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French Alps & the Jura Mountains

High up in the French Alps, it's enthralling to imagine the forces that shaped these colossal peaks. The African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided some 35 million years ago, forcing the land skyward into a 1000km chain of saw-edged mountains.

Mountains and freeriders at Aiguille du Midi in the French Alps

©gorillaimages/Shutterstock

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