Puy de Sancy

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Puy de Sancy

Elevation	1,886 metres (6,188 ft)
Location	Puy-de-Dôme departement, France
Range	Massif Central
Prominence	1,579 m (5,180 ft)
Coordinates	45°31′42″N 2°48′51″E / 45.52833, 2.81417Coordinates: 45°31′42″N 2°48′51″E / 45.52833, 2.81417

Puy de Sancy is the highest mountain in the Massif Central and therefore the highest mountain in central France (the highest in France except the Alps and the Pyrenees).

It is part of an ancient stratovolcano which has been dormant for 220,000 years.

The northern and southern slopes are used for skiing, and a number of cablecars and skilifts ascend the mountain. Skiing has been practised on the mountain since the early 20th century. Two local priests traversed the Puy de Sancy on skis in 1905. In 1936, a cable car link was built from Mont-Dore to one of the needles just below the summit. In December 1965, a cable car accident injured ten passengers and killed seven others. Super-Besse is another ski resort, located on the southwestern slope.

The valley to the north is also the source of two streams called Dore and Dogne, which unite to form the Dordogne River, which flows through the nearby spa town of Mont-Dore and on to the Garonne estuary.