Lepontine Alps

Lepontine Alps
Monte Leone
Highest point
Peak	Monte Leone
Elevation	3,553 m (11,657 ft)[1]
Listing	Prominent mountains of the Alps
Coordinates	46°14′59″N 8°06′37″E / 46.24972°N 8.11028°E / 46.24972; 8.11028[1]
Naming
Native name	German: Lepontinische Alpen Italian: Alpi Lepontine
Geography
Lepontine Alps (red)
Countries	Switzerland Italy
Cantons, Regions	Valais Ticino Graubünden Uri Piedmont Lombardy
Range coordinates	46°25′N 8°40′E / 46.417°N 8.667°E / 46.417; 8.667
Parent range	Western Alps
Borders on	Pennine Alps Bernese Alps Uri Alps Glarus Alps Western Rhaetian Alps Lugano Prealps
Topo map	Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo
Geology
Orogeny	Alpine orogeny

The Lepontine Alps (German: Lepontinische Alpen, French: Alpes lépontines, Italian: Alpi Lepontine) are a mountain range in the north-western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais, Ticino, Uri and Graubünden) and Italy (Piedmont and Lombardy).

The Simplon rail tunnel (from Brig to Domodossola), the Gotthard rail (from Erstfeld to Bodio) and Gotthard road tunnels (from Andermatt to Airolo) and the San Bernardino road tunnel are important transport arteries.

The eastern portion of the Lepontine Alps, from the St Gotthard Pass to the Splügen Pass, is named the Adula Alps, while the western part is historically referred to as the Ticino Alps.

The designation Lepontine Alps, derived from the Latin name of the Valle Leventina, has long been somewhat vaguely applied to the Alpine ranges that enclose it, before being used for the whole range.^[2]

Following the line marking the division of the waters that flow into the Po from those that feed the Rhone or the Rhine, the main ridge of the Lepontine Alps describes a somewhat irregular curve, convex to the north, from the Simplon Pass to the Splügen Pass. With the single exception of the Monte Leone, overlooking the Simplon Pass, the summits of this portion of the chain are much inferior in height to those of the neighbouring chains; but two peaks of the Adula group, culminating at the Rheinwaldhorn, exceed 11,000 feet (3,400 m) in height.^[2]

The extensive region lying south of the main ridge is occupied by mountain ranges whose summits sometimes rival in height those of the dividing ridge, and which are cut through by deep valleys, three of which converge in the basins of Lake Maggiore and Lake Como, the deepest of all the lakes on the south side of the Alps. The most important of these valleys is the Valle Leventina, or the upper valley of the Ticino. This has been known from a remote antiquity because it leads to the St Gotthard Pass, one of the easiest lines of communication between northern and southern Europe.

The Lepontine Alps are drained by the rivers Rhône in the west, Reuss in the north, Rhine (Anterior and Posterior Rhine) in the east and Ticino and Toce in the south.

The chief peaks of the Lepontine Alps are:

Main glaciers :

• Gries Glacier
• Paradies Glacier
• Basòdino Glacier

The chief passes of the Lepontine Alps are:

• Swiss Alps

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Alps". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.