Gran Paradiso

The Gran Paradiso (Italian pronunciation: [ˈɡran para'dizo]) or Grand Paradis (French pronunciation: ​[ɡʁɑ̃ paʁadi]) is a mountain in the Graian Alps in Italy, located between the Aosta Valley and Piedmont regions.

This article is about the mountain in north-west Italy. For the studio album by Klaus Waldeck, see Gran Paradiso (album).
Gran Paradiso
French: Grand Paradis
The Gran Paradiso
Highest point
Elevation4,061 m (13,323 ft) [1]
Prominence1,879 m (6,165 ft) [2]
Isolation45.1 km (28.0 mi) 
ListingUltra
Coordinates45°30′52″N 7°16′11″E 
Naming
English translationGreat Paradise
Language of nameFrench, Italian
Geography
Gran Paradiso
Italy
LocationPiedmont (Metropolitan City of Turin) and Aosta Valley, Italy
Parent rangeGraian Alps
Climbing
First ascentSeptember 4, 1860 by Cowell, Dundas, Payot and Tairraz
Easiest routerock/ice climb

Geography

The peak, the 7th highest mountain in the Graian Alps, with an elevation of 4,061 m, is close to Mont Blanc on the nearby border with France. In the SOIUSA (International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps) the mountain belongs to an alpine subsection called "North-Eastern Graian Alps" (It:Alpi del Gran Paradiso; Fr:Alpes du Grand-Paradis) and also gives its name to the gruppo del Gran Paradiso.[3]

While the Mont Blanc massif straddles the border between France and Italy, the Gran Paradiso is the only mountain whose summit reaches over 4,000 metres that is entirely within Italian territory.

Routes

Climbs normally start from either the Refuge Frédéric Chabod or the Refuge Victor-Emmanuel II. The latter is named after Victor Emmanuel II of Italy who created the Gran Paradiso royal reserve in 1856, presently the site of the Gran Paradiso National Park.

It is widely accepted that Gran Paradiso is one of the easiest four-thousanders to get. This is not fully true, however, because while almost the entire route to the ridge is valued at F+, the last several dozen meters to the Virgin Mary summit (Italian: Cima della Madonna, French: Pointe de la Madone ou French: Pointe de la Vierge - 4058 m) is rock climbing in large exposure with difficulties I UIAA, while access to the main summit (4061 m) requires 15 minutes of climbing about the difficulties of II UIAA. 99% of those who climb to this peak are, however, amateurs without the right skills, and often even without equipment, who end up climbing the Madonna summit or do not reach any summit.

Nature conservation

Gran Paradiso is located in the Gran Paradiso National Park, an Italian national park named after the mountain.[4] On the French side of the border, the park is continued by the Vanoise National Park.

See also
  • List of 4000 metre peaks of the Alps

References
  1. Geoportale IGM on www.pcn.minambiente.it
  2. Gran Paradiso, Italy, www.peakbagger.com
  3. Marazzi, Sergio (2005). Atlante Orografico delle Alpi. SOIUSA (in Italian). Priuli & Verlucca. p. 113. ISBN 978-88-8068-273-8.
  4. "parco.nazionale.gran.paradise - parks.it". parks.it. Retrieved 28 January 2015.

Maps
  • Italian official cartography (Istituto Geografico Militare - IGM); on-line version: www.pcn.minambiente.it
  • I.G.C. (Istituto Geografico Centrale) - Carta dei sentieri e dei rifugi 1:50.000 scale n.3 Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso and 1:25.000 n.101 Gran Paradiso, La Grivola, Cogne
  • Ebyte.it, Gran Paradiso massif, a panorama with the names of all peaks
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