The different faces of Mont Aiguille

6 points of interest

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  Part of Mont Aiguille

  The alluvial fan is the lower section of a mountain stream where sediment is deposited. The fan is clearly visible in front of you, and its sediment comes from the northern foot of Mont Aiguille. The Côtes stream from Trézanne struggles to make its way through all the tributaries of the Ruines stream.
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  Torrent des Ruines

  The toponym “les Ruines” is common in the Alps, often referring to unstable terrain that suffers heavy erosion and torrential flooding: lava, a mixture of water, earth and blocks of stone. The floods move at speed (at tens of km/h) in a very straight, steep channel, but behave like a drift that can transport blocks several cubic meters in size (the equivalent of a car or even a van) just like volcanic lava.

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  Colossus with a foot of clay

  The foot of Mont Aiguille is shaped from marl, a sedimentary rock that is prone to gully erosion and scouring. These numerous ravines are clearly visible on the south-eastern side. At the foot of the rock wall, the keen eye can make out huge blocks that come from the mighty limestone wall of Mont Aiguille. An entire portion of this wall collapsed one day due to the retreating ravines. This is how Mont Aiguille disappeared little by little following one collapse after another.

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  An irrigation canal

  In 1821, a group of local farmers constructed a canal to irrigate parts of their land and gardens in Clelles. The canal was fitted with numerous sluice gates, but only members of the Syndicate were entitled to have access to the water supply. 
  At the beginning of the 20th century, Mr Corréard, a local miller, leased part of the rights to operate an electric power plant. In addition to running his mill, he became an electricity producer and supplied the commune of Clelles. In 1948, the power plant was connected to the national electricity grid!
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  The Clelles canal

  The piped water is a story of slope.
  Controlling the slope allows to control the regularity of the water flow. 
  
  Elevation at start : 897 m
  Elevation at arrival : 880 m
  Lenght : 3 km

• 

  The mountain with a nasty sting

  The name «Mont Aiguille» appears quite late on geographical 
  maps, not before the 17th century. However, the mountain is not pointed like a needle, as suggested by its name. 
  It is possible that the local dialect term «aguïo» for a 
  pointed rock might have been confused with the Occitan term «eyguèyo» equivalent to «aiguière» in French, meaning a water vessel. Thus, Mont Aiguille would
  most likely come from the Occitan name for this mountain (Peiro Eyguèyo), which refers to a «Mountain of Springs», because of the numerous springs at the foot of its northern face (Francès, 1997).