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Rocciamelone
Rocciamelone
	View from Rocca Sella, Italy (1,508 m)
Highest point
Elevation	3,538 m (11,608 ft)
Prominence	303 m (994 ft)
Parent peak	Ouille Mouta (3,565 m)
Isolation	7.74 km (4.81 mi)
Listing	Alpine mountains above 3000 m
Coordinates	45°12′14″N 7°4′38″E / 45.20389°N 7.07722°E
Geography
	Rocciamelone Location in the Alps
Location	Piedmont, Italy
Parent range	Graian Alps
Climbing
First ascent	1358 by Bonifacius Rotarius
Easiest route	Scramble, partly roped path

Rocciamelone (Piedmontese: Ròcia-mlon, French: Rochemelon or Roche Melon) is a 3,538 m high mountain in Piedmont, Italy, near the border between Italy and France.

Geography

Rocciamelone is located between Val di Susa and Maurienne, 50 km west of Turin.

Its summit is the tripoint where the comunes of Usseglio, Novalesa and Mompantero meet. The international border crosses the Glacier de Rochemelon 1 kilometer north of the summit, making it appear that the border is not following the watershed precisely in this sector. However, the glacier is draped over a ridge that is the true watershed and is precisely followed by the borderline.

SOIUSA classification

The mountain seen from Foresto (Bussoleno)

According to the SOIUSA (International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps) the mountain can be classified in the following way:^[3]

main part = Western Alps
major sector = North Western Alps
section = Graian Alps
subsection = Southern Graian Alps
supergroup = catena Rocciamelone-Charbonnel
group = gruppo del Rocciamelone
subgroup = nodo del Rocciamelone
code = I/B-7.I-A.2.a

History

The teutonic knight Bonifacius Rotarius (of Asti) made the first ascent of Rocciamelone on 1 September 1358, to bring a small metal image of the Holy Virgin as a gesture of gratitude for having survived captivity in the Holy Land during a war against the Muslims. ^[4]

The summit of Rocciamelone is the destination of a traditional pilgrimage, every year, on August 5. A three-metre-high (9.8 ft) statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary was erected there in 1899.

Access to the summit

Because of its easy access (the start of the summit trail can be reached in a 90-minute drive from Turin), its considerable height and the panorama, this mountain is one of the most frequented of the western part of the Alps.

Mountain huts

Rifugio Cà d'Asti (2,854 m - Mompantero)
Rifugio Ernesto Tazzetti (2,642 - Usseglio)
Rifugio Santa Maria (close to the summit)

Notes

^ ^a ^b Géoportail IGN on www.geoportail.fr
^ key col= Col de la Resta (3,235 m)
^ Marazzi, Sergio (2005). Atlante Orografico delle Alpi. SOIUSA (in Italian). Priuli & Verlucca. p. 134. ISBN 978-88-8068-273-8.
^ "L'alpinismo? È nato sul Rocciamelone". La Stampa (in Italian). 30 July 2008. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008.

Maps

Istituto Geografico Militare (IGM) official maps of Italy, 1:25.000 and 1:100.000 scale, on-line version
Istituto Geografico Centrale (IGC) - Carta dei sentieri e dei rifugi scala 1:50.000 n. 2 Valli di Lanzo e Moncenisio
Istituto Geografico Centrale - Carta dei sentieri e dei rifugi scala 1:25.000 n.110 Alte Valli di Lanzo (Rocciamelone - Uja di Ciamarella - Le Levanne)