La Dôle is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

of the Jura, overlooking

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

in the westernmost part of the canton of

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

. Rising to an altitude of 1677 meters, it is the second highest peak in the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

portion of the Jura, after

Mont Tendre Mont Tendre is a mountain of the Jura, located between the valley of Joux and the basin of Lake Geneva in the canton of Vaud. With an elevation of 1,679 metres above sea level, it is the highest summit of the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountain ...

. Administratively, the summit is split between the municipalities of

Gingins Gingins is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Gingins is first mentioned around 1144-59 as ''Gingins''. In October 1535, a major battle was fought in that locality between the forces of the Repub ...

Chéserex Chéserex () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Nyon (district), Nyon in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Chéserex is first mentioned around 1001-25 as ''Chiseras''. Geography C ...

and

La Rippe La Rippe is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History La Rippe is first mentioned in 1384 as ''Rippis''. Geography La Rippe has an area, , of . Of this area, or 35.6% is used for agricultural purpose ...

. The mountain is also close to and easily accessible from

Saint-Cergue Saint-Cergue is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Nyon (district), Nyon in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Saint-Cergue is first mentioned in 1110 as ''ecclesiam Sancti Cyrici''. ...

and the

Col de la Givrine Col de la Givrine (el. 1228 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Jura Mountains in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, near the border with France. It connects Nyon in Switzerland and Morez in France. The maximum grade of the pass road is 8 percen ...

to the north, both above 1000 meters and connected to

Nyon Nyon (; historically German language, German: or and Italian language, Italian: , ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Nyon District in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometer ...

on Lake Geneva by road and by the

Nyon–St-Cergue–Morez Railway The Nyon–St-Cergue–Morez Railway (NStCM), , is a narrow gauge railway in western Switzerland which nowadays operates between Nyon, on the northern shore of Lake Geneva and the French border at La Cure, the La Cure–Morez section having cl ...

. A paved road also climbs to the Chalet de la Dôle below the summit (1439 m) from Gingins.

Swisstopo Swisstopo is the official name for the Swiss Federal Office of Topography, Switzerland's national mapping agency. The current name was made official in 2002. It had been used as the domain name for the homepage of the instituteswisstopo.admi ...

La Dôle overlooks to south-east the summit of La Barillette, the town of Nyon, Lake Geneva and across the lake the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, including the

Bernese Alps The Bernese Alps are a mountain range of the Alps located in western Switzerland. Although the name suggests that they are located in the Berner Oberland region of the canton of Bern, portions of the Bernese Alps are in the adjacent cantons of Va ...

the

Chablais Alps The Chablais Alps (, ) are a mountain range in the Western Alps. They are situated between Lake Geneva and the Mont Blanc Massif. The Col des Montets separates them from the Mont Blanc Massif in the south, and the Rhône valley separates them ...

and the Mont Blanc massif. To the south are views of the City of Geneva and the

Canton of Geneva The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of forty-five Municipality, municipalities, and the seat of the governme ...

; to the north the village of

Les Rousses Les Rousses () is a commune in the Canton of Hauts de Bienne of Jura department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France, on the Swiss border. The Lac des Rousses is located northeast of the village of Les Rousses beside th ...

. The Dôle massif has a second peak to the northeast, the Pointe de Poêle Chaud, accessible via the

col A col is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks; a mountain pass or saddle. COL, CoL or col may also refer to: Computers * Caldera OpenLinux, a defunct Linux distribution * , an HTML element specifying a column * A collision sig ...

between them which drops to 1557 m. La Dôle massif is the northwesternmost part of the Swiss Plateau. To the southwest it ends at the Col de la Faucille, and to the northwest at the Valserine valley, a

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

tributary. To the north it ends at the Col de la Givrine, and towards the southeast merges into the Swiss Plateau. The northwestern side of La Dôle is equipped with ski-lifts and is traversed by alpine ski paths. There is a restricted-access cable car which provides service to the various electronic facilities on the top, including a ball containing aviation radar, a Swiss weather station, television, radio and

EBU The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

telecommunications.

Climate

Due to its altitude and exposed location La Dôle features a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(Dfc) according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, with cool summers and relatively long and snowy winters. Precipitation is spread out evenly throughout the year and with 1,845 mm quite high. Winter storms are common and its exposed location contribute to a high annual average wind speed of 8.0 m/s.

Media

File:Radar La Dole.jpg, Radar on the summit File:La Dôle Panorama.jpg, Panorama from the summit's perspective overlooking Geneva. File:La-Dôle-aerial-10.jpg, Aerial view

References

External links

* ;
"La Dôle: The Jura's answer to the Alps" by Dwight Peck
pictures of the peak;

{{DEFAULTSORT:La Dole Mountains of Switzerland Mountains of the canton of Vaud Mountains of the Jura Dole

Climate

Media

See also

References

External links