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.
This then leads us once again into the realm of the "abstract"
we know what it is, even without knowing what it is. why/how?
the Himalayas aren't "growing" though. according to plate tectonics, they are simply moving up. also, what energy do the Himalayas and the Appalachian Mountains consume while "growing"?
how do they reproduce? (losing moles from A to make B does not mean A is reproducing, it means it is getting used up, or consumed.)