[MacDorcha]

for something to be living, it must consume, reproduce (to make a larger population), and grow (in simplest terms)

if the mountains are alive, they will grow after they are produced, not shrink, like the Appalachians have. "parallel" means that the offsrping will grow in number AND equal in size the original.

[Doctor Stochastic]

..grow after they are produced, not shrink,...

The Himalayas are growing; they are young. The Appalachians are old; they are eroding. There's a whole cycle here.

I'm not claiming that I would use "life" to describe mountains; only that most proposed definitions of life are either too broad or too narrow.