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Belledonne
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Belledonne is a mountain range in the Dauphiné Alps (part of the French Alps) in southeast France. The southern end of the range forms the eastern wall of the mountains that surround the city of Grenoble.
The range is noted for the spectacular scenery it provides the inhabitants of Grenoble, numerous ski areas, interesting geology, and a diverse range of alpine land types and uses.
Belledonne range is approximately long by between wide and runs from roughly , south-south-east of the city of Grenoble, in a north-easterly direction (actually 35 degrees) for to roughly , near the town of Aiguebelle.
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Encyclopedia
Belledonne is a mountain range in the Dauphiné Alps (part of the French Alps) in southeast France. The southern end of the range forms the eastern wall of the mountains that surround the city of Grenoble.
The range is noted for the spectacular scenery it provides the inhabitants of Grenoble, numerous ski areas, interesting geology, and a diverse range of alpine land types and uses.
Geography
The Belledonne range is approximately long by between wide and runs from roughly , south-south-east of the city of Grenoble, in a north-easterly direction (actually 35 degrees) for to roughly , near the town of Aiguebelle. The highest point is the Grand Pic de Belledonne, .
The range is delineated by several valleys which lie at relatively low altitude, including the Grésivaudan (which carries the Isère River) on the west, the Arc River to the north and the Romanche River to the south. The range counts dozens of peaks over , more than 10 glaciers, and many alpine lakes, the highest of which is over above sea level.
Geologically, Belledonne is a concatenation of ranges which are not physically separated; from north to south, these are: the Grand Arc, the Lauzière, the Sept-Laux, Belledonne proper, and the Taillefer.
Belledonne is a crystalline range. It initiated as a Paleozoic peneplain which was covered by Mesozoic sediments, then raised and tilted during the Tertiary uplift of the Alps and subjected to glacial erosion during the Quaternary. As a result of its geologic history, Belledonne alternates jagged peaks with gentle slopes.
Belledonne overlooks the fairly flat Isère Valley which lies only above sea level near Grenoble. Hence, all alpine vegetation zones are represented:
- Hill zone: coppices of pubescent oak on South facing slopes , hornbeam, common maple.
- Montane zone: beech, birch, aspen, English oak, sycamore maple, goat willow, then fir and spruce.
- Subalpine zone: moors and sparse stands of spruce, mugho pine, stone pine, and silver birch.
- Alpine zone: grassland, scree and rock.
A significant feature is the Belledonne Balcony , which is a terrace or plateau some 30 km long on the western side of the range that provides a relatively level area intersected by narrow ravines eroded by rivers taking runoff from the snow levels higher up. The Balcony has supported diverse livestock-raising and other agricultural activity for a considerable period of time.
Main summits
| Name | Elevation |
|---|
| Grand Pic de Belledonne (Le) | | | Croix de Belledonne (La) | | | Rocher Blanc (Le) | | | Aiguilles de l'Argentière (Les) | | | Rocher Badon (Le) | | | Pyramide (La) | | | Puy Gris (Le) | | | Bec d'Arguille (Le) | | | Aiguille d'Olle (L') | | | Rocher d'Arguille (Le) | | | Pointe de Comberousse (La) | | | Grande Lance d'Allemond (La) | | | Charmet de l'Aiguille (Le) | | | Pointe de la Porte d'Eglise (La) | | | Pic du Frêne (Le) | | | Pic du Grand Doménon (Le) | | | Grand Morétan (Le) | | | Grande Lance de Domène (La) | | | Grand Charnier d'Allemont (Le) | | | Pic Couttet (Le) | | | Grand Crozet (Le) | | | Pic de la Grande Valloire (Le) | | | Selle du Puy Gris (La) | | | Rocher de l'Homme (Le) | | | Roche Rousse | | | Pic Lamartine (Le) | | | Grande Lauzière (La) | |
Main glaciers
The most spectacular glacier in Belledonne is , which is noted for its crevasses.
- Glacier de la Sitre
- Glacier de Freydane
- Glacier de l'Amiante
- Glacier du Rocher Blanc
- Glacier de la Combe Madame
- Glacier de l'Argentière
- Glacier d'Arguille
- Glacier du Puy Gris
- Glacier du Gleyzin
- Glacier de Claran
Main passes
There is no road that cuts across Belldonne. The Pas de la Coche pass is the only natural break point in the range, between Belledonne proper and the 7 Laux range. It is the only point below on the Belledonne ridge (the main water divide between the Isère river and the Romanche river). Most other passes are not much lower in elevation than their neighboring peaks.
At the turn of the 20th century, Joseph Paganon, a minister in several French governments, pushed for linking Laval to the Rivier-d'Allemont by road D528. But the roadwork stopped at an elevation of on the Gresivaudan side, while work never even started on the other side (Eau d'Olle). Before the automobile era this pass was frequently used by locals to go from Gresivaudan to the Eau d'Olle valley, or even to go to the Maurienne valley via the Glandon pass. Hannibal is believed to have passed the Pas de la Coche when he crossed the Alps with his army.
| Name | Elevation |
|---|
| Pra (Col de la ) | | | Belledonne (Col de) | | | Freydanne (Col de) | | | Mine de Fer (Col de la) | | | Roche Fendue (Brèche de) | | | Coche (Pas de la) | | | Sept Laux (Col des) | | | Croix (Col de la) | | | Tepey (Col du) | | | Valloire (Col de la) | | | Merlet (Col du) | | | Bourbière (Col de la) | | | Frèche (Col de la) | | | Perrière (Col de la) | | | Perche (Col de la) | | | Roche Noire (Col de) | | | Balmette (Col de la) | |
Main lakes
Belledonne and its lakes have played a major role in industrializing hydroelectricity production as early as 1869 thanks to pioneer Aristide Bergès and his paper mills which tapped water from lake Crozet.
| Name | Elevation | Group |
|---|
| Achard (Lac) | | | | Robert (Lac) | | | | Longet (Lac) | | | | Merlat (Lac) | | | | Crozet (Lac du) | | | | Petit Doménon (Lac du) | | | | Grand Doménon (Lac du) | | | | Sitre (Lac de la) | | | | Belledonne (Lac de) | | | | Blanc (Lac) | | | | Crop (Lac de) | | | | Agnelin (Lac de l') | | | | Jeplan (Lac) | | | | Sagne (Lac de la) | | | | Croix (Lac de la) | | | | Folle (Lac de la) | | | | Blanc (Lac) | | | | Noir (Lac) | | | | Balmettes (Lac des) | | | | Corne (Lac de la) | | 7 Laux | | Cos (Lac du) | | 7 Laux | | Blanc (Lac) | | 7 Laux | | Cottepens (Lac) | | 7 Laux | | Carré (Lac) | | 7 Laux | | Motte (Lac de la) | | 7 Laux | | Noir (Lac) | | 7 Laux | |
Ski resorts
There are 4 main ski resorts in Belledonne, from South to North:
- Chamrousse
- Le Collet d'Allevard
- Les Sept Laux
- L'Espace Nordique du Barioz
Origin of the name
The origin of the name is not clear. The phrase belle donne means beautiful women in Italian. It does not appear to mean that in Occitan, and since Occitan is the ancient regional language, would have been a more likely source of ancient names than Italian. Nevertheless, from one angle the highest peak, the Grand Pic du Belledonne allegedly looks like a woman holding a baby. Other suggested derivations are from the celtic donne meaning valley, hence beautiful valleys, or indo-European bal, meaning elevated rock, which evolved into bel, then belle. It is difficult without evidence to determine the validity of these derivations.
Fauna
The mountains are home to marmots, chamois and ibex mountain goats and grouse. Reportedly, wolves have returned since 1998, coming from Italy and the press regularly echoes complaints from shepherds about wolves attacking their sheep
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The ibex had completely disappeared from Belledonne. Early 1983, 13 females and 7 males were brought in from Switzerland and by spring 2002, the population had risen to 900 heads.
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