Gran Paradiso

{{Short description|Mountain in the Graian Alps in Italy}}

{{About|the mountain in north-west Italy|the studio album by Klaus Waldeck|Gran Paradiso (album)}}

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Gran Paradiso

| other_name = {{langx|fr|Grand Paradis}}

| native_name =

| photo = Gran_Paradiso.jpg

| photo_caption = The Gran Paradiso

| elevation_m = 4061

| elevation_ref =Geoportale IGM on [http://www.pcn.minambiente.it/viewer/ www.pcn.minambiente.it]

| prominence_m = 1888

| prominence_ref ={{cite peakbagger|pid=9948|name=Gran Paradiso, Italy|access-date=24 February 2021}}

| range = Graian Alps

| parent_peak =

| listing = Ultra

| location = Piedmont (Metropolitan City of Turin) and Aosta Valley, Italy

| map = Italy | relief=1

| translation = 'Great Paradise'

| map_caption = Italy

| map_size = 250

| coordinates = {{coord|45|30|52|N|7|16|11|E|type:mountain_region:IT_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| coordinates_ref =

| topo =

| first_ascent = September 4, 1860 by Cowell, Dundas, Payot and Tairraz

| easiest_route = rock/ice climb

}}

The Gran Paradiso ({{IPA|it|ˈɡram paraˈdiːzo}}) or Grand Paradis ({{IPA|fr|ɡʁɑ̃ paʁadi}} {{small|both}} {{lit|Great Paradise}}) is a mountain in the Graian Alps in Italy, located between the Aosta Valley and Piedmont regions. It is located in Gran Paradiso National Park.

Etymology

The Italian toponym Gran Paradiso derives, via the French Grand Paradis, as a mistranslation from the Aosta Valley patois {{lang|frp|Granta Parey}}, which originally means 'large wall'. It is the same etymology as nearby {{Ill|Granta Parey|fr||it}}.{{Cite book |last=Henry |first=Joseph-Marie |title=Vieux noms patois de localités valdôtaines |publisher=Le Messager valdôtain |year=1937 |language=fr}}

Geography

The peak is the 7th highest mountain in the Graian Alps, with an elevation of 4,061 m. 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.{{cite book

| last = Marazzi

| first = Sergio

| title = Atlante Orografico delle Alpi. SOIUSA

| publisher = Priuli & Verlucca

| year = 2005

| language = it

| page = 113

| isbn = 978-88-8068-273-8

}}

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 summit. This is not fully true, however, because while almost the entire route to the ridge is graded at F+, the last several dozen metres to the Virgin Mary (or Madonna) summit ({{langx|it|Cima della Madonna}}, {{langx|fr|Pointe de la Madone}} or {{langx|fr|Pointe de la Vierge}} – 4058 m) comprises rock climbing with considerable exposure, with difficulties of grade I UIAA, while access to the proper main summit (4061 m) requires 15 minutes of climbing up to grade II UIAA. Gran Paradiso is popular with novice alpinists and many of these only climb to the Madonna summit.{{cite book|title=The 4000m Peaks of the Alps - Selected Climbs|author=Moran, Martin |publisher=The Alpine Club|year=2007|asin=B00JYHLOL4}}

In addition to the main summit routes, Gran Paradiso possesses a steep snow/ice North West Face, which can be climbed at AD+ from the Refuge Frédéric Chabod.

Nature conservation

Gran Paradiso is located in the Gran Paradiso National Park, an Italian national park named after the mountain.{{cite web|url=http://www.parks.it/parco.nazionale.gran.paradiso/Epar.php|title=Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso|website=parks.it|access-date=28 January 2015}} On the French side of the border, the park is continued by the Vanoise National Park.

See also

{{Portal|Alps | left = | break = }}

References

{{Reflist}}

Maps

  • Italian official cartography (Istituto Geografico Militare - IGM); on-line version: [http://www.pcn.minambiente.it/viewer/ 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