Geography
Piz Bernina is one of the few isolated four-thousanders in the Alps. It is the culminating point of a group of summits slightly lower than 4000 m mostly lying on the main watershed between Switzerland and Italy (such as Piz Scerscen, Piz Zupò and Piz Palü). The only other summit higher than 4000 m is La Spedla (the Shoulder), a minor prominence south of the mountain, which is also the highest point on the Italian side of the massif.
The summit itself is located on a perpendicular chain (orientated north–south) starting at La Spedla on the border and finishing at Piz Chalchagn, composed also of Piz Morteratsch and Piz Boval.
Piz Bernina separates two glacier valleys, the Tschierva Glacier on the west and the Morteratsch Glacier on the east. The waters flowing on both side of the mountain end up in the Inn River running northeast through Engadin. South of Piz Bernina the watershed separates the drainage basins of the Danube (Black Sea) and the Po River (Adriatic Sea). The summit of Piz Bernina is the culminating point of the Danube drainage basin.
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