| Adula Alps | |
|---|---|
Some peaks: Piz Medel (left, 3,210 m), Piz Uffiern (3,151 m), Piz dalla Siala (3,023 m), Piz a Spescha (3,109 m) | |
| Highestย point | |
| Peak | Rheinwaldhorn |
| Elevation | 3,402 metres (11,161 feet) |
| Naming | |
| Native name | |
| Geography | |
![]() | |
State(s) | Cantons of Ticino, Graubรผnden, and Uri, Switzerland Province of Sondrio in Lombardy, Italy |
Range coordinates | 47ยฐ29โฒ37โณN 9ยฐ02โฒ24โณE๏ปฟ / ๏ปฟ47.49361ยฐN 9.04ยฐE |
| Parent range | Lepontine Alps |
| Borders on | |
| Geology | |
| Orogeny | Alpine |
The Adula Alps, also known as the West Graubรผnden and Misox Alps, are a western Alpine mountain group, the part of the Lepontine Alps from the Lukmanier and St Gotthard Passes to the Splรผgen Pass.

They lie mostly in Switzerland, in the Cantons of Ticino, Graubรผnden, and Uri, and partly in Italy, in the province of Sondrio in Lombardy, stretching south to Lake Como. They form subsection 10B of the Alps, according to the Partizione delle Alpi, and subsection 10 III, according to the unified orographic classification of the Alps by Sergio Marazzi (SOIUSA).
A string of mountains of the Adula stand on the international border between Switzerland and Italy, including Pizzo Tambรฒ, Piz di Pian, Cima de Pian Guarnei (Pizzo Quadro), Cime di Val Loga, Piz Tamborello, Piz della Forcola, Pizzaccio, and Cima dello Stagn, while Pizzo Ferrรฉ is near the border on the Italian side.
The mountain guides of the Swiss Alpine Club do not lead climbers in groups for the Adula Alps, but attach parts of them to other sections.[1]

The highest peak is the Rheinwaldhorn (3,402 metres; 11,161 feet), which in Italian is called the Adula, giving the range its name.[2]
The main valleys are Val Malvaglia, which drains into the lower Blenio Valley, and three others draining south out of the Adula Alps, which are, from west to east, Val Calanca, Valle Mesolcina, and Valle Spluga (or San Giacomo).[3]
The creation of an Adula National Park was planned by Switzerland for sixteen years, from 2000. It would have become only the second in the country, after the Swiss National Park, but in November 2016 the inhabitants voted against it.[4][5]
Towns and villages
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Peaks
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The following peaks of the Adela Alps are sorted by height in metres (m) above sea level, called Meter รผber Meer (mย รผ.ย M.) in Switzerland:
- Rheinwaldhorn (3,402 m)
- Gรผferhorn (3,379 m)
- Pizzo Tambรฒ (3,279 m)
- Grauhorn (3,260 m)
- Lรคntahorn (3,237 m)
- Vogelberg (3,218 m)
- Piz Medel (3,210 m)
- Pizzo di Cassimoi (3,129 m)
- Scopi (3,190 m)
- Cima di Camadra (3,172 m)
- Cima Rossa (3,161 m)
- Piz di Pian (3,158 m)
- Zapporthorn (3,152 m)
- Piz Terri (3,149 m)
- Fanellhorn (3,124 m)
- Piz Scharboda (3,122 m)
- Pizzo Ferrรฉ (3,103 m)
- Bruschghorn (3,056 m)
- Furggeltihorn (3,043 m)
- Plattenberg (3,041 m)
- Alperschรคllihorn (3,036 m)
- Frunthorn (3,030 m)
- Piz Corbet (3,025 m)
- Cima de Pian Guarnei (3,015 m)
- Piz Uffiern (Tujetsch) (3,013 m)
- Cime di Val Loga (3,004 m)
- Piz Beverin (2,997 m)
- Piz de la Lumbreida (2,983 m)
- Teurihorn (2,973 m)
- Torent Alto (2,948 m)
- Piz Tomรผl (2,946 m)
- Einshorn (2,944 m)
- Zervreilahorn (2,898 m)
- Pizzo Tamborello (2,858 m)
- Pizzo di Claro (2,727 m)
- Pizzo Paglia (2,593 m)
- Piz Titschal (2,550 m)
- Pizzo Cavregasco (2,535 m)
- Cima dello Stagn (2,380 m)
- Sosto (2,221 m)
Lakes
edit- In Switzerland
- Sufnersee, reservoir dating from 1962, surface area 0.94ย km2 (0.36ย sqย mi)[6]
- Zervreilasee, reservoir dating from 1957[7]
- Lago di Luzzone, reservoir dating from 1963, surface area 1.27ย km2 (0.49ย sqย mi)[8]
- In Italy
- Lake Como, a glacial lake with an area of 146 square kilometres (56ย mi2).
Mountain huts
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- Camona da Medel, 2524 m
- Capanna Adula of the UTOE, 2393 m
- Zapporthรผtte, at 2276 m on the Zapporthorn
- Capanna Scaletta, Blenio, 2,205 m
- Capanna Scaradra, Blenio, 2,173 m
- Capanna Motterascio, Ghirone, 2,172 m
- Camona da Terri, 2,170 m
- Capanna Quarnei, Malvaglia, 2,107 m
- Adulahuette of the SAC, 2,012 m
- Lรคnta-Hรผtte, at 2,090 m on the Lรคntahorn
- Medelserhรผtte, on the Piz Medel
- Capanna Buffalora, Rossa, 2,078 m
- Capanna di Cava, Biasca, 2,066 m
- Rifugio Biasagn, Biasca, 2,023 m
- Capanna Brogoldone, Lumino, 1,904 m
- Capanna Bovarina, Campo Blenio, 1,870 m
- Capanna Como, at Livo, Lombardy, 1,790 m
- Capanna Dรถtra, 1,748 m, on Sosto
Notes
edit- ^ "Bรผndner Alpen, Bd. 2, Vom Lukmanier zum Domleschg by Manfred Hunziker", outline at hikr.org/books, accessed 3 October 2023 (in German)
- ^ Kev Reynolds, The Swiss Alps (2014), p. 286
- ^ Kev Reynolds, Walking in the Alps: A comprehensive guide (2011), p. 222
- ^ Franca Siegfried, "Poor communication torpedoes a second national park", Horizons, 05/09/2019, accessed 2 October 2023
- ^ Annina Helena Michel, Andrรฉ Bruggmann, "Conflicting Discourses: Understanding the Rejection of a Swiss National Park Project Using Data Analysis Triangulation" in Mountain Research and Development 39(1) (June 2019), R24-R36
- ^ "Swiss Dams: Sufers", Swiss Committee on Dams, accessed 3 October 2023
- ^ "Geschichte", kwz.ch, accessed 3 October 2023 (in German)
- ^ "Swiss Dams: Luzzone", Swiss Committee on Dams, 25/09/2008, accessed 3 October 2023
References
edit- William Augustus Brevoort Coolidge, Climbers' guidesย : Adula Alps of the Lepontine Range (T. Fisher Unwin, 1893)
- John Ball, The Alpine Guide, Central Alps (London: 1866)
- Philip Lake, Howard Knox, W. A. B. Coolidge, "Alps" in Hugh Chisholm, ed., Encyclopรฆdia Britannica 11th ed. (Cambridge University Press, 1911)
- Michael Anderson, Mittel Switzerland (Lepontine, Ticino and Adula Alps) (West Col Productions, 1974, ISBNย 9780901516787)
