Belledonne


Belledonne is a mountain range in the Dauphiné 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 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 on the west, the river Arc to the north and the Romanche to the south. The range counts dozens of peaks over, more than 10 glaciers, 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. As a result of its geologic history, Belledonne alternates jagged peaks with gentle slopes.
Belledonne overlooks the fairly flat Isère Valley which lies only above sea level near Grenoble. Hence, all alpine vegetation zones are represented:
A significant feature is the Belledonne Balcony, 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

NameElevation
Grand Pic de Belledonne
Croix de Belledonne
Rocher Blanc
Aiguilles de l'Argentière
Rocher Badon
Pyramide
Puy Gris
Bec d'Arguille
Aiguille d'Olle
Rocher d'Arguille
Pointe de Comberousse
Grande Lance d'Allemond
Charmet de l'Aiguille
Pointe de la Porte d'Eglise
Pic du Frêne
Pic du Grand Doménon
Grand Morétan
Grande Lance de Domène
Grand Charnier d'Allemont
Pic Couttet
Grand Crozet
Pic de la Grande Valloire
Selle du Puy Gris
Rocher de l'Homme
Roche Rousse
Pic Lamartine
Grande Lauzière

Main glaciers

The most spectacular glacier in Belledonne is the Glacier de Freydane, which is noted for its crevasses.
There is no road that cuts across Belldonne. The Pas de la Coche pass, between Belledonne proper and the 7 Laux range, is the only natural break point in the range. It is the only point below on the Belledonne ridge. Most other passes are not much lower in elevation than their neighboring peaks.
At the turn of the 20th century, Joseph Paganon, a minister in several French governments, pushed for linking Laval to the Rivier-d'Allemont by road D528 through the Pas de la Coche. That roadwork was started but eventually was stopped at an elevation of on the Gresivaudan side, while work never even started on the other side. Before the automobile era this pass was frequently used by locals to go from Gresivaudan to the Eau d'Olle valley, or even to go to the Maurienne valley via the Glandon pass. Hannibal is believed to have passed the Pas de la Coche when he crossed the Alps with his army.
NameElevation
Pra
Belledonne
Freydanne
Mine de Fer
Roche Fendue
Coche
Sept Laux
Croix
Tepey
Valloire
Merlet
Bourbière
Frèche
Perrière
Perche
Roche Noire
Balmette

Main lakes

Belledonne and its lakes have played a major role in industrializing hydroelectricity production as early as 1869 thanks to pioneer Aristide Bergès and his paper mills which tapped water from lake Crozet.
NameElevationGroup
Achard
Robert
Longet
Merlat
Crozet
Petit Doménon
Grand Doménon
Sitre
Belledonne
Blanc
Crop
Agnelin
Jeplan
Sagne
Croix
Folle
Blanc
Noir
Balmettes
Corne 7 Laux
Cos 7 Laux
Blanc 7 Laux
Cottepens 7 Laux
Carré 7 Laux
Motte 7 Laux
Noir 7 Laux

Ski resorts

There are 4 main ski resorts in Belledonne, from South to North:
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, 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 and by spring 2002, their population had risen to 900 heads.