Mont Ventoux, Limestone mountain in Vaucluse, France
Mont Ventoux rises to 1,910 m as the highest point of the Monts de Vaucluse, a bare limestone massif about 25 km long east to west and 15 km wide. Its pale summit ridge carries a slender observation tower over 40 m tall, and the treeless white rock makes the peak look snow-covered from afar.
Italian poet Petrarch made the first recorded pleasure climb in 1336 and wrote a letter about the experience. The mountain was later included in the Tour de France starting in 1951.
The name Ventoux comes from a pre-Latin root *Vin-, found in Venasque, Vence and the Port de Venasque, meaning a height seen from afar; the Latin form Mons Ventosus, recorded from the 10th century, was later read as "windy mountain". In Provençal the mountain is Ventor. The mistral blows at over 90 km/h for roughly 240 days a year.
Three roads reach the summit: from Bédoin (about 22 kilometers), from Malaucène (about 21 kilometers), and from Sault (about 26 kilometers). The road at Col des Tempêtes closes often due to strong winds.
Wind speeds at the summit can reach 300 kilometers per hour. A weather station here measures extreme conditions that vary significantly by season.
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