The highest portion

The highest portion of the range is divided by the glacial trough of the Rhône valley, from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa on the

southern side, and the Bernese Alps on the northern. The peaks in the easterly portion of the range, in Austria and Slovenia, are smaller than those in the central and western portions.[15]

The variances in nomenclature in the region spanned by the Alps makes classification of the mountains and subregions difficult, but a general

classification is that of the Eastern Alps and Western Alps with the divide between the two occurring in eastern Switzerland according to geologist Stefan Schmid,[8] near the Splügen Pass.

The Tuxertal valley in Tyrol, Austria
The highest peaks of the Western Alps and Eastern Alps, respectively, are Mont Blanc, at 4,810 m (15,780 ft)[17] and Piz Bernina at 4,049 m (13,284 ft).

The second-highest major peaks are Monte Rosa at 4,634 m (15,203 ft) and Ortler[18] at 3,905 m (12,810 ft), respectively