Abstract The Himalayan–Tibetan orogen provides one of the best natural laboratories in which to examine the nature and dynamics of landscape development within continent–continent collision zones. Many new tectonic–climatic–geomorphological theories and models have emerged and/or have been greatly influenced as a consequence of the study of the region and the quest to understand its geomorphological development. These include models of the interactions between tectonics, climate and surfice processes, notably, the influence of climate on surface uplift by denudational unloading; the limiting of topography by glaciation (the glacial buzz-saw model); localized uplift at syntaxes by enhanced fluvial and glacial erosion that, in turn, weaken the lithosphere, enhancing surface uplift and exhumation (the tectonic aneurysm model); climate-driven out-of-sequence thrusting and crustal channel flow; glacial damming leading to differential erosion and uplift; paraglaciation; and the influence of extreme events such as earthquakes, landslides, and floods as major formative processes. The development of new technologies, including satellite remote sensing and global positioning systems, and analytical methods such as numerical dating is now allowing these theories and models to be tested and will inevitably lead to new paradigms.