Mountains are imposing and dazzling wonders that can also be extremely humbling, particularly when you try to climb them—or fly on dragons among their peaks and crags. This happens quite often in Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing and its sequels, which tell the story of a girl named Violet Sorrengail who is forced to join a military academy called Basgiath War College, where the primary weapons of choice happen to be dragons.
Directly behind Basgiath is the Vale, a mountainous valley inhabited by dragons. To reach the Vale, students have to cross the Gauntlet, a treacherous obstacle course designed to weed out weaker students, sometimes with deadly consequences. If you read the description of this course and thought, I’d love to do something like that, then real-world mountain climbing and bouldering might actually be for you.
Basgiath is located in the kingdom of Navarre, which borders the rival kingdom of Poromiel, and each one of these kingdoms is described as being absolutely packed with gigantic, intimidating mountains. While dragons may not fly across the Earth, our planet is filled with looming mountain ranges that certainly look like they could be inhabited by fire-breathing beasts and their emotionally tempestuous riders. Read on to discover five mountainous destinations that could be straight out of Fourth Wing.
Annapurna I, Himalayas, Nepal
This list would not be complete without mentioning the Himalayas, which are home to a number of the world’s tallest peaks. Soaring above all other mountains on Earth is Mount Everest, which ascends to 29,031 feet at its much-discussed peak. The Himalayas are also home to many more of the world’s tallest mountains, and this incredibly treacherous slate of peaks claims the lives of numerous expert mountaineers each year. While Mount Everest might make for a tantalizing goal for adventurers looking to prove themselves, the mountain Annapurna I might fit better with those looking to have their own Fourth Wing-esque adventure while avoiding the crowds and commercialization that plagues Everest.
Here, hikers can trek through its lush valleys and make their way across incredible hanging bridges, which might give you the sensation of flying on the back of the dragon when the strong winds blow and the whole thing starts to shake and groan. Of course, you could also try to make your way higher, up towards the mountain’s barren, snowy peak—though you’ll probably want to avoid going too high, unless you’re willing to face an avalanche-plagued peak that is often regarded as the most dangerous in the world.
Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau, Interlaken, Switzerland
While it might not be possible to actually ride a dragon, at least in this dimension, there are certainly many ways to simulate the process of flying through the air—or falling very fast from very high in the sky. Skydiving is one such way, and many mountain ranges offer this experience even to newcomers.
One such place is Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau, three soaring mountains in the Swiss Alps where skydivers can leap from roughly 13,000 feet and free-fall for up to a minute at a time before the parachute kicks in, leading to five to seven minutes of coasting downwards and soaking in the view of the mountains’ cliffs and crags. If you ever dreamed of experiencing what it might feel like to fall from a dragon’s back, only to be heroically rescued by one at the last moment, this might be the closest thing to that experience you’ll get in this lifetime.
The Alps themselves are also forces to be reckoned with, occupying over seven hundred miles of snow-covered peaks that also happen to be steeped in lore about magical creatures—including legends about dragons said to soar among some Swiss peaks. The abundance of dragon myths originating from this region might have something to do with geology, as many of the mountains’ spiny, spiky outcroppings do resemble dragons. Still, the region is home to countless tales about dragons, and some local cultures even still believe that dragons and other monsters haunt their mountains today.
Mount Thor, Baffin Islands, Canada
With their snow-capped peaks and green valleys, many of Canada’s mountains match up fairly well to descriptions of the Vale, the valley where the dragons behind Basgiath live. In particular, the strangely slanted Mount Thor certainly looks like a peak that a falling amateur dragon-rider could find themselves sliding down at extreme speeds while undergoing a brutal Basgiath training.
This mountain holds the title of the world’s tallest vertical cliff, with its west face peaking 4,100 feet above the ground, and its average overhang is actually 15 degrees over vertical. Mount Thor is located in Canada’s wild and rugged Auyuittuq National Park. Its most famous peak might be Mount Asgard, which James Bond leaps from in the opening of the movie The Spy Who Loved Me, but Mount Thor—which takes its name from the Norse god of thunder—certainly presents an obstacle that would throw even Basgiath’s greatest warriors for a loop if they found themselves sliding down its face.
Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain
In Fourth Wing, Violet’s sister Mira Sorrengail is stationed at an outpost hidden in a mountain range called Montserrat. Interestingly, there is a real-world mountain range that bears the same name. This one is located in Catalonia, Spain, and it is known for its spire-like peaks as well as for the monastery tucked within it.
From above, the Montserrat Monastery does look a bit like a fortress or even a military outpost, and many fans have speculated that it inspired the eponymous Fourth Wing location. Observant fans have also noted that Navarre—the name of the kingdom Violet lives in—is a real location in Spain that was once also the name of a medieval kingdom based there. Additionally, Basque mythology describes a shape-shifting Earth goddess named Mari who is the head of all the gods. In Fourth Wing, a goddess named Amari is described as the queen of the gods.
Aconcagua, Argentina
This list also would not be complete without mentioning the Andes, which comprise the world’s longest mountain range—unless you’re counting the many unimaginably immense mountain ranges lurking under the surface of the ocean, of course. The Andes stretch over 4,300 miles from north to south and present a formidable wall that spans seven countries.
Their tallest peak is Aconcagua, a hulking beast of a mountain surrounded by snow-capped peaks speckled with pristine green valleys at their bases. Aconcagua—which is the highest peak in the Americas—reaches a cool 22,801 feet at its peak. It is considered one of the most accessible of the Seven Summits, which is a name for the highest peaks on all seven continents.
The Andes also have their own mythological dragons of sorts, with some Inca stories describing a dragon-like creature called the Amaru who travels between the earthly plane and the spiritual realms and helps unify them.
The Andes are also home to a great number of lizards, including so-called dwarf dragons. These small and scaly creatures might be one of the closer relatives we have to dragons on Earth, only without the wings, the fiery breath, and the sophisticated communication capacities of Fourth Wing’s winged cast of characters.