Mountain·Italy

Ortler

3,905m

Ortler Alps

Whgler · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation: 3,905m
Prominence: 1,950m
Isolation: 49km
Relief: 2,341mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 62°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: All yearSee month by month ↓
Summit: 46.5083°N, 10.5444°E

Mountain in the Alps

Ortler is a mountain in the Ortler Alps (Italy). Its summit stands 3,905 m above sea level. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 1,950 m, and the nearest higher ground is 49 km away.

From the lowest point within 5 km (1,564 m), it rises 2,341 m. The steepest side is the north-east face: 42° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 62° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Stelvio, 10 km away at 1,310 m: 2,595 m below the summit.

Ortler for skiers and climbers

Two scores out of 10, built only from open data — every part is shown. They describe what the mountain offers, not how safe it is.

Hiking & mountaineering

9.9/10

Difficulty to the top

Alpine climb

Most path sections around the top are T6 on the SAC hiking scale. Glaciers around the top.

Indicative only — never a safety assessment. Conditions change: ask local guides and check the forecast.

2.5/2.584 waymarked routes and 361 path sections nearby
1.5/1.512 huts and shelters
2.0/22,595 m of ascent from the valley
1.4/1.51,950 m of prominence
1.5/1.56 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
1.0/1via ferratas, climbing and glaciers

Ski score

8.6/10

3.7/4186 km of downhill runs
1.5/1.540 ski lifts
0.4/1.5400 m between the lowest and highest lift station
3.0/311 months of snow at about 3,250 m

Runs by difficulty

Beginner 1 km
Easy 64 km
Intermediate 85 km
Difficult 30 km
Freeride 6 km

Snow season on the slopes (estimate)

Around 3,250 m, in the middle of the ski area: snow from September to July.

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

40 lifts · lift stations from 3,050 to 3,450 m · 16 km cross-country

How these scores are made

Ski (where OpenStreetMap has skiing within 12 km): up to 4 points for the length of downhill runs (300 km or more = 4), 1.5 for the number of lifts (40+), 1.5 for the vertical between lift stations (1,500 m) and 3 for the snow season — a month counts when the estimated mean temperature at the height of the ski area is −1 °C or lower and snow falls or lies there (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Hiking & mountaineering: up to 2.5 for waymarked routes and paths, 1.5 for huts, 2 for the ascent from the valley (2,000 m), 1.5 for prominence (3,000 m), 1.5 for the season (months with summit afternoons above −5 °C) and 1 for via ferratas, climbing and glaciers. OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: where few things are mapped, a score can be lower than reality.

Plan your visit

Stay, climb and get there

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Snow

When there is snow on Ortler

At the summit, snow all year round. Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Summit3,905 msnow all year round	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Halfway up2,608 msnow from October to June	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Stelvio1,310 msnow from December to April (some years from November to April)	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow some of the time	Snow on the ground all month

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

Estimate for a normal year: average temperature and precipitation from NASA POWER, carried to each height, in a simple model of snow building up and melting. In a given year snow can come earlier or stay longer. It does not replace the local snow and avalanche bulletin.

Summit weather

Ortler, month by month

Not a forecast: long-term averages (1991–2020), carried up to the summit. The orange line is where an average afternoon reaches 0 °C; above the dashed blue line it freezes even at dawn.

On an average July afternoon the summit reaches about 5 °C; on January nights it falls to about -27 °C. In 8 months of the year it stays below freezing at the top even in the afternoon. In July the 0 °C line climbs to about 4,630 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, February is the driest month (38 mm) and August the wettest (131 mm).

0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit

Month	Summit high °C	Summit low °C	Stelvio high °C	0 °C line (m)	Rain & snow (mm)	Wet days	Sun h/day
January	-17	-27	0	1,250	41	9	4.4
February	-16	-26	1	1,410	38	9	5.6
March	-12	-21	5	2,050	49	10	6.6
April	-7	-16	10	2,850	69	14	6.1
May	-2	-12	15	3,610	103	18	6.1
June	3	-7	20	4,340	114	19	7.5
July	5	-6	22	4,630	119	20	8.1
August	4	-6	21	4,540	131	18	7.3
September	0	-10	17	3,920	91	14	6.3
October	-5	-14	12	3,200	88	12	5.1
November	-11	-18	6	2,200	86	12	3.6
December	-16	-25	1	1,430	51	11	3.7

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 1,968 m), adjusted to the summit by −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Rain, wet days and sunshine are those of the region. Mountain weather changes fast — always check a local forecast. ★ = mildest months at the top.

Relief

The mountain in profile

Two cuts through the summit, 16 km long, from the 30 m Copernicus elevation model. True scale: no vertical exaggeration.

West – east

South – north

Steepness by direction

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Ortler

Counted around the summit in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. The satellite plate shows 14 × 14 km.

A lift reaches 3,450 m — just 455 m below the summit.

12mountain huts and shelters
Bivacco L. Pellicioli (3,230 m), Nuovo Bivacco Costantini (2,360 m), Düsseldorfer Hütte (Zaytalhütte) - Rifugio Serristori (2,721 m), Tabarettahütte - Rifugio Tabaretta (2,556 m) and 8 more
13cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
Seilbahn Sulden - Funivia Solda I, Madritsch - Madriccio, Schöntauf I - Beltovo I, Schöntauf II - Beltovo II and 9 more
6ski areas
Passo Stelvio, Trafoi, Sulden am Ortler - Solda al Ortles, Bormio Ski and 2 more
84waymarked hiking routes
Reinstadlerroute, Blockhaus - Alp Prasüra - Sella da Piz Cotschen, Dreifernerweg and 81 more
2via ferratas
Reinstadlerweg, Tabaretta-Klettersteig - Via ferrata di Punta Tabaretta
5climbing crags and routes
Langenstein, Bärenfels, Calar, Via Pepita d'Oro and 1 more
40named glaciers
Zirkusferner - Vedretta del Circo, Vedretta dello Zebrù - Zebruferner, Nasenhornferner, Trafoier Ferner - Vedretta di Trafoi and 36 more
11viewpoints
Fallaschjoch - Passo di Vallazza, Talblick, Stilfserjoch - Passo Stelvio, Alpe Confinale and 7 more
1campsites
Camping Trafoi
72hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Hotel Perego, Albergo Zebrù, Albergo Castello, Parc Hotel Sulden and 68 more
28restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

361 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T1T2T3T4T5T6

T1 hiking
T2 mountain hiking
T3 demanding mountain hiking
T4 alpine hiking
T5 demanding alpine hiking
T6 difficult alpine hiking

Towns at the foot

Stelvio10 km · 1,310 m
Sant'Antonio11 km · 1,339 m
San Nicolò12 km · 1,335 m
Prato Allo Stelvio13 km · 907 m
Bormio14 km · 1,225 m
Tubre16 km · 1,240 m
Cepina16 km · 1,156 m
Valdisotto17 km · 1,165 m

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OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: a low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. Places © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photos

Seen by climbers and visitors

Königspitze Zebrù Ortler Spiegelung — Whgler · CC BY-SA 4.0

Königssp-zebru-ortler — Svickova · Public domain

Recent years

How each month compared at the summit

Afternoon high at the summit (estimate). The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years show only the difference.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1991–2020 average	-17	-16	-12	-7	-2	3	5	4	0	-5	-11	-16
2020	+2.3	+2.4	−0.1	+2.5	+1.1	−1.5	+0.6	+0.6	+0.9	−2.4	+3.5	−0.5
2021	−2.0	+2.0	−1.8	−2.6	−2.3	+0.9	−0.6	−0.9	+1.8	−0.7	−0.7	+0.4
2022	+1.1	+1.8	+1.6	+0.5	+2.1	+2.4	+2.5	+1.8	−0.9	+3.4	+0.7	+1.1
2023	+0.5	+2.4	+2.6	−0.9	−0.3	+1.0	+0.5	+1.0	+3.5	+3.1	−1.9	+2.1
2024	+1.5	+4.1	+1.3	−0.9	−0.9	−0.6	+1.4	+2.6	−1.4	+1.0	+2.3	+1.9
2025	+1.9	+2.8	+1.8	+2.4	+0.3	+3.9	−1.3	+0.8	+0.6	−0.3	−0.1	+3.0

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

3,851 mKönigspitze

Italy4 km away

3,769 mMonte Cevedale

Switzerland51 km away

3,768 mWildspitze

Austria49 km away

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q650695) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profiles	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

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