Belledonne (french: link=no, La chaine de Belledonne, ) is a mountain range (french: link=no, massif) 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 Valley (which carries the

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Arc ARC may refer to: Business * Aircraft Radio Corporation, a major avionics manufacturer from the 1920s to the '50s * Airlines Reporting Corporation, an airline-owned company that provides ticket distribution, reporting, and settlement services * ...

to the north and the Romanche to the south. The range counts dozens of peaks over , more than 10

glaciers A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

, 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 The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

. As a result of its geologic history, Belledonne alternates jagged peaks with gentle slopes. Belledonne overlooks the fairly flat Isère Valley (french: link=no, Grésivaudan) which lies only above sea level near Grenoble. Hence, all alpine vegetation zones are represented: * Hill zone: coppices of

Downy oak ''Quercus pubescens'', the downy oak or pubescent oak, is a species of white oak (genus '' Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus'') native to southern Europe and southwest Asia, from northern Spain ( Pyrenees) east to the Crimea and the Caucasus. It is al ...

on South facing slopes (french: link=no, adret), hornbeam, common maple. *

Montane zone Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

: beech, birch, aspen, English oak, sycamore maple, goat willow, then fir and spruce. *

Subalpine zone Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

: 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 Belledonne (french: link=no, La chaine de Belledonne, ) is a mountain range (french: link=no, massif) 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 th ...

(french: link=no, Le Balcon de Belledonne), 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, and its Southern part is now effectively an upscale suburb of Grenoble.

Main summits

Main glaciers

The most spectacular glacier in Belledonne is the french: link=no, Glacier de Freydane, 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

No road cuts across Belldonne. The

Pas de la Coche PAS or Pas may refer to: Companies and organizations * Pakistan Academy of Sciences * Pakistan Administrative Service * Pan Am Southern, a freight railroad owned by Norfolk Southern and Pan Am Railways * Pan American Silver, a mining company i ...

pass, between Belledonne proper and the 7 Laux range, is the only natural break point in the range, and is the only point below on the Belledonne ridge (the main water divide between the

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Romanche). Most other passes are not much lower in elevation than their neighboring peaks. At the turn of the 20th century,

Joseph Paganon Joseph Paganon (19 March 1880 – 2 November 1937) was a French chemical engineer and politician. He was Minister of Public Works in 1933–34, and for a few days in 1935. He helped provide infrastructure needed by the alpine tourist industry in ...

, a minister in several French governments, pushed for linking

Laval Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxem ...

to the Rivier-d' Allemond by road through the Pas de la Coche. That roadwork started but eventually stopped after Paganon's death at an elevation of on the Gresivaudan side, while work never started on the steeper other side ( Eau d'Olle). Before the automobile era, locals frequently used this pass to go from Gresivaudan to the Eau d'Olle valley, or to continue to the Maurienne valley via the

Glandon Glandon (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in west-central France. Inhabitants are known as ''Glandonais''. Geography Glandon lies Southeast of Périgord-Limousin National Regional Park and Sout ...

pass.

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

may have passed the Pas de la Coche when he crossed the Alps with his army.

Main lakes

Lac noir and lac blanc in grande Valloire valley

Belledonne and its lakes have played a major role in industrializing hydroelectricity production as early as 1869 thanks to pioneer

Aristide Bergès Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in ...

and his paper mills which tapped water from lake Crozet.

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 Arpitan, and since Arpitan 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 The chamois (''Rupicapra rupicapra'') or Alpine chamois is a species of goat-antelope native to mountains in Europe, from west to east, including the Alps, the Dinarides, the Tatra and the Carpathian Mountains, the Balkan Mountains, the Ril ...

, 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. The ibex had completely disappeared from Belledonne. Early 1983, 13 females and 7 males were brought in from

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and by spring 2002, their population had risen to 900 heads.

Gallery

File:Sunset on Grand Pic de Belledonne.jpg, Sunset on Grand Pic de Belledonne File:Moonrise on Grand Pic de Belledonne.jpg, Moonrise on Grand Pic de Belledonne File:Grand Pic de Belledonne.jpg, Grand Pic de Belledonne seen from the West File:Grand Pic De Belledonne.jpg, Clouds clear up and reveal Grand Pic de Belledonne

References

The Alps Geology site is an excellent source for geological information on the Belledonne Range and on all of the French Alps. {{Authority control Mountain ranges of the Alps Mountain ranges of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes