Geography Case Studies

Location: Austria - France - Germany - Italy - Liechtenstein - Slovenia - Switzerland

Farming: Transhumance Farming - In Summer animals graze in the mountains, in Winter they feed on the valley floor. Steep upland areas good for farming goats for milk.

HEP: Deep, Narrow Valleys can easily be dammed, providing cheap renewable energy from snow melting. e.g. Grande Dixence Dam, Valais, Switzerland - 2069MW - 400,000 Households

Mining: Mines like the Erzberg Mine, Austria provide salt, iron gold, copper etc. Brings in money.

Forestry: Trees like the 'Scots Pine' are grown and logged for wood which can be sold.

Tourism: 100 million tourists per year. 70% come for skiing and snowboarding. New villages like Tignes, France have popped up to cater for tourists. Ski lifts, cable cars, chalets etc. are common.

Adaptations: Difficult terrain is overcome by tunnels e.g. Lötschberg Base Tunnel, Switzerland. Steep, snowy relief is prone to avalanches, so trees and man made defences combat this.