Editing Gran Paradiso (section)

== Routes ==
Climbs normally start from either the [[Refuge Frédéric Chabod]] or the [[Refuge Victor-Emmanuel II]]. The latter is named after [[Victor Emmanuel II of Italy]] who created the Gran Paradiso royal reserve in 1856, presently the site of the [[Gran Paradiso National Park]].

It is widely accepted that Gran Paradiso is one of the easiest four-thousanders to summit. This is not fully true, however, because while almost the entire route to the ridge is graded at [[Grade_(climbing)#International_French_adjectival_system_(IFAS)|F+]], the last several dozen metres to the Virgin Mary (or Madonna) summit ({{langx|it|Cima della Madonna}}, {{langx|fr|Pointe de la Madone}} or {{langx|fr|Pointe de la Vierge}} &ndash; 4058&nbsp;m) comprises rock climbing with considerable [[Exposure (heights)|exposure]], with difficulties of grade I UIAA, while access to the proper main summit (4061&nbsp;m) requires 15 minutes of climbing up to grade II UIAA. Gran Paradiso is popular with novice alpinists and many of these only climb to the Madonna summit.<ref name=Moran2007>{{cite book|title=The 4000m Peaks of the Alps - Selected Climbs|author=Moran, Martin |publisher=The Alpine Club|year=2007|asin=B00JYHLOL4}}</ref>

In addition to the main summit routes, Gran Paradiso possesses a steep snow/ice North West Face, which can be climbed at AD+ from the [[Refuge Frédéric Chabod]].<ref name=Moran2007/>