Geology and Minerals

Demoiselles Coiffées de Pontis

The Demoiselles Coiffées de Pontis is a rock formation in Pontis, near Embrun in the French Alps, located on the edge of the Lac de Serre-Ponçon. The formation consists of a number of hoodoos, described as a "set of narrowly-tapered rock columns....topped with a large rock balanced neatly on the tip." In French, such structures are referred to as Demoiselles Coiffées ("ladies with hats"), or more often Cheminées de Fées ("fairy chimneys"). In Théus, there is a concentration referred to as La Salle de Bal des Demoiselles Coiffées ("the ballroom of ladies with hats"), although these structures also exist in isolation. Two other significant sites exist 1 kilometer away on a mountainside near Remollon. The ballroom is one of the best-known and most attractive examples in France of the structure; an earlier commentator referred to them as "some fifty bizarre columns with hairdos." The Tour de France has used the road past the Demoiselles Coiffées de Pontis on the last mountain stage (July 20) of the 2017 tour and in 2024 (18 July). The Tour visited the location again in 2024 (July 18).

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸Canteen Kopje
• ▸Gardens of Maecenas
• ▸Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge

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