Thirty-Five-Question Flash Check

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Name the three parallel ranges of the Himalaya, north to south. — Himadri (Greater Himalayas), Himachal (Lesser Himalayas), Shivalik (Outer Himalayas).
Which range is the youngest and lowest of the three, and what is it mostly made of? — The Shivalik/Outer Himalayas; unconsolidated sediment eroded off the two ranges behind it.
Name the four ranges outside the three-wall Himalayan system covered in this book. — Karakoram, Zaskar, Ladakh, Pir Panjal.
What are the longitudinal valleys between the Shivaliks and the Lesser Himalayas called, and name the most famous example. — Duns; Dehradun.
Which peak is India's highest, and what is its world rank? — Kangchenjunga, ~8,586 m; world's 3rd-highest.
Which peak is the highest located entirely within India, and why isn't Kangchenjunga that answer? — Nanda Devi (~7,816 m); Kangchenjunga straddles the India-Nepal border.
In what year, and by whom, was Kangchenjunga first climbed? — 25 May 1955, by a British expedition (Joe Brown and George Band reaching the summit first), who stopped short of the true top out of respect for local belief.
Which peak held the world altitude-climbed record before Nanda Devi's first ascent, and in what year was it first climbed? — Kamet, first climbed 1931 (the first peak over 7,620 m/25,000 ft ever climbed).
Which peak sits on the Actual Ground Position Line and is inseparable from the Siachen conflict? — Saltoro Kangri.
Name the pass that connects the Jammu plains to the Kashmir Valley, and the one that connects the Kashmir Valley onward to Ladakh. — Banihal Pass; Zoji La.
Which Ladakh pass is popularly (though disputedly) marketed as the world's highest motorable pass, and which newer pass has challenged that claim? — Khardung La; Umling La (and Chang La is also a contender).
Which Himachal pass marks the point where the Sutlej river enters India from Tibet? — Shipki La.
Which pass is now bypassed by the Atal Tunnel, and what two river basins does it separate? — Rohtang Pass; separates the Beas basin (Kullu side) from the Chenab basin (Lahaul-Spiti side).
Name the two Uttarakhand passes leading toward Tibet that have been closed to trade since the 1962 war. — Niti Pass and (historically) Mana Pass's trade function; Niti is the classic "closed since 1962" answer.
Which Uttarakhand pass is at the centre of a live India-Nepal-China boundary dispute, and what pilgrimage route uses it? — Lipulekh Pass; the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.
Which Sikkim pass reopened for trade in 2006, and which one remains closed since 1962? — Nathu La reopened (2006); Jelep La remains closed.
Which pass did the 13th Dalai Lama use to flee into India in 1910? — Jelep La.
Which Arunachal pass is linked to the WWII-era Stilwell (Ledo) Road? — Pangsau Pass.
Which Arunachal pass was the site of Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat's 1962 stand, and which tunnel now runs beneath it? — Se La (Sela Pass); the Sela Tunnel, inaugurated March 2024.
Which glacier is widely cited as the world's second-longest outside the polar regions, and what operation secured it for India in 1984? — Siachen Glacier; Operation Meghdoot.
What ambiguity in the 1972 Simla Agreement is usually blamed for the Siachen dispute? — The Agreement defined the Line of Control only up to point NJ9842 and then said merely "thence north to the glaciers," without specifying which ridge line that meant.
Which glacier is the traditional source of the Ganga, and what is its snout called? — Gangotri Glacier; the snout is called Gaumukh.
Which river does the Yamunotri Glacier feed, and which pilgrimage circuit is it part of? — The Yamuna; the Char Dham Yatra.
Which glacier is the source of the Teesta river, and in which state does it lie? — Zemu Glacier, Sikkim.
Name India's most closely instrumented "benchmark" glacier for long-term climate mass-balance monitoring. — Chhota Shigri Glacier, Himachal Pradesh.
Which two Uttarakhand glaciers sit in the Kumaon Himalaya rather than Garhwal, and which rivers do they feed? — Pindari (feeds the Pindar, joining the Alaknanda) and Milam (feeds the Goriganga).
In 2017, which plateau saw a prolonged India-China military standoff, and which country's territorial claim was the underlying trigger? — Doklam plateau; Bhutan's disputed claim against China (India intervened citing its security understanding with Bhutan).
Name the four strategic tunnels covered in this book and the pass each bypasses. — Atal Tunnel (Rohtang Pass), Sela Tunnel (Se La), Zoji La Tunnel (Zoji La, under construction), Z-Morh Tunnel (the Sonamarg approach before Zoji La).
Which non-Himalayan range's highest peak is Guru Shikhar, and what is its approximate elevation? — The Aravalli Range; ~1,722 m, near Mount Abu, Rajasthan.
Which peak is the highest in the Western Ghats and in South India, and in which state does it lie? — Anamudi, ~2,695 m, Kerala.
Which mountain was the first peak over 7,000 m ever climbed, and in what year — and how is that different from Kamet's record? — Trisul, 1907; Trisul's record was for crossing 7,000 m, while Kamet's 1931 record was specifically for crossing 7,620 m (25,000 ft).
What natural process caused both the 2013 Kedarnath and 2021 Chamoli disasters, and which glacier fed the lake that breached above Kedarnath? — Glacial/glacial-lake instability (a GLOF-type event at Kedarnath, a rock-ice avalanche at Chamoli); the Chorabari Glacier fed Gandhi Sarovar, the lake that breached above Kedarnath.
Why was Zoji La's winter closure a specific strategic vulnerability during the 1999 Kargil War? — Forward heights above Dras and Kargil are normally vacated each winter because Zoji La's closure cuts off resupply; Pakistani forces occupied that vacated ground before the intrusion was discovered in May 1999.
Name the highest peak of the Nilgiri Hills and the highest peak of the Eastern Ghats, with approximate elevations. — Doddabetta, ~2,637 m (Nilgiri Hills, Tamil Nadu); Mahendragiri, ~1,500 m (Eastern Ghats, Odisha).
Which Arunachal Pradesh pass functions today as an officially designated Border Personnel Meeting point between the Indian Army and China's PLA? — Bum La Pass.

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