Mountain Day refers to three different and unrelated events: (1) Mountain Day, a student celebration in some colleges in the United States in which classes are cancelled without prior notice, and the student body heads to the mountains or a park, (2) International Mountain Day, held each year on 11 December, which was established by the UN General Assembly in 2003 to encourage

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

in mountains, and (3) Mountain Day, a national holiday in Japan as of 2016.In 2023 mountain day will happen on August 11th.

Mountain Day in the United States

Mountain Day dates back to at least 1838, when the students of

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

headed off to Mount Holyoke.

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

declared its Mountain Day in 1877.

Juniata College Juniata College is a private liberal arts college in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1876 as a co-educational school, it was the first college started by members of the Church of the Brethren as a center for vocational learning for those ...

established its Mountain Day in 1896, and

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...

students have been climbing

Mount Greylock Mount Greylock is a mountain located in the northwest corner of Massachusetts and is the highest point in the state. Its summit is in the western part of the town of Adams (near its border with Williamstown) in Berkshire County. Geologically ...

, the highest mountain in Massachusetts, to celebrate Mountain Day since the 1800s. Colby-Sawyer College's Mountain Day is stated to have started in the 1850s, although the first account of it in the student newspaper is not listed until June 1893.

Elmira College Elmira College is a private college in Elmira, New York. Founded as a college for women in 1855, it is the oldest existing college granting degrees to women that were the equivalent of those given to men. Elmira College became coeducational in a ...

instituted Mountain Day in 1918.

Hollins University Hollins University is a private university in Hollins, Virginia. Founded in 1842 as Valley Union Seminary in the historical settlement of Botetourt Springs, it is one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the United States. ...

has a similar tradition called Tinker Day on which people don costumes and hike Tinker Mountain.

International Mountain Day

December 11 Events Pre-1600 * 220 – Emperor Xian of Han is forced to abdicate the throne by Cao Cao's son Cao Pi, ending the Han dynasty. * 361 – Julian enters Constantinople as sole Roman Emperor. * 861 – Assassination of the Abbas ...

, "International Mountain Day", was designated by the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

in 2003. The General Assembly "encouraged the international community to organize events at all levels on that day to highlight the importance of sustainable mountain development." International Mountain Day is observed every year with a different theme relevant to

sustainable Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

mountain development.

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

is the U.N. organization mandated to lead observance of International Mountain Day. The theme for International Mountain Day 2010 was "Mountain minorities and

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

." It aims to raise awareness about indigenous peoples and minorities who live in mountain environments and the relevance of their

cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by soc ...

, traditions and customs. On International Mountain Day 2018, Josué Lorca, president of Venezuela’s National Parks Institute, traveled to the mountains of the Sierra Nevada de Mérida, to announce measures intended to lengthen the life of Venezuela's last remaining glacier.

Mountain Day in Japan

In May 2014, it was announced that Mountain Day will be celebrated as a public holiday every August 11, beginning in 2016. Supporters of the holiday included legislator Seishiro Eto and the Japanese Alpine Club. The legislation states that the holiday is to provide "opportunities to get familiar with mountains and appreciate blessings from mountains." As special arrangement for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, the 2020 date for Mountain Day was moved to August 10. With the Olympics and Paralympics postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government left this change in place for 2020 and passed an amendment to the Olympic and Paralympic Special Measures Act to make a corresponding change to the holiday in 2021, moving it to August 9.

References

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External links

International Mountain Day, 11 December
official UN page
International Mountain Day 2010
Public holidays in the United States Student culture Student culture in the United States Recurring events established in 1834 Outdoor recreation Environmental awareness days Mountains August observances December observances

Mountain Day in the United States

International Mountain Day

Mountain Day in Japan

See also

References

External links