The Carnic and Gailtal Alps (, ) is a geographic grouping of mountain ranges belonging to the Southern Limestone Alps. They are located in Austria and Italy.
Geography The range is bound by the Drau River in the north, separating it from the Western Tauern section of the Central Eastern Alps. The northern, entirely Austrian range is called the Gailtal Alps or Drauzug, bordered by the Gail River in the south. The Gail Valley is on the Periadriatic Seam, so that from a tectonic perspective the Gailtal Alps belong to the Central Eastern Alps. The Gailtal Alps are divided by the very deep Gailbergsattel (981 m) into a higher western section called the Lienzer Dolomites and a lower eastern section, to which the name Gailtal Alps is sometimes restricted. Passes in the eastern section include the Kreuzbergsattel and Windische Höhe.
The main ridge of the Carnic Alps forms the Austrian-Italian border and stretches from prominent Mt. Helm near Sexten at the tripoint of East Tyrol, South Tyrol and Veneto to the Canal Valley at Tarvisio in the east. It includes several peaks reaching nearly as well as the Plöcken and Naßfeld passes.
In the south, the Carnic Prealps stretch between the Piave and Tagliamento rivers down to the Padan Plain.
Administratively, the range is divided between the Italian Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and the Austrian states Tyrol and Carinthia.
SOIUSA classification According to SOIUSA (International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps), the Carnic and Gailtal Alps are an Alpine section, classified in the following way: main part = Eastern Alps major sector = Southern Limestone Alps section = Carnic and Gailtal Alps code = II/C-33
Subdivision The Carnic and Gailtal Alps are divided into three subsections: Carnic Alps (IT: Alpi Carniche; DE: Karnischer Hauptkamm) - SOIUSA code:II/C-33.I; Gailtal Alps (DE: Gailtaler Alpen or Drauzug) - SOIUSA code:II/C-33.II; Carnic Prealps (IT: Prealpi Carniche) - SOIUSA code:II/C-33.III.
Notable summits
Some notable summits of the range are:
Namemetressubsection Coglians / Hohe Warte 2,782 Carnic Alps Kellerspitzen / Creta delle Chianevate 2,774 Carnic Alps Große Sandspitze 2,770 Lienzer Dolomites Spitzkofel 2,717 Lienzer Dolomites Cima dei Preti 2,703 Carnic Prealps Monte Peralba 2,694 Carnic Alps Monte Cavallino / Große Kinigat 2,689 Carnic Alps Hochstadel 2,681 Lienzer Dolomites Monte Duranno 2,668 Carnic Prealps Rosskopf 2,603 Carnic Alps Zwölferspitz 2,592 Carnic Alps Eggenkofel 2,591 Lienzer Dolomites Monte Terza Grande 2,586 Carnic Alps Monte Cridola 2,581 Carnic Prealps Hochspitz 2,581 Carnic Alps Torrione dei Longerin 2,571 Carnic Alps Wolayer Seekopf 2,551 Carnic Alps Monte Brentoni 2,548 Carnic Alps Cima Monfalcon di Montanaia 2,548 Carnic Prealps Gamskofel 2,526 Carnic Alps Steinwand 2,520 Carnic Alps Monte Chiadenis 2,459 Carnic Prealps Gamswiesenspitze 2,486 Lienzer Dolomites Helm 2,434 Carnic Alps Reißkofel 2,371 Gailtal Alps Lumkofel 2,287 Gailtal Alps Trogkofel / Creta di Aip 2,195 Carnic Alps Jauken 2,276 Gailtal Alps Gartnerkofel 2,195 Carnic Alps Dobratsch 2,166 Gailtal Alps (Villach Alps)
References
es:Alpes de Carintia y de Eslovenia