Piz Bernina

A 4,049-metre peak in the Bernina range of southeastern Switzerland, on the border with Italy, the only 4000-metre peak in the eastern Alps. Piz Bernina is the highest mountain in the Bernina range and the highest in the eastern Alps. The geographic position — the easternmost 4000-metre summit — has given the mountain a particular position in the Alpine climbing canon. Climbers who collect 4000-metre summits across the range cannot complete the project without summiting Bernina.

The first ascent came in 1850 by the Swiss climber Johann Coaz, with the brothers Jon and Lorenz Ragut Tscharner. The summit was reached via the Pizzo Bianco ridge from the Italian side — a sustained climb that was technically substantial for its era. The standard route today follows the Biancograt — the "white ridge" — a 700-metre snow ridge that descends from the Piz Bianco summit toward the main Bernina summit. The Biancograt is among the most aesthetic snow ridges in the Alps, climbed in profile against the sky from the Tschierva Hut on the approach.

The technical difficulty of the Biancograt route is moderate by Alpine 4000-metre standards. The ridge requires sustained step-kicking on a 45-to-50-degree snow slope, transitions to rock at the connection to the Piz Bianco summit, and finishes with a corniced ridge to the main summit. The route is typically completed in a single long day from the Tschierva Hut. The fatality rate has been low, though crevasse falls on the lower glacier and exposure during weather changes have produced occasional accidents.

What Piz Bernina represents in the Alpine canon is the eastern anchor of the 4000-metre tier. The mountain is geographically isolated from the higher western Alps, the climbing community uses it as a separate objective in its own right. The summit views toward the Engadin valley, the Italian Alps, and the lower Austrian ranges are unmatched in the eastern Alps. For Swiss and Italian climbers based in the eastern part of the range, Bernina is the home 4000er.