runs from Patagonia to Alaska.
The slopes of the Rockies,
bleak though they are,
provide a winter refuge
for some animals.
A mother grizzly emerges
from her den
after six months'
dozing underground.
Her two cubs follow her
and take their first steps
in the outside world.
These steep slopes provide
a sanctuary for the cubs.
A male bear would kill
and eat them given the chance.
But big animals find it difficult
to get about here.
Males may be twice
the size of a female
and even she
can have problems.
Her cubs, however,
make light of the snow
and of life in general.
But the mother faces a dilemma:
It's six months
since she last fed
and her milk is starting
to run dry.
She must soon leave the safety
of these nursery slopes
and lead her cubs away
from the mountain.
If she delays,
the whole family will risk starvation.
Summer reveals the true nature
of the Rockies.
Stripped of snow,
the peaks bear their sculpted forms.
Only now can mountaineers
reclaim the upper reaches.
Two miles up the crumbling precipices
seem devoid of life.
But there are animals here -
a grizzly bear.
It seems to be an odd creature
to find on these high rocky slopes.
It's hard to imagine
what could have attracted it here.
At this time of the year
bears should be fattening up for the winter.
Yet they gather in some numbers
on these apparently barren slopes.
They're searching
for a rather unusual food -
moths.
Millions have flown up here
to escape the heat of the lowlands
and they're now roosting
among the rocks.
Moths may seem
a meager meal for a bear,
but their bodies are rich in fat
and can make all the difference
in a bear's annual struggle for survival.
Another battle is being waged here
but on a much longer timescale.
These loose boulders are
the mountain's crumbling bones.
The Rockies are no longer rising
but slowly disintegrating.
All mountains everywhere are being
worn down by frost, snow and ice.
The Alps were raised
some 15 million years ago
as Africa, drifting northwards,
collided with the southern edge of Europe.
These spires are the eroded
remains of an ancient seabed
that once stretched
between the two continents.
But these are just
the Alpine foothills.
The range at its center
rises to 3 miles high
and is crowned
with permanent snows.
(
)
The Matterhorn,
its summit too steep
to hold a snow field.
Mont Blanc - the highest peak
in Western Europe.
The distinctive jagged shapes
of the Alps
were carved
by those great mountain sculptors -
the glaciers.
Immense rivers of moving ice,
laden with rock,
grind their way
down the mountains,
gouging out deep valleys.
They're the most powerful erosive force
on our planet.
A moulin - a shaft in the ice
opened by melt water
as it plunges
into the depths of the glacier.
Like the water running through it,
the ice itself is constantly moving,
flowing down the valley
with unstoppable force.
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