Punta Sommeiller (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 ...

) or Pointe Sommeiller (in French) is a mountain of the

Province of Turin The province of Turin (; ; ) was a Provinces of Italy, province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Turin. The province existed until 31 December 2014, when it was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Turin. Geography It ...

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 ...

and of

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population o ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It lies 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 ...

range. It has an elevation of above sea level.

Etymology

The old name of the mountain was ''Rognosa di Galambra'', which derived from the secondary valley of Galambra (a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

Dora Riparia The Dora Riparia (; ; or ''Doire''; ) is an alpine river, a left-bank tributary of the Po. It is long (of which 5 km is in France), with a drainage basin. It originates in the Cottian Alps, close to the Col de Montgenèvre in France, wh ...

). It was then renamed by the geologist Martino Baretti, author of the first documented ascent to the summit, in order to avoid confusions with two neighboring ''"Rognosa"''s, Rognosa d'Etiache and Rognosa del Sestriere. The new name was chosen to honour Germain Sommeiller, the

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

which directed the construction of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel between

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

and

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 ...

Geography

In the French subdivision of

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 ...

it belongs to the '' Massif du Mont-Cenis'' while in the SOIUSA (''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps'') it is part of the mountain group called ''" gruppo d'Ambin"'' (

) or ''" groupe d'Ambin"'' ( French). Administratively the mountain is divided between the Italian

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 Bardonecchia (SW face) and Exilles (SE face) and the French commune of Bramans (N face). A geodetic point of the Italian Military Geographic Institute is defined on the top of the mountain.

Access to the summit

The easiest route for the summit starts from passo Settentrionale dei Fourneaux (3,159 m, which connects Exilles and Bardonecchia), then follows the south ridge of the mountain.

Mountain huts

* Rifugio Scarfiotti (2,165 m - Bardonecchia) * Rifugio Levi Molinari (1,850 m - Exilles) * Bivacco Sigot (2,910 m - Exilles) * Refuge d'Ambin (2,270 m - Bramans)

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
* French official cartography (''

Institut géographique national An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

'' - IGN); on-line version:
www.geoportail.fr
* I.G.C. (''Istituto Geografico Centrale'') - Carta dei sentieri e dei rifugi scala 1:50.000 n. 1 ''Valli di Susa Chisone e Germanasca'' e 1:25.000 n. 104 ''Bardonecchia Monte Thabor Sauze d'Oulx''

External links

* ''Punta Sommeiller'': 360° panoramic image from the summit o
pano.ica-net.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sommeiller Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Savoie Mountains of Piedmont Alpine three-thousanders France–Italy border International mountains of Europe Mountains partially in France Mountains partially in Italy Three-thousanders of France Three-thousanders of Italy