The Monte Birrone is a high mountain in the

Cottian Alps The Cottian Alps (; ; ) are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between France (Hautes-Alpes and Savoie) and Italy (Piedmont). The Fréjus Road Tunnel and Fréjus Rail Tunnel between Modane and Susa, Ital ...

, belonging to the

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 ...

province of

Cuneo Cuneo (; ; ; ) is a city and in Piedmont, Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in the south-west of Piedmont, at the confluence of the ri ...

Geography

The mountain stands on the long ridge which, starting from the

Main chain of the Alps The main chain of the Alps, also called the Alpine divide is the central line of mountains that forms the drainage divide of the range. Main chains of mountain ranges are traditionally designated in this way, and generally include the highest p ...

, divides

Maira Valley Maira Valley (in Italian ''Val Maira'' or ''Valle Macra'') is a valley in south-west of Piedmont in the Province of Cuneo, Italy. Etymology The valley takes its name from the river Maira, a right-hand tributary of the Po which flows through the ...

from

Varaita Valley Varaita Valley (in Italian ''Valle Varaita'') is a valley in south-west of Piedmont, in the Province of Cuneo - Italy. Etymology It takes its name from the Varaita, a right-hand tributary of the Po which flows through the valley. Geography Clos ...

. It rises between two well defined

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

es, ''Colle di Birrone'' (West of the summit, at 1,700 m) and ''Colle di Melle'' (1,871 m, East of it). Close to the Monte Birrone passes an old military road built in order to deserve several military emplacements. It's open to cars and motorbikes during summertime. Administratively the mountain is divided between 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

Frassino Frassino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin and about northwest of Cuneo. Frassino borders the following municipalities: Brossasco, Melle, Italy, Melle, ...

and

Sampeyre Sampeyre is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin and about northwest of Cuneo. Sampeyre borders the following municipalities: Brossasco, Casteldelfino, Elva, Fra ...

(

) and

San Damiano Macra San Damiano Macra (; ) is a (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin and about northwest of Cuneo Cuneo (; ; ; ) is a city and in Piedmont, Italy, the capital of the pr ...

(

SOIUSA classification

According to

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 Cottian Alps ( ''Alpi del Monviso'') * supergroup = Gruppo del Chambeyron in a broad sense * group = Gruppo della Marchisa * subgroup = Costiera del Pelvo d'Elva *

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/A-4.I-A.4.d

Geology

From a geologic point of view, the mountain is made of ancient

metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, caus ...

s (pre-hercinic and hercinic) belonging to the ''Dora-Maira'' complex. W of the summit, near the colle Birrone, this kind of rocks border with

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

s ophiolitipher of the complex named ''Pietre verdi di Gastaldi'' (literally ''Green stones of Gastaldi''.Carta geologica d'Italia - foglio 78-79 - Argentera-Dronero

Access to the summit

The summit of the Monte Birrone is easy to reach, and the

normal route A normal route or normal way (; ) is the most frequently used climbing route for ascending and descending a given mountain peak; it is usually the easiest and often the most straightforward route. Other generic names include the ''Tourism, tourist ...

starts from the old military road which run close to the Maira/Varaita water divide. It's marked by a

summit cross A summit cross is a Christian cross on the summit of a mountain or hill that marks the top. Often there will be a summit register (''Gipfelbuch'') at the cross, either in a container or other weatherproof case. The practice originated in the Ge ...

. It also can be attained by

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling (''mountain biking''). Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in r ...

, carrying the bike in the last part of the ascent. Besides summer hiking the Monte Birrone is also a popular winter destination for

ski mountaineering Ski mountaineering (abbreviated to skimo) is a skiing discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them, depending on the steepness of the ascent, and then descending on skis. There are two major categories of equipment ...

and

snowshoes Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footw ...

hikes.

References

Maps

* Italian official cartography (''

Istituto Geografico Militare The ''Istituto Geografico Militare'' (IGM), or Military Geographic Institute, is an Italian public organization, dependent on the Italian Army general staff (''Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito''). It is the national mapping agency for Italy.

'' - IGM); on-line version
www.pcn.minambiente.it
*

Istituto Geografico Centrale The Istituto Geografico Centrale (IGC, in English ‘’Central Geographic Institute’’) is a privately owned Italian company based in Turin (Piedmont), known for its guide books and hiking maps mainly concerning the Western Alps and their cont ...

- Carta dei sentieri e dei rifugi scala 1:50.000 n. 7 '' Valli Maira, Grana e Stura''

External links

* * ''Monte Birrone'': ascent description o
finoincima.altervista.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birrone Two-thousanders of Italy Mountains of Piedmont Mountains of the Alps Province of Cuneo