Defining features
Examples include quarry faces, road cuttings, bare soil and damaged retaining walls. They may be under construction, restoration or weathering. Distance from the slope foot, drainage and protective works provide more checkable information than whether the mountain looks complete.
How to recognize it
From a safe distance, check slope identifiers, maintenance notices and public works records, including new cracks, unusual runoff or reported rockfall after rain. A bare slope may have maintained drainage and reinforcement. Photographs alone cannot establish danger; qualified geotechnical assessment is needed.
Common confusions
Natural cliffs, reinforced slopes and uncontrolled fill differ. A distant notch does not establish a landslide path behind a house. Separate landscape impressions from slope instability; an outline cannot replace terrain, geology and rainfall information.
Folklore and sources
Reading an intact mountain as support and a scarred one as lost support is symbolic landscape interpretation, not a verified classical category with a universal formula. CEDD guidance supports maintenance and expert assessment, not predictions of illness or financial loss.
Traditional responses and practical improvements
Planting or screening can express a landscape preference, but do not excavate slopes, build retaining walls or alter drainage yourself. Obtain maintenance and assessment information; keep away and report danger signs. Hiding a slope does not remove rockfall or drainage problems.
Sources and further reading
These sources help clarify the concepts and their origins. Explaining a traditional term does not establish that it can predict outcomes.