to Nice.
The Maritime Alps
Location:
Astride the Franco–Italian border north of Nice. The range extends from Col de Larche in the north-west to Col de Tende in the south-east. In the heart of the region lie the Parco Naturale dell’Argentera and Parc National du Mercantour. The Maritime Alps form the southern limit of the Alpine chain.
Principal valleys:
On the Italian side these are Valle della Valletta, Vallone della Rovina and Gesso di Barra. Of the French valleys the main ones are the Tinée and Vésubie, with Vallée du Boréon, Vallon de la Madone de Fenestre and Vallon de la Gordolasque. Also Vallée des Merveilles, Vallon de la Minière and Vallée de Valmasque. The Vallée du Roya is important for access.
Principal peaks:
Punta dell’Argentera (3297m), Cime du Gélas (3143m), Mont Clapier (3045m), Mont Bégo (2872m)
Centres:
Valdieri and Terme di Valdieri on the Italian slope, St-Martin-Vésubie and St-Étienne-de-Tinée on the French side.
Huts:
A fair selection of huts exists on both sides of the range in the main areas of interest. Owned by either the CAF or CAI.
Access:
In Italy the best way is by train from Turin to Cuneo, and bus from there to Valdieri (for the Argentera). Train from Cuneo to Vernante (for the Palanfré). Trains also run from Nice to Cuneo. Nearest international airport is Turin. On the French side by plane or train to Nice. Train from Nice to St-Dalmas-de-Tende for the eastern Mercantour. Buses serve St-Martin-Vésubie from Nice and minibuses feed into selected tributary valleys.
Maps:
IGC sheet number 8, Alpi Marittime e Liguri for the Italian side of the mountains, at a scale of 1:50,000. The Didier Richard sheet 9, Mercantour massif et parc national – also at 1:50,000 has huts and the main walking routes clearly outlined for the French half of the range. For all areas of the French Alps, the most detailed maps for walkers are the IGN Serie Bleu at 1:25,000.
Guidebooks:
Mercantour Park – Maritime Alps by Robin Collomb (West Col) is useful for the main valleys and highest peaks in the national park. It also strays over the border for selected routes.
Walking the Alpine Parks of France & Northwest Italy by Marcia R. Lieberman (Cordee/The Mountaineers) describes a number of moderate walks in the Mercantour region.
Through the Italian Alps by Gillian Price (Cicerone Press) is a guide to the GTA (the Grande Traversata delle Alpi), which passes through the Alpi Marittime on its way to Monte Rosa.
The GR5 Trail by Paddy Dillon (Cicerone Press). The epic route from the Lake of Geneva to the Mediterranean passes through the Maritime Alps
Other reading:
Wild Italy by Tim Jepson (Sheldrake Press/Aurum Press, 1994) is a natural history guide that includes a short chapter on the Alpi Marittime with some useful information.
The Outdoor Traveler’s Guide to the Alps by Marcia R. Lieberman (Stewart, Tabori & Chang; New York, 1991) has a brief chapter devoted to a small part of the Mercantour park.
Chapter 2
DAUPHINÉ
Including the Cottian Alps, Queyras, Massif des Écrins & the Pre-Alps of Vercors
The mountains of Dauphiné contain the highest and most important summits, in terms of mountaineering appeal, of all the South-West Alps, and the various groups offer an unrivalled diversity of landscapes for the enterprising walker. There is a world of difference, for example, between the soaring, glacier-etched scenery of the Massif des Écrins and the vast limestone plateaux of the Vercors, but both provide a wealth of walking opportunities as, of course, does the more remote Queyras in the Cottian Alps with its small, rugged peaks reflected in dozens of little tarns.
Dauphiné consists of the French départements of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. Here the green hills of the Pre-Alpes, including the Vercors, create a long wall running north to south parallel to the Isère which flows down the western side, while the higher mountains stand in great blocks towards the Italian border. The Cottian Alps spread over both sides of that border, but only those that lie within France are included in the Queyras massif. North-west of the Queyras, across the Durance, Central Dauphiné is the largest and most attractive mountain block; the group known as either the Massif des Écrins, l’Oisans, or Massif du Pelvoux, which has the distinction of hosting the most southerly 4000 metre summit of the Alpine chain. Beyond the large and complex peaks of the Écrins several comparatively minor massifs continue the appeal of Dauphiné. These include the Chartreuse massif, the Chaine de Belledonne which culminates in the Grand Pic de Belledonne, the Grandes Rousses massif, and Les Aiguilles d’Arve.
Monte Viso is the undisputed monarch of the Cottian Alps
Queyras
The Cottian Alps, of which the Queyras forms a small, yet important part, stretch from the road pass of Col de Larche northwards to Col du Mont Cenis, effectively running in a narrow strip along the Franco–Italian border which acts as the watershed between the Po and the Rhône. The highest, and without question the most distinctive, of its peaks is that of Monte Viso (3841m), first climbed in 1861 by the Victorian pioneers William Mathews and F. W. Jacomb, with their guides, M and J. B. Croz. But apart from this notable peak, the district holds little of mountaineering interest beyond the attention of local activists, although there are a good many summits attainable by strong mountain walkers, offering extensive views as their reward.
Col de Larche (1991m) takes traffic from the French valley of the Ubayette, flanked on the south by the Réserve Naturelle du Lauzanier, into the Italian Valle Stura. From St Paul on the French side another low pass, Col de Vars, crosses the mountain rim that marks the boundary between the départements of Hautes-Alpes and Alps-de-Haute-Provence, on the north side of which access by road is made possible to the Queyras district.
With the Massif des Écrins rising to the north-west, the Queyras lies fully within the old administrative region of Dauphiné, and presses like an elbow of mountains against the Italian frontier which curves round it in a protective wall on three sides. Monte Viso has a dominating influence on much of the region, but since it stands just across the frontier it is thereby not counted as one of the Queyras peaks. Of these the major summits are Pic de Rochebrune (3320m), Grand Glaiza (3293m), Le Pain de Sucre (3208m), Tête des Toillies (3175m) and Le Grand Queyras (3114m). There are no glaciers, although evidence of past glaciation is abundantly clear in many valleys and the rugged scenery reflects its Alpine pedigree.
Parc Naturel Régional du Queyras
It is an isolated district, tucked quietly away in a seeming back-of-beyond with only one year-round road of access. In 1977 the Parc Naturel Régional du Queyras was established in order to reconcile the demands of ecology and local economy, to check a steady population drift away from the harsh demands of mountain life, while at the same time protecting the quality of the environment. With an area of some 650 square kilometres, the boundaries of the park extend from the Gorges du Guil in the west to the Tête du Pelvas in the east, and from Col Girardin in the south to Col des Thures in the north. The classic approach from Briançon is via the spectacular road pass of Col d’Izoard, which is open for only a few weeks in mid-summer, and which links the valley of the Durance with that of the Guil, the main Queyras river whose valley is the major geographical feature.
Draining the west flank of Monte Viso and those frontier peaks grouped around it, the Guil cuts right through the Queyras from north-east to south-west, its major tributaries flowing from attractive valleys on the southern