The Ortles Alps in the Val Venosta valley, an alpenstock which is 50 km long and 40 km wide and includes nearly 100 glaciers, is dominated by “King Ortles”, their highest elevation
Image gallery: Ortles Alps
The Ortles Alps - Gruppo Ortles-Cevedale in Italian and Ortler-Gruppe in German - delimit the Val Venosta valley towards south and comprises the glacial area from the Passo dello Stelvio mountain pass to the Val Martello valley in South Tyrol and the Passo del Tonale pass in the Trentino. Nearly all of the moutain chain belongs to the 53,447 hectares big Stelvio National Park. The highest peak of the mountain range is the 3,905 m high Ortles. This majestic mountain is completely situated on South Tyrolean territory. Its three striking chines, the east, north and south chine, characterise this mountain, which, according to legends, is a giant that turned into stone.
A total of about 70 mountain peaks feature more than 3,000 m a.s.l., while "King Ortles" is the highest peak of the whole region. Other major peaks are Mt. Gran Zebrù (3,851 m a.s.l.), Mt. Cevedale (3,778 m a.s.l.), Mt. Palòn de la Mare (3,703 m a.s.l.) and the Cima di Trafoi (3,565 m a.s.l.). In 2018 the Ortler High Route was inaugurated, stretching around the Stelvio National Park and leading in 7 stages from the South Tyrolean Val Venosta valley to the Valtelline valley in Lombardy.
Highest peak: Mt. Ortles (3,905 m a.s.l.), first ascent on September 27, 1804, by Josef Pichler
Major mountains: Mt. Cevedale, Mt. Gran (Big) Zebrù, Mt. Zebrù, Mt. Palòn de la Mare, Cima di Trafoi, Thurwieser Peak
Area: South Tyrol, Trentino, Sondrio (all of them in Italy), Grisons (Switzerland)
