Vernon Ashwort King, Jr., age 10, of Columbia., for his question:

Where are the highest mountains?

Let’s get the New Year off to a big start. The biggest mountains will be big enough, plus an imaginary trip to find it. Mountains are measured in feet above sea level. And 5,280 feet make one mile. The highest peak in South Carolina is Mt. Sassafras 3,560 feet tall. The highest peak in the U.S. is Mt. Whitney in the Sierras of California, 14,495 feet tall.

Most of the tall peaks in the U.S., however, belong to the Rockies of Colorado. This state has almost 50 peaks over 14,000 feet tall. But these giants are out‑topped by the mountains of Alaska. There stands snowy Mt. McKinley, 20,300 feet, the tallest tower in North America. Can South America beat this record? Yes, it can. Mt, Aconcagua, tallest of the Andes, stands 22,835 feet above sea level. Five of the Andes tower above 22,000 feet, 15 above 21,000 feet and 27 are taller than proud McKinley.

Can the Alps of Europe beat the Andes? No. Blanc, the tallest, is only 15,781 ‑ not too much taller than our Mt. Whitney. What's more, the Caucasus of the European section of the U.S.S.R, are taller than the spikey Alps. There, Mt, Elbrus towers up to 18,468 feet. Let’s try Africa. The tallest peak on the whole continent is Mt, Kilimanjaro in Tanganyika, 19,565 feet.

So far, the New World has the record with the towering, snow‑covered Andes. Let's dip down south and try the cold continent of Antarctic. The tallest mountain here is a grim peak called Mt. Lister, At 15,384 feet tall, he wins no records. What about Australia and the Indonesian regions? Australia has some Alps ‑ the tallest being 7,328 feet high. New Zealand has some Alps ‑ the tallest being 12,349 Tall, but not tall enough for the world's record.

What of growling Mauna Loa in Hawaii? This fiery lady, a volcano, is 13,698 feet tall. Taller still are the peaks of New Guinea. Mt. Carstensz in New Guinea holds the record for this part of the world at 16,404 feet ‑but not the world’s read.

For this we must go to the continent of Asia. There, the tallest peaks in the world are crowded together in a range of snow crowned mountains called the Himalayas. There is no question that here are the highest mountains in the world. Almost fifty of the snowy heads are higher than the highest of the Andes.

The Andes of the New World is the second highest mountain range on the earth. The highest range is in Asia of the Old World. Giant of the giants is Mt. Everest, some 29,141 feet above sea level ‑ give or take a few feet, for no one can be absolutely certain in all that drifting snow, Everest is more than five and a half miles tall.

The Himalayas stretch across the northern border of India. They form two parallel ranges with the cold dry plateau of Tibet between. The tallest peaks rest on the shoulders of the southern range. They are in semi‑tropical latitudes and their snows do not begin until 16,000 feet.

Above that level is a land of eternal snow. The name Himalaya bears this out. In Sanscrit, it means the home of the snow.