Mottarone is a mountain in the

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 ...

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, 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 . It is located between the provinces of

Verbano-Cusio-Ossola The province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola (, ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Piedmont region of Italy. It was created in 1992 through the fusion of three geographical areas which had previously been part of the province of Novara. The ar ...

and

Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

Geography

The peak is in the communal territory of

Stresa Stresa is a ''comune'' (municipality) of about 4,600 residents on the shores of Lake Maggiore in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in the Italian region of Piedmont. about northwest of Milan. It is situated on road and rail routes to the Sim ...

, between

Lake Orta Lake Orta (; Lombard and ) or Cusio (Lombard and ; ) is a lake in northern Italy, west of Lake Maggiore. It has been so named since the 16th century, but was previously called Lago di San Giulio, after Saint Julius (4th century), the patron s ...

and

Lake Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; ; ; ; literally 'greater lake') or Verbano (; ) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest lake in Italy and the largest in southern Switzerland. The lake and its shoreline are divided be ...

. The source of the

Agogna The Agogna (in Piedmontese ''Agògna'') is a stream which runs through the Italian regions of Piedmont and Lombardy. It is a left side tributary of the river Po.''The Times'' (2003), ''Comprehensive Atlas of the World'', 11th edition, Times B ...

river is located in the mountain. The Mottarone area is known for the production of cheese, the most renowned of which is the Toma del Mottarone.

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 =

* major sector = North Western Alps * section =

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 ...

* subsection = Southern Valsesia Alps * supergroup =

Alpi Cusiane The Alpi Cusiane (or ''Prealpi Cusiane'') are a sub-range of the Pennine Alps located in Piemonte (Italy). Etymology ''Alpi Cusiane'' literally means ''Alps of Cusio''; ''Cusio'' is the geographical and historical area surrounding Lake of Orta, ...

* group = Massiccio del Mottarone *

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.4

Access to the summit

Prior to May 2021 the peak of Mottarone could be reached by a 20-minute ride on the Stresa-Alpino-Mottarone Cable Car

cableway Cable transport is a broad class of transport modes that have cables. They transport passengers and goods, often in vehicles called cable cars. The cable may be driven or passive, and items may be moved by pulling, sliding, sailing, or by driv ...

from Carciano, a ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

'' of Stresa. This was built to replace a

rack and pinion rack and pinion is a type of linear actuator that comprises a circular gear (the '' pinion'') engaging a linear gear (the ''rack''). Together, they convert between rotational motion and linear motion: rotating the pinion causes the rack to be d ...

railroad from Stresa in 1963. It overlooks the city of

Verbania Verbania (, , ) is the most populous ''comune'' (municipality) and the capital city of the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. It is situated on the shore of Lake Maggiore, about north-west of Milan and ab ...

on Lake Maggiore;

Monviso Monte Viso or Monviso (; ; or simply ) is the highest mountain of the Cottian Alps, located in Piedmont, Italy, close to the French border. Monte Viso is well known for its pyramid-like shape. Because it is higher than all its neighbouring peak ...

in the

Maritime Alps The Maritime Alps ( ; ) are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between the regions of France, French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and the regions of Italy, Italian regions of Piedmont and Liguria ...

, as well as

Monte Rosa Monte Rosa (; ; ; or ; ) is a mountain massif in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps, on the border between Italy (Piedmont and Aosta Valley) and Switzerland (Valais). The highest peak of the massif, amongst several peaks of over , is the D ...

, can be seen on clear sky days. This can't be done anymore after the

Stresa–Mottarone cable car crash On 23 May 2021, an aerial tram on the Stresa–Alpino–Mottarone Cable Car crashed to the ground after a traction or haulage cable snapped about from the summit of Mottarone, a mountain near Lake Maggiore in northern Italy. Normally, a hydra ...

It is possible to reach the peak of Mottarone by car. There are two roads: the first comes up from Armeno, west of the Mottarone summit near Lake Orta; the second, a private toll road, begins from Alpino, a frazione of Stresa on the eastern side of the summit. On foot, it's possible to reach the summit using path L1 from Stresa (designated CAI Stresa), which passes near the railway station. The suggested time to the summit is 4:20 from the station.

2021 cable car accident

On 23 May 2021, a cabin of the

Stresa–Alpino–Mottarone Cable Car The Stresa-Alpino-Mottarone Cable Car (Italian: ''Funivia Stresa-Alpino-Mottarone'') is an aerial tramway cable transport located in the commune of Stresa in the Piedmont region of Italy. First opened in 1970, the aerial tramway connects Stresa, ...

which was carrying fifteen people fell into a wooded area of the mountainside near the summit, killing fourteen people and injuring another.

Winter sports

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area–a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North Am ...

with of

downhill skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether ...

slopes is located on Mottarone. Skiing on Mottarone has a long tradition. Sci Club Mottarone was founded in 1909. In January 1935 the first

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in Slalom skiing, slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant sl ...

in ski racing history took place on the Mottarone.Francesco Vida. ''La storia dello sci in Italia''. In 1940 the first ski lift opened called, ''Slittone''. After World War II, the ski resort developed. Today there are 21 trails, something for every kind of skier. There are five ski lifts: ''Baby'', ''Selva Spessa 1'', ''Selva Spessa 2'', ''La Rossa'' and ''Baita Omegna''. In addition, there are two moving carpet lifts (tapis-roulants) for beginners. Unfortunately, another lift called ''Alpe Corti'', was closed after 2011 at the end of its "technical life", following Italian law which allows certain lifts to be used only 30 years.

References

External links

Mottarone online website
{{Authority control Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Piedmont Pennine Alps One-thousanders of Italy Lake Orta