The Rieserferner Group ( it, Gruppo delle Vedrette di Ries, german: Rieserfernergruppe) is a mountain range in the Austrian Central Alps. Together with the

Ankogel Group The Ankogel Group (german: Ankogelgruppe) is a sub-group of the Central Eastern Alps. Together with the Goldberg Group, the Glockner Group, the Schober Group, the Kreuzeck Group, the Granatspitze Group, the Venediger Group, the Villgraten Mounta ...

, Goldberg Group,

Glockner Group The Glockner Group Reynolds, Kev (2005). ''Walking in the Alps'', 2nd ed., Cicerone, Singapore, p.409, . (german: Glocknergruppe) is a sub-group of the Austrian Central Alps in the Eastern Alps, and is located in the centre section of the High ...

, Schober Group,

Kreuzeck Group The Kreuzeck Group is a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps. It may be considered either a separate range or part of the larger High Tauern chain. Administratively, the range belongs to the Austrian states of Carinthia and, in the westernm ...

Granatspitze Group The Granatspitze Group (german: Granatspitzgruppe), sometimes also the Granatspitz Group, is a sub-group of the Central Alps within the Eastern Alps. Together with the Ankogel Group, the Goldberg Group, the Glockner Group, the Schober Group, ...

, Venediger Group and the

Villgraten Mountains The Villgraten Mountains (german: Villgratner Berge) or Deferegg Alps (''Deferegger Alpen''), also called the Defreggen Mountains (''Defreggengebirge'', archaically also with ''"ff"'') are a subgroup of the Austrian Central Alps within the Eastern ...

the group is part of the

High Tauern The High Tauern ( pl.; german: Hohe Tauern, it, Alti Tauri) are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern border of the Austrian states of ...

. The Rieserferner mountains extend across the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n state of

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

and the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

province of

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

( Trentino-South Tyrol region). The mountains mainly lie in South Tyrol, where the greater part is protected within the Rieserferner-Ahrn Nature Park. The Rieserferner Group forms the southwesternmost part of the High Tauern, its foothills running towards the southwest as far as

Bruneck Bruneck (; it, Brunico or Ladin: ''Bornech'' or ''Burnech''; la, Branecium or ''Brunopolis'' is the largest town in the Puster Valley in the Italian province of South Tyrol. Geography Bruneck rises up in the middle of a wide valley (perhaps ...

in the

Puster Valley The Puster Valley ( it, Val Pusteria ; german: Pustertal, ) is one of the largest longitudinal valleys in the Alps that runs in an east-west direction between Lienz in East Tyrol, Austria, and Mühlbach near Brixen in South Tyrol, Italy. The ...

. Its name is derived from the ''Rieserferner'', a

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

on the northern flank between the

Hochgall The Hochgall is a mountain of the Rieserferner group in the High Tauern. the summit is in South Tyrol, Italy, just 500 m from the Austrian border. Climbing history For the Austrian land survey of 1853-1854, Hermann van Acken and guides/helpers ...

(highest summit in the range at ) and the

Schneebiger Nock The Schneebiger Nock (Italian: ''Monte Nevoso''), in old literature also called the ''Ruthnerhorn'', is 3,358 metres high and, after the Hochgall, the second highest mountain of the Rieserferner Group, a range in the western part of the High Ta ...

(). The Rieserferner Group is rather small in comparison with other Alpine ranges. It is, however, popular with climbers and hikers due to its prominent and steep, partly glaciated summits.

Neighbouring ranges

The Rieserferner Group is bounded by the following other mountain ranges of the Alps: * Venediger Group (to the north) *

(to the southeast) *

Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form pa ...

(to the south) *

Zillertal Alps The Zillertal Alps ( it, Alpi Aurine; german: Zillertaler Alpen) are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps on the border of Austria and Italy. Name The range is named after the Zillertal (Ziller river valley) on its north. Geography The ...

(to the west)

Boundary

To the north, the

Klammljoch Klammljoch (el. 2288 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Alps on the border between Austria and Italy. It connects the Austrian state of Tyrol with the Italian province of South Tyrol, being located between Sankt Jakob in Defereggen and S ...

saddle forms the boundary. In the east it runs from there along the valley of the Arventalbach past the Jagdhausalm to its confluence with the Schwarzach. In the west the boundary of the range runs from the Klammljoch along the Klammlbach stream until it joins the Knuttenbach. In the east the boundary continues along the Schwarzach until its confluence with the Staller Almbach. In the southeast and south it runs along the Staller Almbach to the

Staller Saddle Staller Saddle (german: Staller Sattel; it, Passo Stalle), at , is a high mountain pass in the High Tauern range of the Central Eastern Alps, connecting the Defereggen Valley in East Tyrol with the Antholz Valley in South Tyrol. The pass for ...

. From there it goes along the Antholz valley to Olang in the

Pustertal The Puster Valley ( it, Val Pusteria ; german: Pustertal, ) is one of the largest longitudinal valleys in the Alps that runs in an east-west direction between Lienz in East Tyrol, Austria, and Mühlbach near Brixen in South Tyrol, Italy. The Sou ...

and downstream along the Rienz to

. In the west the boundary is formed by the valleys of the Tauferer Tal and the Reintal. It continues along the Knuttental to the confluence with the Klammbach. The ''Klammljoch'' links the Rieserferner Group to the Venediger Group. The ''Staller Saddle'' is the link to the Villgraten Mountains.

Summits

In the Rieserferner Group there are about 30 high points over 3,000 metres. The best-known and most important peaks are the: *

() *

() * Wildgall () * Magerstein () * Lenkstein () * Barmer Spitze () * Fenneregg () * Schwarze Wand () * Patscher Spitze () * Roßhorn () * Große Windschar (Lanebachspitz) (), western "cornerstone" of the group * Dreieckspitze (), northernmost

three-thousander Three-thousanders are mountains with a height of between , but less than above sea level. Similar terms are commonly used for mountains of other height brackets e. g. four-thousanders or eight-thousanders. In Britain, the term may refer to mo ...

of the group

Literature

* Werner Beikircher: ''Rieserfernergruppe'' (Alpenvereinsführer)

Bergverlag Rother Bergverlag Rother is a German publisher with its headquarters in Oberhaching, Upper Bavaria. Since 1950 the company, that formerly went under the name of ''Bergverlag Rudolf Rother'', has published the Alpine Club Guides in cooperation with the ...

, 1983.

References

External links

{{Authority control Mountain ranges of the Alps Mountain ranges of Tyrol (state) Mountain ranges of South Tyrol Rieserferner-Ahrn Nature Park