Alpine Club Classification Of The Eastern Alps
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The Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps (, AVE) is a common division of the
Eastern Alps The Eastern Alps are usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley, up to the Splügen Pass at the Main chain of the Alps, Alpine divide, and down the Liro (Como), Liro River to Lake Como in the south. ...
into 75
mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...
s, based on the Moriggl Classification (ME) first published in 1924 by the
German and Austrian Alpine Club The German and Austrian Alpine Club (, DuÖAV) was a merger of the German, Austrian and German Bohemian Alpine Club that existed from 1873 to 1938. History In 1862 the ''Sektion Austria'' was founded in Vienna by the academics Paul Grohmann, Fr ...
. The present-day division established for the German-speaking world (less
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
) was compiled by the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
, Austrian and
South Tyrol Alpine Club The South Tyrol Alpine Club (, ), abbreviated AVS, is an association of German and Ladin-speaking mountain climbers in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Founded in 1946, it is subdivided into 36 sections and 58 local divisions. The AVS is based in Bol ...
s and published in 1984 and is also used for the basic numbering of
Alpine Club map Alpine Club maps (, often abbreviated to ''AV-Karten'' i.e. AV maps) are especially detailed maps for summer and winter mountain climbers, hikers, and ski tourers. They are predominantly published at a scale of 1:25.000, although some sheets have ...
s for
mountaineering Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...
.


Classification system

The Eastern Alps are divided into four main areas: the
Northern Limestone Alps The Northern Limestone Alps (), also called the Northern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the Eastern Alps north of the Central Eastern Alps located in Austria and the adjacent Bavarian lands of southeastern Germany. The distinction from the ...
, the
Central Eastern Alps The Central Eastern Alps (), also referred to as Austrian Central Alps () or just Central Alps, comprise the main chain of the Eastern Alps in Austria and the adjacent regions of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy and Slovenia. South of them is ...
, the
Southern Limestone Alps The Southern Limestone Alps (, ), also called the Southern Calcareous Alps, are the mountain range, ranges of the Eastern Alps south of the Central Eastern Alps mainly located in northern Italy and the adjacent lands of Austria and Slovenia. The ...
, and the Western Limestone Alps. These four main ranges are further divided into 75 sub-groups. The Northern Limestone and Central Eastern Alps are the largest with 27 groups each, while the Southern Limestone Alps have 15. The six groups of the Western Limestone Alps are also classed with the Central Eastern Alps. The classification is based principally on
orographic Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology,'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader disc ...
considerations and takes into account the regional usage in terms of the names of the mountain groups. The amendments of 1984 address a number of
geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...
problems and have dropped many of the 1924 Morrigl groups, making more precise sub-divisions for them in other areas. These changes are evident from the missing serial numbers and sub-division letters. The Western Limestone Alps were added, an area which is not covered by the three Alpine Clubs and actually is a continuation of the Southern and
Swiss Alps The Alps, Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main Physica ...
. Unlike the previous scheme, the
Salzburg Slate Alps The Salzburg Slate Alps () are a mountain range of the Eastern Alps, in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. Situated within the greywacke zone, they could be regarded either as part of the Northern Limestone Alps or of the Central E ...
were assigned to the Northern Limestone Alps as they are part of the greywacke zone that forms the
basement A basement is any Storey, floor of a building that is not above the grade plane. Especially in residential buildings, it often is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the Furnace (house heating), furnace, water heating, ...
of the Limestone Alps. The
Ortler Alps The Ortler Alps ( ; ; ) are a mountain range of the :Southern Limestone Alps, Southern Limestone Alps mountain group in the Central Eastern Alps, in Italy and Switzerland. Geography The Ortler Alps are separated from: # the Sesvenna Alps in the n ...
and the Sobretta- Gavia range were grouped into the Southern Limestone Alps though, geologically, they are north of the Periadriatic Seam and ranked part of the Austroalpine nappes.


Geographical characteristics

The Eastern Alps extend across six European countries:
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...
,
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
and
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
. With 57 mountain groups, Austria has the largest share. It is followed by Italy with 23 and Switzerland with ten. There are seven mountain ranges in Germany and four in Slovenia. Liechtenstein shares one group. The only
four-thousander A four-thousander is a mountain summit that is at least 4,000 metres above sea level. The term is popular among European mountaineers and climbers because the highest peaks in Europe fall into this category, and the summits of four-thousanders a ...
and the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps is the
Piz Bernina Piz Bernina (Romansh language, Romansh, , ) is the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps, the highest point of the Bernina Range, and the highest peak in the Rhaetian Alps. It rises and is located south of Pontresina in the Bernina Region and ne ...
at . Thus the
Bernina Range The Bernina Range is a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland and northern Italy. It is considered to be part of the Rhaetian Alps within the Central Eastern Alps. It is one of the highest ranges of the Alps, covered with many glaciers ...
is the highest of all the groups in the Eastern Alps. Next are the
Ortler Alps The Ortler Alps ( ; ; ) are a mountain range of the :Southern Limestone Alps, Southern Limestone Alps mountain group in the Central Eastern Alps, in Italy and Switzerland. Geography The Ortler Alps are separated from: # the Sesvenna Alps in the n ...
, whose highest peak, Mt.
Ortler Ortler (; ) is, at above sea level, the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps outside the Bernina Range. It is the main peak of the Ortler Range. It is the highest point of the Southern Limestone Alps, of South Tyrol in Italy, of Tyrol overall ...
at , is the highest mountain in South Tyrol. The third highest range is the Glockner Group with the highest mountain in Austria: the Grossglockner is high. Another 22 groups reach a height of 3,000 metres. The only group in the Northern Limestone Alps with a three-thousander is the Lechtal Alps, whose highest summit is the Parseierspitze at . 39 groups are over 2000 metres high. Seven of the groups exceed 1000 metres—except for the
Vienna Woods The Vienna Woods (, ) are forested highlands that form the northeastern foothills of the Northern Limestone Alps in the states of Lower Austria and Vienna. The and range of hills is heavily wooded and a popular recreation area with the Viennese ...
, whose highest mountain, the Schöpfl, just reaches an altitude of .


Mountain groups as per the Alpine Club classification

See
List of mountain groups in the Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps This list of the mountain groups in the Eastern Alps shows all 75 mountain range, mountain groups and chains in the Eastern Alps as per the Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps (AVE) of 1984. The Alpine Clubs divide the Eastern Alps into ...


Other classifications

Up to today, there is no internationally accepted classification of the Alps. Beside the common AVE arrangement, the
Swiss Alpine Club The Swiss Alpine Club (, , , ) is the largest mountaineering club in Switzerland. It was founded in 1863 in Olten and it is now composed of 110 sections with 174,726 members (2023). These include the Association of British Members of the Swiss ...
subdivides the Swiss Alps (including the East Alpine parts) along
cantonal The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the Federated state, member states of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important ...
boundaries, while Austrian
hydrography Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primary ...
uses a slightly different orographic system. In
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
the segmentation is usually based on the 1926 '' Partizione delle Alpi''. In 2005, a new proposal was made by the Italian Alpinist, Sergio Marazzi, to merge the competing systems of the
Alpine states The Alpine states or Alpine countries are eight countries associated with the Alpine region, as defined by the Alpine Convention of 1991: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Slovenia, and Switzerland. Territory The terri ...
into the ''Suddivisione Orografica Internazionale Unificata del Sistema Alpino'' ( SOIUSA), but this has not gained a general acceptance.


Sources

* *


External links

* {{cite web , author=Mathias Zehring , url=http://www.bergalbum.de/alpeneinteilung_2.htm , title=Alpenvereinseinteilung der Ostalpen , work=bergalbum.de , access-date=26 August 2009 Alps Alpine clubs . ! Geographic classifications