In the SW side of Piemonte a long valley, oriented East to West. grows from the plain rounding Cuneo and arrives to the France border in a wild, low frequented and peaceful environment : that is the Val Maira.
It starts from Dronero and ends at the Col de Maurin (2637m) on the border between Italy (East) and France (West) and wherefrom one can give a glance to the Parc du Queyras (France)
A good and long (more than 45 km) road goes along this valley and, with very fine sceneries, allows to reach a very small town called Chiappera where a strange pyramid hangs over the road : that is the Rocca Provenzale, the first summit of a very fine small group, very interesting for classical and modern rock climbing, composed by 3 main summits (and another minor one): this is the Castello-Provenzale group

PS - this is a very small group so that we can consider it as a single mountain ...

Summits are, from N to S :
Rocca Castello (2452m) the highest summit
Torre Castello the finest (same height as Rocca)
Punta Figari the minor one, a narrow ridge with 3 summits (2320-2345m)
Rocca Provenzale (2402m) the only one with an easy route (hard to imagine it looking at it from the valley)
Its rock is quartzite, that can be very slippery when not perfectly dry, but offering some very fine, difficult and technical rock routes.

Getting There

Best starting point for hikes and rock routes in this area (Alta Val Maira) is Chiappera
2 main starting points to get there
by car :

from Torino (Piemonte) - motorway to Savona (A6), way out for Marene, Fossano, Mondovì.

from Genova (Liguria) - motorway A10 to Savona and motorway A6 for Torino, , way out for Marene, Fossano, Mondovì.
Follow for Busca, Dronero and Acceglio (main built-up area of the valley)
Herefrom follow the good road till Chiappera (1620m), at the end of the tarred road.
by public transportation
Once you reach Cuneo (from Torino or Savona), starting from the railway station and using the Autolinea Nuova Benese you can reach Dronero and Acceglio
then you have to use the Sherpabus service (useful for the GTA raid)

Some small info about Hiking and Climbing

Hiking
the shortest one is the trip all around the small group starting from Chiappera, getting the colle Greguri (2320m), (where you can find a war position often crowded with steinbocks that look very indifferent) .....

...

.... and descending on the north side to the Grangia where a good white road leads you back to Chiappera allowing you to see all the summits surrounding the High part of Val Maira.
Of course this hike is the best way to enjoy the area after climbing the Rocca Provenzale S ridge.

Many other well marked paths run across the valley (about them you can find free, useful and complete leaflets in Campo Base Refuge)

Rock climbing
Only one easy route (F+) that allows to get the summit of Rocca Provenzale along its S ridge.
The route looks much more difficult than it really is when seen from below
It gives amusement of fine scramble with some little exposure in some short passages (a rope could be useful) and is well marked

Rocca Castello, Torre Castello, Punta Figari and the walls of Rocca Provenzale host a big number of difficult technical rock routes (none is easier than D (4° UIAA - 5.4)
and some are really extreme.

A good guide book (only in Italian language but with good sketches) can be found in Campo Base Refuge.

When To Climb

all year long for hiking
dry spring, summer and autumn days for climbing

Accomodations

a lot of camping areas here
best one is Campo Base few km beyond Chiappera (camping area, Refuge and Restaurant)
some "free"areas Campeggiare senza frontiere few beyond the further (paths are on the other side of the Maira stream)
and a free Camper area in Chiappera

"Standard" accomodations here are very few, beyond Chiappera there is only the Campo Base Refuge (and camping area) that can be useful for the Group.
A "higher" accomodation is the Stroppia bivouac but is definitely out of the range.
You can find some hosting sites (small hotels) in Chiappera

At colle Gregouri you could use, as a makeshift shelter or as a base for climbings on E walls, the war position.

Mountain Conditions

meteo

Red Tape

no fees, no permits required

Images



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