The Mountain Region

The Mountain Region or Parbat abruptly rises into the zone of perpetual snow along the Main Central Thrust fault zone. South of this fault system, "hills" do not greatly exceed treeline at about 3,500 metres (11,483 ft). North of it the Himalayas rise as a virtual wall beyond the snowline at 5,000 to 5,500 metres (16,404 to 18,045 ft) to some 90 peaks over 7,000 metres (22,966 ft) and eight exceeding 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) including Mount Everest at 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) and Kanchenjunga at 8,598 metres (28,209 ft). Unlike the Mahabharats, the Himalaya are not continuous across Nepal. Instead there are about 25 subranges including the Kanchenjunga massif, Kumbuaround Mt. Everest. Langtang north of Kathmandu, Annapurna north of Pokhara and Dhaulagiri further west, thenKanjiroba north of Jumla.

The main watershed between the Brahmaputra (called Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet) and the Ganges system (including all of Nepal) actually lies north of the highest ranges. Alpine, often semi-arid valleys—including Humla,Jumla, Dolpo, Mustang, Manang and Khumbu—cut between Himalayan subranges or lie north of them. Some of these valleys historically were more accessible from Tibet than Nepal and are populated by people with Tibetanaffinities called Bhotiya or Bhutia including the famous Sherpas in Kumbu valley near Mount Everest. With Chinese cultural hegemony in Tibet itself, these valleys have become repositories of traditional ways. Valleys with better access from the hill regions to the south are culturally linked to Nepal as well as Tibet, notably the Kali Gandaki Gorge where Thakali culture shows influences in both directions.

Permanent villages in the mountain region stand as high as 4,500 metres (14,764 ft) with summer encampments even higher. These peoples traditionally grazed yaks, grew cold-tolerant crops such as potatoes, barley, buckwheat and millet, and traded across the mountains, e.g., Tibetan salt for rice from lowlands in Nepal and India. Since trade was restricted in the 1950s they have found work as high altitude porters, guides, cooks and other accessories to tourism and alpinism.