> Incidently if we're using the Alps as a model people mainly live in
> the valleys which may be relatively high up but aren't the dramatic
> mountains we're talking about. When I was in the Austrian Tyrol many
> years ago it was less rugged than most of the pennines, never mind
> Wales.
I'd be curious which part of the Tyrol you were in (I spend several weeks there each year in summer and winter). I've also been to Wales and the Pennines; I was NOT impressed by their "ruggedness".
Jeff