The Monte Massone, at an elevation of , is a mountain of the

Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps (german: Walliser Alpen, french: Alpes valaisannes, it, Alpi Pennine, la, Alpes Poeninae), also known as the Valais Alps, are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais) and Italy ...

in North-western

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Geography

The mountain belongs to 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 Strona Valley (South) and Ossola Valley (North). The southern slopes of Monte Massone are mainly grassy, while its North face is rocky, very steep and covered by shrubs. From

Ornavasso Ornavasso (Ossolano: ''Urnavass'', Walser German: ''Urnafasch'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Verbania. Overview O ...

, located on its North foothill, the summit can't be seen because is hidden by a subsummit named ''Eyehorn'' (2,131 m). On Monte Massone stands a metallic

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a s ...

4 ms high bearing a bell, which was located there in 1921. Not far from it, on the Northern slopes of the mountain, can be seen some

trench A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from ero ...

es dug before the

1st World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and belonging to the Linea Cadorna. At 1,900 m, on the Valle Strona side of Monte Massone, there is a small plateau which hosts three tiny lakes called ''Laghetti'', where in the past local farmers tried to implement a project of

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclam ...

SOIUSA classification

According to the

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

(''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 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 Switzerland ...

* major sector = North Western Alps * section =

* subsection = Eastern Aosta and Northern Valsesia Alps * supergroup = Contrafforti valsesiani del Monte Rosa * group = Costiera Punta Grober-Tagliaferro-Montevecchio * subgroup = Contrafforte Montevecchio-Quarazzola-Capezzone * code = I/B-9.III-C.7.b/b

Geology

Inside the mountain lay some

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorpho ...

veins and

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

and

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish ...

deposits.

Access to the summit

The Monte Massone is one of the most popular hiking destinations of the low Ossola Valley.. Its summit can be reached by foothpath from the Valle Strona starting from Alpe Loccia (close to the village of Chesio, in the

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces ('' province''). The can ...

of Loreglia), or from

Val d'Ossola The Ossola (, also Valle Ossola or Val d’Ossola) is an area of Italy situated to the north of Lago Maggiore. It lies within the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. Its principal river is the Toce, and its most important town Domodossola. ...

starting from Cortevecchio (

), or even from the Alpe Quaggione ( Germagno).

Mountain huts

* Rifugio Oliva - Brusa Perona Renato, managed by the

Club Alpino Italiano The Club Alpino Italiano is the senior Italian alpine club which stages climbing competitions, operates alpine huts, marks and maintains paths, and is active in protecting the Alpine environment. It was founded in Turin in 1863 by the then fin ...

section of

Gravellona Toce Gravellona Toce () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about west of Verbania Verbania (, , ) is the most populous ''comune'' (municipal ...

References

Bibliography

Maps

* *

External links

* Normal route description on . {{DEFAULTSORT:Massone, monte Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Piedmont Pennine Alps Two-thousanders of Italy