The Cima Ciantiplagna is a mountain in the

Cottian Alps The Cottian Alps (; french: Alpes Cottiennes ; it, Alpi Cozie ) are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between France (Hautes-Alpes and Savoie) and Italy (Piedmont). The Fréjus Road Tunnel and Fréjus Rai ...

belonging to the

Province of Turin The former Province of Turin ( it, Provincia di Torino; pms, Provinsa ëd Turin; french: Province de Turin) was a province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Turin. The province existed until 31 December 2014, when it wa ...

(

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Geography

The mountain stands on the long ridge which, starting from

Sestriere Sestriere (/se'strjɛre/) ( oc, Sestrieras, pms, Ël Sestrier, french: Sestrières) is a ski resort in Piedmont, Italy, a ''comune'' (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Turin. It is situated in Val Susa, from the French border. Its name ...

, divides the

Susa Valley The Susa Valley ( it, Val di Susa; pms, Valsusa; french: Val de Suse; oc, Val d'Ors) is a valley in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont region of northern Italy, located between the Graian Alps in the north and the Cottian Alps in the sou ...

from Chisone valley, W of the colle delle Finestre. Despite being shaped as an inconspicuous, grassy bump, it's the highest mountains of the area between Colle delle Finestre and Sestriere. Close to its summit passes an old military road built in order to deserve several military emplacements. It's a

dirt road A dirt road or track is a type of unpaved road not paved with asphalt, concrete, brick, or stone; made from the native material of the land surface through which it passes, known to highway engineers as subgrade material. Dirt roads are suitable ...

connecting ''Pian dell'Alpe'' (

Usseaux Usseaux ( oc, Ussiau,Lucie Amaro-Péguy, ''L’occitan alpin d’Usseaux; description d’une langue en danger, en contact avec deux aires dialectales (francoprovençale et piémontaise), et sous l’influence de deux langues standards (français e ...

) with

, open to cars and motorbikes during summertime.

SOIUSA classification

According to

SOIUSA Alps by SOIUSA. SOIUSA (an acronym for - English: ''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps-ISMSA'') is a proposal for a new classification system of the Alps from the geographic and toponomastic point of view. It was designe ...

(''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps'') the mountain can be classified in the following way: * main part =

Western Alps The Western Alps are the western part of the Alpine Range including the southeastern part of France (e.g. Savoie), the whole of Monaco, the northwestern part of Italy (i.e. Piedmont and the Aosta Valley) and the southwestern part of Switzerland ( ...

* major sector = North Western Alps * section =

* subsection = Central Cottian Alps ( ''Alpi del Monginevro'') * supergroup = Catena Bucie-Grand Queyron-Orsiera * group = Gruppo dell'Orsiera * subgroup = Costiera Orsiera-Rocciavrè *

code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

= I/A-4.II-A.3.b

Access to the summit

The summit of the Ciantiplagna is easy to reach, and the

normal route A normal route or normal way (french: voie normale; german: Normalweg) is the most frequently used route for ascending and descending a mountain peak. It is usually the simplest route. Overview In the Alps, routes are classed in the following way ...

starts from the old military road linking Sestriere with Colle delle Finestre and briefly follows the NE ridge of the mountain up to its top, marked by a metallic

summit cross A summit cross (german: Gipfelkreuz) is a cross on the summit of a mountain or hill that marks the top. Often there will be a summit register (''Gipfelbuch'') at the cross, either in a container or at least a weatherproof case. Various other form ...

. It also can be attained by

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, which ...

. Besides summer hiking the Ciantiplagna is also a popular

ski mountaineering Ski mountaineering (abbreviated to skimo) is a skiing discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them, depending on the steepness of the ascent, and then descending on skis. There are two major categories of equipmen ...

destination.

Nature conservation

The mountain and its surrounding area are included in a regional

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected natural area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscape ...

called ''Parco naturale Orsiera - Rocciavrè'', which also is the SIC ''(

Site of Community Importance A Site of Community Importance (SCI) is defined in the European Commission Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) as a site which, in the biogeographical region or regions to which it belongs, contributes significantly to the maintenance or restoration at ...

)'' of code ''IT1110006''.''Siti di Importanza Comunitaria (SIC)'', Regione Piemonte, list o
gis.csi.it
(accessed in September 2011)

References

Maps

* Italian official cartography (''

Istituto Geografico Militare The ''Istituto Geografico Militare'' (IGM), or Military Geographic Institute, is an Italian public organization, dependent on the Italian Army general staff (''Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito''). It is the national mapping agency for Italy. Overvie ...

'' - IGM); on-line version
www.pcn.minambiente.it
*

Istituto Geografico Centrale The Istituto Geografico Centrale (IGC, in English ‘’Central Geographic Institute’’) is a privately owned Italian company based in Turin (Piedmont), known for its guide books and hiking maps mainly concerning the Western Alps and their cont ...

- Carta dei sentieri e dei rifugi scala 1:50.000 n. 1 ''Valli di Susa Chisone e Germanasca''

External links

* * ''Cima Ciantiplagna'': 360° panoramic image from the summit o
pano.ica-net.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciantiplagna Two-thousanders of Italy Mountains of Piedmont Mountains of the Alps Metropolitan City of Turin