The Cima Mongioia or simply Mongioia (in Italian) or Bric de Rubren (in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

) is a 3,340 metres high mountain of the Cottian Alps.

Toponymy

In the alpinistic and geographyc literature the mountain also appears as ''Grand Rubren'' or ''Monte Riouburent ''. On

maps is usually referred as ''Bric de Rubren''.

Geology

From a geological point of view the whole upper part of the mountain belongs to a complex of

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...

s with ophiolites of a

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

origin. Close to the summit an area of

serpentinite Serpentinite is a rock composed predominantly of one or more serpentine group minerals, the name originating from the similarity of the texture of the rock to that of the skin of a snake. Serpentinite has been called ''serpentine'' or ''ser ...

s can be noticed.
Carta Geologica d'Italia scala 1:100.000, 78-79 section- Argentera-Dronero

Geography

The Mongioia belongs to the

main chain of the Alps The main chain of the Alps, also called the Alpine divide is the central line of mountains that forms the drainage divide of the range. Main chains of mountain ranges are traditionally designated in this way, and generally include the highest p ...

. Its Italian side is located in the upper part of the

Varaita Valley Varaita Valley (in Italian ''Valle Varaita'') is a valley in south-west of Piedmont, in the Province of Cuneo - Italy. Etymology It takes its name from the Varaita, a right-hand tributary of the Po which flows through the valley. Geography Close ...

, while the French one is at the end of the

Ubaye The Ubaye (; oc, Ubaia) is a river of southeastern France. It is long and flows through the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department. Its drainage basin is .Alpine divide connecting the Mongioia with ''Passo Mongioia'' and ''Monte Giuep''; * the third, also belonging to the Alpine divide, heads East towards the ''Passo di Salza'' and '' Monte Salza''. The western face of Mongioia, facing the ''Vallon de Rubren'', consists in sloping

block field A blockfieldWhittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984, pp. 66 and 190. . (also spelt block fieldLeser, Hartmut, ed. (2005). ''Wörterbuch Allgemeine Geographie'', 13th ed., dtv, Munich, pp. 107 and 221. ...

s, while the other faces of the mountain are steeper and rocky.

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 * major sector = South Western Alps * section = Cottian Alps * subsection = Southern Cottian Alps * supergroup = Chambeyron group in the broad sense * group = Mongioia group * subgroup = Costiera del Mongioia *

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.I-A.3.a

History

Mount ''Riouburent'' was considered by William Mathews the highest peak of

Maritime Alps The Maritime Alps (french: Alpes Maritimes ; it, Alpi Marittime ) are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between the regions of France, French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and the regions of Italy ...

, but in his view the ridge ended north of Mongioia and not at

Colle della Maddalena The Maddalena Pass (Italian: ''Colle della Maddalena'' French: ''Col de Larche'', historically ''Col de l'Argentière'') (elevation 1996 m.) is a high mountain pass between the Cottian Alps and the Maritime Alps, located on the border between It ...

.W. Mathews, ''Explorations round the foot of Monte Viso'' e ''Ascent of Monte Viso'', in ''Peaks, Passes and Glaciers'', Second Series, Vol. II, London 1862;
see Google Books
/ref> The first known attempt to climb the mountain was of the French militar

topographer Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scie ...

Loreilhe in 1823, but he didn't reach the summit., Pierre-Martin Charpenel, ''Les débuts de l'alpinisme en Ubaye'', in ''Chroniques de Haute-Provence, Bulletin de la Société scientifique et littéraire des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence'', n° 293, 1982, p. 79 A second documented climb by François Arnaud (and the first with a detailed report) took place in 1875, and also turned unsuccessful. The summit of Mongioia was reached for the first time on the 20th of July

1878 Events January–March * January 5 – Russo-Turkish War – Battle of Shipka Pass IV: Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire. * January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy. * January 17 – Battle o ...

by Paul Agnel and Joseph Risoul.

Access to the summit

From the Italian side the Mongioia can be reached starting from the village of ''Sant'Anna'' (1,850 m,

Comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

of Bellino). Up to the ''Bivacco Franco Boerio'' (a wooden

mountain shelter A mountain hut is a building located high in the mountains, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineers, climbers and hikers. Mountain huts are usually operated by an Alpine Club or some organization de ...

built in 1991, 3,089 m) one must follow marked footpaths. From there on some passage tracks, with an easy climb passage, allow to reach the metallic

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

and the trig point on the summit (way up: 4-4.30 hours from Sant'Anna)., G. Berutto, ''Monviso e le sue valli - Vol. 1, II edizione'', Istituto Geografico Centrale, 1996 Another route reaches the Mongioia lake through the ''Vallon du Loup'' and the ''Passo di Salza''.

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
* 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
* Istituto Geografico Centrale - Carta dei sentieri e dei rifugi scala 1:50.000 n. 6 ‘’Monviso’’'

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mongioia Mountains of the Alps Bric de Rubren Mountains of Piedmont Alpine three-thousanders France–Italy border International mountains of Europe Bric de Rubren