HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Aiguilles Rouges (, "Red Needles") are a crystalline mountainous
massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...
of the French Prealps, opposite the Mont Blanc Massif. The colour of the iron rich gneiss (metamorphique) mountains gives the range its name. The highest summit is the Aiguille du Belvédère at . At the southern end of the range, Le Brévent at is accessible by a cable car in the Planpraz and the Brévent sections.


Morphology

Unlike the massif of the Mont Blanc, the Aiguilles Rouges have no significant glaciers. The alpine stage begins around with rough boulders, above which a series of broken needles spring from the Col des Montets to Le Brévent. The northwestern side of the massif has less vegetation because of its lack of exposure to the sun. The southwest face abounds in vegetation which developed from a multitude of
biotope A biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of flora (plants), plants and fauna (animals), animals. ''Biotope'' is almost synonymous with the term habitat (ecology), "habitat", which ...
s. Amongst the typical flora hikers can discover include sundews, martagons and many varieties of
orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...
s. In order to protect this biodiversity, the Aiguilles Rouges National Nature Reserve (''Réserve naturelle des aiguilles rouges'') was created in 1974 covering 3,279 ha. The Aiguilles Rouges offer a splendid view of all the peaks of Chamonix, the glaciers of Mont Blanc, and the roof of Europe. The French artist Samivel is known for his paintings of some of these splendid views. The highest point in this range is named Belvédère (literally "beautiful viewpoint" in French) because it offers a 360° panoramic view of all the mountains surrounding the Aiguilles Rouges. The mountain path running from Planpraz to the Col des Montets via La Flégère, just above the treeline of the Aiguilles Rouges, is called ''Le Grand Balcon Sud'' (Grand Southern Balcony). The eastern part of the range has numerous mountain lakes, of which the most remarkable is Lac Blanc at the foot of the Aiguille Belvédère. The range is home to the principal climbing crags of Chamonix, which ascend the pinnacles of Planpraz made famous by the mountaineer
Gaston Rébuffat Gaston Rébuffat (; 7 May 1921, Marseille – 31 May 1985, Paris) was a French Mountaineering, alpinist, mountain guide, and author. He is well known as a member of the first expedition to summit Annapurna Massif, Annapurna 1 in 1950 and the f ...
.


Main summits

* L'aiguille du Belvédère (2,965 meters), highest summit of the massif; * L'aiguille de Tête Plate (2,944 meters); * L'aiguille de la Floria (2,888 meters); * L'aiguille du Pouce (2,873 meters); * L'aiguille de la Glière (2,873 meters); * L'aiguille Pourrie (2,562 meters); * Le Brévent (2,525 meters): at the South of the massif and accessible by a two-section cablecar ("Planpraz" and "le Brévent"); * L'aiguillette des Houches (2,312 meters).


Lakes

*Lac Blanc (''White Lake'') * Lac du Brévent * Lac Cornu (''Horned Lake'') *Lac Noir d'en Bas (''Lower Black Lake'') *Lac de l'Aiguillette *Lacs des Chéserys


In fiction

Ian Fleming, when writing the fictional biography of
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
, mentioned that Bond's parents were killed in a mountain climbing accident in the Aiguilles Rouges near Chamonix, when the future secret agent was eleven years old. He also mentions them in his novel '' From Russia, with Love''.


External links


Aiguilles Rouges Nature Reserves
{{Massifs of Western Alps Mountain ranges of the Alps Mountain ranges of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Western Alps