The Ballon d'Alsace (; , ) (el. 1247 m.), sometimes also called the Alsatian Belchen to distinguish it from other mountains named " Belchen") is a mountain at the border of

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

, and

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...

. From its top, views include the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and ...

, the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

valley, the

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...

, and the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

. A road leads over a pass near the peak at the

Col du Ballon d'Alsace The Col du Ballon d'Alsace (; ) is a mountain pass situated close to the summit of the Ballon d'Alsace () in the Vosges Mountains of France. It connects Saint-Maurice-sur-Moselle (Vosges) with Masevaux (Haut-Rhin) and Belfort. The Ballon d'Alsa ...

, . The pass is noted as the site of the first official mountain climb in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

on 11 July 1905, the first rider to the top of the climb being

René Pottier René Pottier (5 June 1879 – 25 January 1907) was a French racing cyclist. Pottier won the amateur category of the 1903 Bordeaux–Paris race before turning professional. He came second in Paris–Roubaix 1905 and Bordeaux–Paris 1905, the ...

and the stage being won by

Hippolyte Aucouturier Hippolyte Aucouturier (17 October 1876 – 22 April 1944) was a French professional road bicycle racer. Aucouturier, a professional between 1900 and 1908, won two stages at the first Tour de France in 1903 and won three stages and finished ...

. Stage 9 of the 2005 Tour crossed this pass on the centenary of the original climb. Ballon d'Alsace features Alpine and Cross Country skiing tracks. The mountain is part of the so-called

Belchen system The Belchen system comprises five mountains with the name ''Belchen'' around the tripoint of Germany, France, and Switzerland that may have been used by the Celts as a solar calendar. The term is an extension of the Belchen triangle. The mountai ...

, a group of mountains with the name "Belchen" (in German) that may have been part of a

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

sun calendar A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicates the season or almost equivalently the apparent position of the Sun relative to the stars. The Gregorian calendar, widely accepted as a standard in the world, is an example of a solar calendar. ...

Geography

Climate

Ballon d'Alsace has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Dfb''). The average annual temperature in Ballon d'Alsace is . The average annual rainfall is with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Ballon d'Alsace was on 24 July 2019; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 20 December 2009.

Gallery

Jeanne d'Arc at Ballon d'Alsace.JPG, Statue of Jeanne d'Arc at Ballon d'Alsace Monument demineurs Ballon d'Alsace.JPG, Deminers monument at Ballon d'Alsace

References

External links

{{Authority control Mountains of the Vosges One-thousanders of France Mountains of Vosges (department) Mountains of Haut-Rhin Mountains of the Territoire de Belfort Mountains of Haute-Saône

Geography

Climate

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links