The distribution of mountain permafrost in the northern hemisphere depends on topographic and climatic factors, ranging from the maritime conditions of Iceland over transitional conditions in southern Norway to continental conditions in Mongolia, and from alpine mountains to paleic mountains. This study discusses the different environmental factors that govern permafrost distribution based on personal studies and a literature review. It is hypothesized that the thermal state of the ground is an important parameter to understand the time and spatial scale of sediment transfer and landscape development in cold mountainous regions. This is exemplified for the cases of rock walls, glacier forefields, rock glaciers, and the case of sediment remobilization due to glacier advance. The authors propose that thorough knowledge of the ground thermal regime is an important basis for addressing sediment budgets in space and time.