Читать книгу Through the Italian Alps. The GTA - The Grande Traversata delle Alpi онлайн

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Climbing towards Passo d’Orgials (Stage 9)

According to legend the appellation for the Graian Alps, or Alpi Graie, commemorates the passage of mythical Greek hero Hercules (Ercole Graio) over the Piccolo San Bernardo pass, allegedly between labours. Extensive glaciers and nevées overlie metamorphic formations here, the result of volcanic material transformed during the raising of the Alpine chain in the Tertiary period 54–57 million years ago. U-shaped valleys and armchair cirques are widespread, as are curious ‘roches moutonnées’, polished stone humps emerging from the ground, so-named for their resemblance to sheep. The Graians take in Europe’s highest mountain, Mont Blanc, as well as the superb 4061m Gran Paradiso peak, which gave its name to Italy’s very first national park. The 70,000ha Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso (mostly in the Valle d’Aosta region) dates back to 1922 when King Vittorio Emanuele III handed over this former hunting reserve, which boasts surprising concentrations of wildlife along with 450km of paved tracks.