The Altemberg is a mountain in the

Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps (, , , ), sometimes referred to as the Valais Alps (which are just the Northern Swiss part of the Pennine Alps), are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Italy (the Aosta Valley and Piedmont) an ...

of north-western

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

; with an elevation of is the highest peak of the Alpi Cusiane.

Toponymy

Altemberg croce di vetta sfondo Cima Lago Capezzone Ronda

The name of the mountain is connected to the

Walser German Walser German () and Walliser German (, locally ) are a group of Highest Alemannic dialects spoken in parts of Switzerland (Valais, Ticino, Grisons), Italy (Piedmont, Aosta Valley), Liechtenstein (Triesenberg, Planken), and Austria (Vorarlberg ...

, a language spoken by people who settled into the upper valley of the

Strona Strona is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Biella in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northeast of Biella. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,217 and an area of .All demographi ...

and

Sesia The Sesia (Latin ''Sesites'' or ''Sessites'') is a river in Piedmont, north-western Italy, tributary to the Po. Geography Its sources are the glaciers of Monte Rosa at the border with Switzerland. It flows through the Alpine valley Valsesia an ...

centuries ago. In

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

''Alten'' means ''old'' while ''Berg'' means ''hill'' or ''mountain'', so the English meaning of the name could be ''old mountain'' (''vecchia montagna'' in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Geography

The Altemberg is located on the

water divide A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a single ...

between

and

valleys, South of the ''Bocchetta Stretta'' pass, which divides it from the neighbouring Cima Lago. Towards SE the ridge goes on with a saddle named ''Bocchetta delle Vacche'' and the Cima del Pizzo (2,233 m). Administratively the mountain belongs to both the

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

s of

Rimella Rimella ( Walser German: ''Remmalju'', Piedmontese: ''Rimela'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Vercelli in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Vercelli. Rimella borders the f ...

(West of the summit) and

Valstrona Valstrona is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about southwest of Verbania. Valstrona borders the following municipalities: Anzola d'Ossola, ...

.''Carta Tecnica Regionale'' raster 1:10.000 (vers.3.0), Regione Piemonte, year 2007 On its summit stands a

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

lic

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

SOIUSA classification

According to the

SOIUSA Alps by SOIUSA. SOIUSA (an acronym for - English: ''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps-ISMSA'') is a classification system of the Alps from the geographic and toponomastic point of view. It was designed by Sergio Maraz ...

(''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps'') the mountain can be classified in the following way: * main part =

Western Alps The Western Alps are the western part of the Alps, Alpine Range including the southeastern part of France (e.g. Savoie), the whole of Monaco, the northwestern part of Italy (i.e. Piedmont and the Aosta Valley) and the southwestern part of Switzer ...

* major sector = North Western Alps * section =

* subsection = Southern Valsesia Alps * supergroup = Alpi Cusiane * group = Costiera Capio-Massa del Turlo *

code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communicati ...

= I/B-9.IV-B.3

Access to the summit

The Altemberg can be accessed following a footpath from '' Campello Monti'', a village in the

, or from

, in

Valsesia Valsesia (; Walser German: ''Tseschrutol'') is a group of valleys in the north-east of Piedmont in the Province of Vercelli, Italy; the principal valley is that of the river Sesia. The major towns located here are Varallo Sesia, Borgosesia ...

. The ridge between connecting the Altemberg with Cima Lago needs some

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders) to small boulders. Climbing is done for locom ...

skill to be crossed and is rated as '' PD grade''

Nature conservation

Cima Altemberg is part of the

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distr ...

of Alta Val Sesia e dell'Alta Val Strona.

References

External links

{{Portal, Italy, Mountains Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Piedmont Pennine Alps Two-thousanders of Italy