Rognosa d'Etiache, Alpine summit in Cottian Alps, Piedmont, Italy.
The Rognosa d'Etiache is an alpine summit in the Cottian Alps standing at approximately 3,380 meters in elevation. The mountain displays three distinct peaks that rise along a ridge running from northeast to southwest.
The summit ridge was first scaled in 1929; the southeast face, about 300 m high and nearly vertical, later drew climbers who opened multiple hard routes. The ridge carries three tops: Pt. NE (3,376 m) on the French border, Pt. SO (3,382 m) and Torre Maria Celeste (3,342 m) on the Italian side.
The name Etiache comes from the Vallon d'Etache on the French side, which descends toward Bramans, while Italians reach the mountain from the Vallone di Rochemolles above Bardonecchia. The ridge carries three named points: the northeast peak on the border, the southwest summit, and Torre Maria Celeste.
The easiest route starts at Rifugio Scarfiotti (2,165 m), reached by car up the narrow Rochemolles valley from Bardonecchia. From the hut a steep, at times poorly marked path on the left leads to the col and then along the rocky ridge to the summit; climbing skills are needed. The SE face, about 300 m high, is almost vertical.
The summit ridge carries three points: Pt. NE (3,376 m) on the French border, Pt. SO (3,382 m) and Torre Maria Celeste (3,342 m) on Italian soil. The 3,382 m south-west point edges out Mont d'Ambin, four kilometres east, by just four metres in the Northern Cottian Alps ranking.
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