The Grand Aréa is a 2.869 metres high mountain of 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 ...

located in the

French department In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety-s ...

Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; oc, Auts Aups; en, Upper Alps) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population of 141,220 ...

Features

The mountain stands in the ''

Massif des Cerces The massif des Cerces is a region of the French Alps on the Franco-Italian border. On the French side it lies in the departements of Hautes-Alpes and Savoie. The massif consists of smaller mountain chains including Mont Thabor as well as those of ...

'' and on the

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

between the valleys of the

Guisane The Guisane is a river in the Hautes-Alpes department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, a subtributary of the Rhône and tributary of the Durance (in Briançon). It takes its source in Le Monêtier-les-Bains at the Col du Lautaret. It ...

and the

Clarée The Clarée is a river in southeastern France, a right tributary to the Durance. It is long. Its drainage basin is .Col du Granon Col du Granon (el. ) is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Hautes-Alpes in France. A narrow tarmac road winds steeply up the southern approach. Gravel roads continue beyond the pass, in a military training zone. It hosted the ...

. The ridge continues westwards with the Col de Buffère and then towards the

Pointe des Cerces Pointe des Cerces is a mountain of Savoie, France. It lies in the Massif des Cerces range. It has an elevation of 3,097 metres above sea level. Géoportail, sewww.geoportail.gouv.fr/ref> References {{Savoie-geo-stub Mounta ...

Access to the summit

The summit of the Grand Aréa can be reached by footpaths starting from several neighbouring locations. The hike from the Clarée valley thorough Col de Buffère is considered quite an easy and rewarding walk. The mountain is also a well known destination for

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 ...

Mountain huts

Refuge de Buffère Refuge is a place or state of safety. It may also refer to a more specific meaning: Safety * Area of refuge, a location in a building that may be used by occupants in the event of a fire * Bunker, a defensive fortification designed to protect pe ...

(2.076 m).

References

Maps

* French official cartography (''

Institut géographique national An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

'' - IGN); on-line version:
www.geoportail.fr

External links

* * {{cite web, url=http://www.camptocamp.org/summits/38499/fr/le-grand-area, language=fr, title=Le Grand Aréa, publisher=camptocamp.org Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Hautes-Alpes