Monte Birrone
The Monte Birrone is a high mountain in the Cottian Alps, belonging to the Italian province of Cuneo. Geography. The mountain stands on the long ridge which, starting from the Main chain of the Alps, divides Maira Valley from Varaita Valley. It rises between two well defined mountain passes, "Colle di Birrone" (West of the summit, at 1,700 m) and "Colle di Melle" (1,871 m, East of it). Close to the Monte Birrone passes an old military road built in order to deserve several military emplacements. It's open to cars and motorbikes during summertime. Administratively the mountain  is divided between the comunes of Frassino and Sampeyre (Varaita Valley) and San Damiano Macra (Maira Valley). SOIUSA classification. According to SOIUSA ("International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps") the mountain can be classified in the following way: Geology. From a geologic point of view, the mountain is made of ancient metamorphic rocks (pre-hercinic and hercinic) belonging to the "Dora-Maira" complex. W of the summit, near the colle Birrone, this kind of rocks border with schists ophiolitipher of the complex named "Pietre verdi di Gastaldi" (literally "Green stones of Gastaldi". Access to the summit. The summit of the  Monte Birrone is easy to reach, and the normal route starts from the old military road which run close to the Maira/Varaita water divide. It's marked by a summit cross. It also can be attained by mountain bike, carrying the bike in the last part of the ascent. Besides summer hiking the Monte Birrone is also a popular winter destination for ski mountaineering and snowshoes hikes.