The world's great peaks in one grid
Mountains are the planet at its most dramatic, and this word search gathers the giants. You'll track down famous peaks — EVEREST, KILIMANJARO and the MATTERHORN — sweeping ranges from the ALPS to the ANDES and HIMALAYAS, and the words every climber knows, from SUMMIT to GLACIER.
Each puzzle pulls a fresh selection from the list, so the range is redrawn every time you play — gentle on Easy, and a Hard-mode climb once the diagonals and backwards words appear.
How mountains are made
Most of the world's great ranges were pushed up by the slow crash of tectonic plates — vast slabs of the Earth's crust grinding into each other over millions of years. That collision is still raising the HIMALAYAS, home to EVEREST, the highest peak above sea level at about 8,849 metres. Other mountains, like FUJI and ETNA, are volcanoes built from layers of erupted rock.
Climbers talk about reaching the SUMMIT (the very top) by following a RIDGE or a SLOPE, crossing a frozen GLACIER and watching for a sudden AVALANCHE. The higher you go, the thinner the air — that's ALTITUDE, and it's why the tallest peaks are so hard and dangerous to climb.
A peak classroom theme
Mountains are a favourite geography topic, packed with great vocabulary, and a word search makes it stick — perfect for lessons on landscapes, plate tectonics, continents and the natural world.
With no timer, it's a relaxed climb that suits classroom and quiz night alike.
Play, print or make your own
Play online, or print a PDF pack for a geography lesson. Want a grid of just one range, or the famous 'seven summits'? Use our Make Your Own tool to choose the peaks and print matching copies for the class.