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19-606: The Acherkogel is a mountain in the Austrian Alps with a 3,008 m above sea level (AA) high summit. It is the northernmost three-thousander in the state of Tyrol. It dominates the village of Oetz in the lower valley of the River Ötz , where high rock faces rise to the northwest and southwest. To the west, a sharp ridge leads down to the Achplatte (2,423 m) and Habicher Wand (2,176 m), another ridge strikes northeast to

38-606: A few glaciated mountains are under 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) (the Dachstein , the easternmost glaciated mountain in the Alps, is, at 2,995 metres (9,826 ft), not a three-thousander). In the Mediterranean, however, the three-thousanders remain free of ice and, in the tropics, they are almost insignificant from a climatic perspective; here the snow line lies at around 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) to 5,000 metres (16,000 ft), and in

57-701: Is drained by the rivers Dora Baltea , Sesia and Toce , tributaries of the Po . The Swiss side is drained by the Rhône . The Great St Bernard Tunnel , under the Great St Bernard Pass , leads from Martigny, Switzerland to Aosta . The main chain ( watershed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Adriatic Sea ) runs from west to east on the border between Italy (south) and Switzerland (north). From Mont Vélan ,

76-606: Is well under it. Liechtenstein , despite being the only country lying entirely within the Alps, has no 3,000ers on its territory. Apart from the Alps, the dominant range in Europe – if one excludes the Caucasus , which otherwise, in Mount Elbrus (5,642 m), would have the highest mountain in the continent – only the following ranges have three-thousanders: Musala at 2,925 m, the highest mountain in southern Europe (i.e. excluding

95-672: The Dolomites (about 50 peaks). So the ranges of the Alps that contain mountains over the 3,000 m mark comprise roughly two thirds of the area, the 3,000er zone in the Western Alps coming much closer to the edge of the Alpin region than in the Eastern Alps with their extensive system of foothills. The easternmost 3,000er is over 200 kilometres (120 mi) from the Pannonian Alpine perimeter,

114-467: The High Tauern (from west to east: Großer Hafner 3,076 metres (10,092 ft), Lanischhafner 3,018 metres (9,902 ft), Lanischeck 3,022 metres (9,915 ft), Großer or Malteiner Sonnblick 3,030 metres (9,940 ft), and Mittlerer Sonnblick 3,000 metres (9,800 ft)). The northernmost 3,000ers are in the northern chains of the High Tauern , Zillertal , Ötztal , and Stubai Alps (as well as

133-600: The Iberian Peninsula ), does not come close to the mark. The Apennine Mountains reach 2,912 m in the Gran Sasso . The Dinaric Alps , Carpathian Mountains , Sistema Central and Cantabrian Mountains are less than 2,700 m high, and the other ranges in Europe are below 2,500 m. Wallis Alps The Pennine Alps ( French : Alpes Pennines , German : Walliser Alpen , Italian : Alpi Pennine , Latin : Alpes Poeninae ), sometimes referred to as

152-825: The Lechtal Alps at 3,036 metres (9,961 ft) is the only three-thousander in the Northern Limestone Alps . In the Alps or Pyrenees, expeditions to areas of over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), with their often steep mountainsides and sudden changes in weather conditions, require mountaineers to have considerable experience and weatherproof equipment, which distinguishes them from ascents of many two-thousanders. The term "easy three-thousander" ( Leichte Dreitausender ) or "Hikable three-thousander" ( Wanderdreitausender ) describes mountains above 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) with routes that do not pose any particular challenges. Typical "easy" three-thousanders, for example, include

171-768: The Piz Boe (3,152 metres (10,341 ft)) in South Tyrol, which is an hour's walk from the Pordoi Cable Car, or the 3,033 metres (9,951 ft) high Piz Umbrail , accessible from the Umbrail Pass . Amongst the highest easy three-thousanders in the Alps are the Üsser Barrhorn (3,620 metres (11,880 ft)) in the Wallis Alps and the Monte Vioz (3,645 metres (11,959 ft), southern Ortler Alps ). For ascents of these mountains

190-892: The Valais Alps (which are just the Northern Swiss part of the Pennine Alps), are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps . They are located in Italy (the Aosta Valley and Piedmont ) and Switzerland ( Valais ). The Pennine Alps are amongst the three highest major subranges of the Alps, together with the Bernese Alps and the Graian Alps that include the Mont Blanc massif . The Italian side

209-516: The 2,894 m high Maningkogel. Another sharp ridge heads southeast to the 2,954 m high Wechnerkogel. In the main, the Acherkogel has the character of a rocky peak, only to the north and east are there small snowfields . It was first climbed on 24 August 1881 by Ludwig Purtscheller from the southeast and south ridge over a route that has not been used since. His climbing partner, the chamois hunter Franz Schnaiter from Kühtai , stayed behind on

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228-739: The Parseierspitze in the Lechtal Alps ). The southernmost 3,000ers are on the main chain of the Maritime Alps (Argentara Group), the Mercantour and the Pelat Group with about a dozen main peaks over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) above sea level. In the eastern Alps the southern boundary lies in the Bergamo Alps (3 main summits), of the Adamello–Presanella Group (about a dozen) and

247-623: The dry continental areas (Trans-Himalayas, Andes) it may be up to 6,500 metres (21,300 ft) high. The designation "three-thousander" is often used for touristic reasons where only a few individual summits exceed this height – e. g. in the Southern Alps , in the eastern part of Austria , in the Limestone Alps , in the Pyrenees or the rest of Europe . For example, the Parseierspitze in

266-470: The first high summit east of St Bernard Pass , the chain rarely goes below 3000 metres and contains many four-thousanders such as Matterhorn or Monte Rosa . The valleys are quite similar on both side of the border, being generally oriented perpendicular to the main chain and descending progressively into the Rhône Valley on the north and the Aosta Valley on the south. Unlike many other mountain ranges,

285-642: The higher peaks are often located outside the main chain and found themselves between the northern valleys ( Grand Combin , Weisshorn , Mischabel , Weissmies ). The chief peaks of the Pennine Alps are: Main glaciers : The chief passes of the Pennine Alps are: Some regional nature parks , like the Parco Naturale Alta Valsesia (6,511 ha - Piedmont , IT), the Riserva Naturale Mont Mars (390 ha - Aosta Valley , IT) and

304-618: The main risk is the lack of acclimatisation at these heights. The highest technically accessible three-thousanders in the Alps (and also the highest cable cars in Europe) are the Klein Matterhorn (3,883 metres (12,740 ft)) near Zermatt and the Aiguille du Midi (3,842 metres (12,605 ft)) on Mont Blanc. The easternmost three-thousanders in the Alps are in the Hafner Group in the east of

323-632: The south ridge when the climbing became very exposed. Less frequented routes are: Klier, Heinrich; Walter Klier (1980). Alpenvereinsführer Stubaier Alpen (in German) (9th ed.). Munich: Bergverlag Rudolf Rother. ISBN   3-7633-1212-9 . Three-thousander Three-thousanders are mountains with a height of between 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), but less than 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) above sea level . Similar terms are commonly used for mountains of other height brackets e. g. four-thousanders or eight-thousanders . In Britain,

342-406: The term refers to mountains above 3,000 feet (910 m). In temperate latitudes three-thousanders play an important role, because even in summer they lie below the zero degree line for weeks. Thus the chains of three-thousanders always form important climatic divides and support glaciation - in the Alps the 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) contour is roughly the general limit of the "nival step"; only

361-479: The westernmost only about 60 kilometres (37 mi) from the Rhone valley. A large part of this sensitive, high Alpine region is protected by conservation areas, but it also forms the touristic heart of the Alps. Switzerland , France , Austria , and Italy have many hundreds of Alpine peaks over 3,000 metres. Germany's Zugspitze , at 2,964 metres (9,724 ft), just falls below the line, whilst Slovenia 's Triglav

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