Bernina · Ortles · Adamello — the new map is coming
After Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa, it was time to look further east.
The new map is called Bernina · Ortles · Adamello and represents one of the most vast and least-told alpine territories in a single view: the Alpi Lombarde, almost in their entirety, from the Swiss border to the gates of Trentino.
You can already explore the interactive map below, zooming in on the various details at your leisure. And if you wish, you can embed it on your own website or blog using the share button inside the map and following the instructions.
A different scale
Compared to the previous maps, this one has a wider scale. Less detail on a single massif, more breath across the territory. A deliberate choice: to have an overview of all three massifs at once.
A single sheet shows three great mountain systems — the Bernina group with its glaciers, the Ortles-Cevedale with the highest peak in the Eastern Alps, and the Adamello-Presanella with its vast glacial plateau — along with the Alpi Orobie, which occupy a significant portion of the map and rarely receive adequate space in traditional cartographic representations.
The backbone of the map is formed by the Valtellina and Val Camonica, connected by the Valle di Corteno and the Passo dell'Aprica. Completing the picture are some of the great alpine valleys of the region: the Alta Engadina, Val Venosta, Val di Sole, the Giudicarie, Val Brembana and Val Seriana, along with all the minor valleys descending from the northern and southern slopes of this alpine belt.
The process
As with the previous maps, the representation uses an oblique panoramic projection: the relief is rendered so that the mountains have volume and presence, not just altitude. Every slope, every ridge, every glacier is recognisable.
The work on this map has been long. A wider scale does not make things simpler — on the contrary, it requires a different balance between legibility and information density. Every label, every elevation, every valley name required a decision.
The map includes settlements, peaks, passes and cols, lakes, glaciers and — new to this edition — the main alpine huts of the area.
The last few weeks have been dedicated to final checks: tones, contrast, label legibility at different print scales. Tomorrow the map goes to print.
When will it be available
Copies will arrive within a few weeks. Before putting them on sale I always check the physical print — colours, paper, overall quality. Only then will they be available in the shop.
If you'd like to be notified when the map is available, you can follow the updates by subscribing to the newsletter or on social media.
Data sources
The map was produced from open geographic data from official sources:
- OpenStreetMap — place names, roads, trails, mountain huts and settlements
- swisstopo — high-resolution digital terrain model for the Swiss sector
- IGM (Istituto Geografico Militare) — topographic data and digital terrain model for the Italian sector
- Regione Lombardia — regional geographic data
- Land cover from Copernicus Sentinel data: © ESA WorldCover project 2025