Mont Cenis
Col du Mont Cenis | ||
---|---|---|
Elevation 2,085 m (6,841 ft) | | |
Traversed by | Route nationale 6 | |
Location | Savoie, France | |
Range | Graian Alps/Cottian Alps | |
Coordinates | 45°15′37″N 06°54′03″E / 45.26028°N 6.90083°E | |
Mont Cenis (French pronunciation: [mɔ̃ s(ə)ni]; Italian: Moncenisio, pronounced [montʃeˈnizjo]) is a massif in Savoie (France) (with an elevation of 3,612 m (11,850 ft) at Pointe de Ronce and a pass at an elevation of 2,085 m (6,841 ft)), which forms the limit between the Cottian and Graian Alps.
Route
The term "Mont Cenis" could be derived from mont des cendres ("mountain of ashes"). According to tradition, following a forest fire, a great quantity of ashes accumulated on the ground, thus the name. The path of ashes was found during the building work of the route.[1]
The pass connects
To the southwest of the Mont Cenis is the Little Mont Cenis (2184.2 m / 7166 ft), which leads from the summit plateau (in Italy) of the main pass to the Etache valley on the French slope and so to Bramans in the Arc valley.
The pass runs parallel to the Fréjus Rail Tunnel. This (highest point 1295 m / 4249 ft) is really 27.4 km 17 miles southwest of the pass, below the Col du Fréjus. From Chambéry the line runs up the Isère valley, but soon bears through that of the Arc or the Maurienne past Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Modane (98.2 km / 61 mi from Chambéry). The tunnel is 13 km in length, and leads to Bardonecchia, some way below which, at Oulx the line joins the road from the Col de Montgenèvre.
History
In the Middle Ages, pilgrims passing through Moncenisio and
As an Alpine pass, Mont Cenis featured in several historical incidents. One example is the descent of
Mont Cenis was one of the most used Alpine passes from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century. The pass was part of the border between the two countries from the
A road over the pass was built between 1802 and 1805 by
When the
The Lac Du Mont Cenis is an artificial dam that was constructed in 1921 on top of the original road and border crossing. It feeds two hydroelectric power plants. The lake is occasionally drained for maintenance.[9]
Cycling
The pass of Mont Cenis has been featured 5 times in the Tour de France. It has been classified hors-catégorie (yielding the highest number of points in the King-of-the-Mountains classification) since 1999. For the 5 years that the pass was on the Tour, the following cyclists have crossed the pass in the lead:[10]
- 1949 - Giuseppe Tacca, France
- 1956 - Federico Bahamontes, Spain
- 1961 - Emmanuel Busto, France
- 1992 - Claudio Chiappucci, Italy
- 1999 - Dimitri Konyshev, Russia
In the 2013 Giro d'Italia, the pass was featured in the 15th stage on May 19, 2013.
Climate
Mont Cenis has a
Climate data for Mont Cenis (1981−2010 normals, extremes 1992−present) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 13.1 (55.6) |
14.2 (57.6) |
14.0 (57.2) |
15.8 (60.4) |
22.4 (72.3) |
27.6 (81.7) |
26.7 (80.1) |
24.8 (76.6) |
24.0 (75.2) |
20.1 (68.2) |
17.0 (62.6) |
14.2 (57.6) |
27.6 (81.7) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −1.4 (29.5) |
−1.2 (29.8) |
1.1 (34.0) |
3.0 (37.4) |
8.9 (48.0) |
13.5 (56.3) |
15.7 (60.3) |
15.1 (59.2) |
10.5 (50.9) |
6.9 (44.4) |
1.2 (34.2) |
−1.3 (29.7) |
6.0 (42.8) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | −4.5 (23.9) |
−4.6 (23.7) |
−2.3 (27.9) |
0.0 (32.0) |
5.4 (41.7) |
9.3 (48.7) |
11.3 (52.3) |
11.1 (52.0) |
7.1 (44.8) |
3.8 (38.8) |
−1.6 (29.1) |
−4.1 (24.6) |
2.6 (36.7) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −7.5 (18.5) |
−7.9 (17.8) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
−2.9 (26.8) |
1.9 (35.4) |
5.2 (41.4) |
7.0 (44.6) |
7.0 (44.6) |
3.6 (38.5) |
0.7 (33.3) |
−4.3 (24.3) |
−7.0 (19.4) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
Record low °C (°F) | −21.7 (−7.1) |
−24.7 (−12.5) |
−21.0 (−5.8) |
−12.9 (8.8) |
−8.7 (16.3) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
−1.2 (29.8) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
−6.1 (21.0) |
−11.4 (11.5) |
−17.4 (0.7) |
−20.5 (−4.9) |
−24.7 (−12.5) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 34.1 (1.34) |
18.0 (0.71) |
34.8 (1.37) |
58.3 (2.30) |
137.9 (5.43) |
94.1 (3.70) |
56.5 (2.22) |
71.3 (2.81) |
96.6 (3.80) |
60.9 (2.40) |
57.6 (2.27) |
33.5 (1.32) |
753.6 (29.67) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 5.9 | 4.5 | 6.9 | 8.5 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.4 | 9.9 | 8.9 | 7.7 | 8.4 | 6.6 | 98.7 |
Source: Météo-France[11] |
Points of interest
- Jardin botanique de Mont Cenis, an alpine botanical garden
See also
Notes
- ^ Gianni Bisio, article from the newspaper la Stampa, 18 April 2001, p.51, Turin Chronicle.
- ISBN 978-1-403-91380-7.
- ^ Tom Reiss, The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo (New York: Crown Publishers, 2012), chapter 12, "The Battle for the Top of the World," pp. 160-174.
- ^ Collection de cartes anciennes des Pays de Savoie, 1562-1789, Archives départementales de la Savoie
- ^ Italy after fascism: a political history, 1943-1963. M. Casalini. 1964. p. 170.
- ^ "RN6: A l'assaut du Mont-Cenis (III)". Surma-Route. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-136-80738-1.
- ^ Ransom, P.J.G. (1999), The Mont Cenis Fell Railway, Twelveheads Press
- ^ "Old road exposed : Col du Mont Cenis". Drive Europe. 24 April 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ Le dico du Tour - Le col du Mont-Cenis dans le Tour de France depuis 1947 (in French)
- ^ "Fiche Climatologique Statistiques 1991-2020 et records" (PDF) (in French). Météo-France. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
References
- public domain: Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort (1911). "Mont Cenis". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). p. 762. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
External links
- Val Cenis official website
- Profile on climbbybike.com
- Both Sides: Cycling Map, Profile, and Photos
- Géologie aux alentours du col du Mont-Cenis (in French)
- Montcenis (in Italian)
- Comment en 1812 le pape Pie VII faillit mourir à l'hospice du Mont-Cenis. (in French)
- Chemin de Fer du Mont-Cenis (in French)
- Lac du Mont-Cenis (in French)
- Col du Petit Mont-Cenis (in French)
- Mont Cenis on Google Maps (Tour de France classic climbs)