Pizzo Rotondo is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

in the

Lepontine Alps The Lepontine Alps (, , ) are a mountain range in the north-western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais, Ticino, Canton of Uri, Uri and Graubünden) and Italy (Piedmont and Lombardy). The Simplon Tunnel, Simplon rail tunnel ...

. At 3,190 metres above sea level, it is the highest mountain lying on the border between the cantons of

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

and

Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

, as well as the highest summit of the Lepontine Alps lying between

Nufenen Pass Nufenen Pass (Italian: ''Passo della Novena'', German: ''Nufenenpass'') is the List of highest paved roads in Europe, second highest mountain pass with a paved road in Switzerland, with an elevation of 2,478 metres. It lies between the summits o ...

and Lukmanier Pass. The massif of Piz Rotondo separates the valleys of the upper Rhone (Valais) and upper

. About two kilometres north-east lies the Witenwasserenstock, which is the watershed between the basins of the Rhone, Po and

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

. On the north side lies a relatively large glacier named ''Gerengletscher'', which extends to the ridge of the Witenwasserenstock. On the south side, at Passo di Rotondo, lies a smaller glacier named ''Ghiacciaio del Pizzo Rotondo''. The first ascent by Viktor Haller and his guides on August 5, 1869, started from

Bedretto Bedretto () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and a village in the Val Bedretto, the upper most part of the river Ticino (river), Ticino. It belongs to the district of Leventina (district), Leventina in the Cantons of Switzerland, c ...

over the east face and the (by now nearly gone) Pesciora glacier. Only four days later, the second ascent took place, this time from the other site. F. Schläpfer and his guides Rudolf Elmer and Johann Kreuzer, started from Oberwald, and made the first ascent of the north summit via the long Geren valley and the Geren glacier. Only Elmer and Kreuzer traversed to the somewhat higher southern summit.

References

External links

Pizzo Rotondo on SummitpostPizzo Rotondo on Hikr
Mountains of the Alps Alpine three-thousanders Mountains of Switzerland Mountains of Valais Mountains of Ticino Ticino–Valais border Lepontine Alps {{Valais-mountain-stub

See also

References

External links