Céüse (french: Montagne de Céüse) is a

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

mountain in the

Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; oc, Auts Aups; en, Upper Alps) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population of 141,22 ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety- ...

'' of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

near Gap and Sigoyer. The "Pic de Céüse" is at an elevation of , and the whole massif is included in the

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

protected area. The mountain has a distinctive large horseshoe-shaped cliff (the Corniche de Céûse) which contains some of the most extreme

sport climbing Sport climbing (or Bolted climbing) is a form of rock climbing that relies on permanent anchors (or bolts), permanently fixed into the rock for climber protection, in which a rope that is attached to the climber is clipped into the anchors ...

routes in the world. It is also the site of a ski resort.

Naming

According to ', the name "Céüse" comes from the Latin for

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...

, and also means "flint, pebble" in

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language Occitan (; ...

Geology

The mountain is an example of a perched

syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold with younger layers closer to the center of the structure, whereas an anticline is the inverse of a syncline. A synclinorium (plural synclinoriums or synclinoria) is a large syncline with superimposed ...

, which presents as a south-facing horseshoe-shaped limestone cliff.

Ski resort

The northern end of the mountain is the location of a small ski resort, called (or also the Gap Ceuse Ski Resort 2000); it was built after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and updated in the 1990s, and contains 8 lifts serving 35-kilometers of green, blue, red and black runs, from an elevation of to the peak itself at .

Climbing

The southern end of the mountain's long horseshoe shaped limestone cliffs, the Corniche de Céûse, is the home to one of the world's best rock climbing crags, including several notable extreme

routes such as '' Realization/Biographie'' , and '' Bibliographie'' . Its south-facing cliffs have a distinctive blue and ochre colouring, and the climbing is via pocket-marks in the limestone rather than via cracks. The Corniche has over 600 climbing routes from to the highest grades in rock climbing, and is situated at an elevation of . Most of the climbs are single pitch 25–40 metre climbs, with long-run outs often between bolts, however there are also 200 metre sections with multi-pitch routes.

References

External links

Ceuse Sport Climbing Guide
Mountains of Hautes-Alpes Two-thousanders of France Climbing areas of France {{HautesAlpes-geo-stub