Scenario archetypes reveal risks and opportunities for global mountain futures

•Multiscale, systemic transformative adaptation needed in MtSES for desirable futures.•Archetypes sufficiently distinct to facilitate active engagement in futures thinking.•Desirable futures of conservation, income diversification, cultural heritage, tourism.•Undesirable futures of land degradation, biodiversity/cultural loss, climate change.•Four clusters related to wealth, inequality, temperature characterise archetypes.