Mongioia

The Cima Mongioia or simply Mongioia or Bric de Rubren 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 French 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 schists with ophiolites of a Jurassic-Cretaceous origin. Close to the summit an area of serpentinites can be noticed.

Geography

The Mongioia belongs to the main chain of the Alps. Its Italian side is located in the upper part of the Varaita Valley, while the French one is at the end of the Ubaye valley.
From its summit three ridges branch out:

the first, heading NW, divides two French dells, Vallon du Loup and Vallon de Rubren;
the second heads South and consists in the stretch of the 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 fields, while the other faces of the mountain are steeper and rocky.

SOIUSA classification

According to SOIUSA 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 = I/A-4.I-A.3.a

History

Mount Riouburent was considered by William Mathews the highest peak of Maritime Alps, but in his view the ridge ended north of Mongioia and not at Colle della Maddalena.
The first known attempt to climb the mountain was of the French militar topographer Loreilhe in 1823, but he didn't reach the summit. A second documented climb by François Arnaud took place in 1875, and also turned unsuccessful. The summit of Mongioia was reached for the first time on the 20th of July 1878 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. Up to the Bivacco Franco Boerio one must follow marked footpaths. From there on some passage tracks, with an easy climb passage, allow to reach the metallic cross and the trig point on the summit.
Another route reaches the Mongioia lake through the Vallon du Loup and the Passo di Salza.

Maps

Italian official cartography ; on-line version:
French official cartography ; on-line version:
Istituto Geografico Centrale - Carta dei sentieri e dei rifugi scala 1:50.000 n. 6 ‘’Monviso’’'