Sierra Madre Occidental Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through Northwestern and Western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of North America, Central America, South America and Antarctica. The Spanish name "sierra madre" means "mother mountains" and "occidental" means "western" in English, with these being the "Western Mother Mountains". To the east, from the Spanish "oriental" meaning
Chola Mountains Chola Mountains The Chola Mountains, also romanized as the Trola Mountains, are a northern subrange of the Shaluli Mountains in western Sichuan Province，China. The mountains were once at the centre of the Kingdom of Derge and many remnant Tibetan Buddhist monasteries can be found in the mountain range's valleys. The Chinese transliteration of the Chola Mountains is "Que Er Shan" (). The Chola Mountains are named after the primary pass crossing the range, Cho La or Tro La. Cho La in Tibetan means "Lake Pass". However, others claim, Chola is just another name for snow mountain, given by local Tibetans.