ACTIVE FRANCE ❘ VERCORS
l’Abbé, having completed a 15km hike back to Corrençon-en-Vercors for a well-deserved lunch, during which we are rewarded with a view of the mountain ridge as the clouds retreat.
ATHLETIC CHALLENGES
At Zecamp we meet the owners, biathlete Loïs Habert, his wife and Olympic champion Marie Dorin and their friend, cross-country skier Robin Duvillard. We learn that the road-skiing part of the biathlon was originally created as a summer training exercise for cross-country skiers, before becoming a competitive sport. Here they have a trail plus equipment to help you on your way to becoming a road skier and sharpshooter. Anxious about messing up in front of professional athletes, but eager to give it a go, I put on the protective gear, hop in a golf cart and make my way to the course in convoy with my fellow biathlon novices.
At the site, Loïs gives us the safety instructions for the Walther air
rifl es and sets up some target practices. Happily, I make my way along the row without too much trouble. The roller-skiing, however, is a completely different matter. Although I knew from the beginning that my lack of coordination would hinder my appreciation of this activity, I click my boots into the skis and roll off into the distance… the distance being a grass verge, and not the carefully laid out 5.5km of trail that weaves through the forest. Helped back onto the tarmac, I shuffl e along tentatively, only to resemble a giraffe on ice until eventually falling. In the 20 or so minutes of roller-skiing, that was my only fall, but I can guarantee I laughed many more times, and thought to myself more than once how relieved I (and probably everyone in the vicinity) was that I didn’t have a rifl e strapped to my back like the professionals. It’s a great activity that offers plenty of adrenaline whether you wobble along at a snail’s pace or reach anywhere near the 50km/h speeds at which the biathletes can hurtle around the track.
VIA VERCORS
From one set of wheels to another, I set off à velo from Bois Barbu just outside Villard-de-Lans. On this day I complete a 40km trip around the Vercors Quatre-Montagnes, with climbs totalling more than 600 metres, including the steep climb to the Col de la Croix Perrin. Yes, that’s right – by bike. No, I’m no seasoned cyclist, and yes maybe it was an electric bike, but I’m still going to claim it. Olivier Le Monnier from Velectrip takes us on our electric mountain bikes along the ViaVercors, a 50km path through the region that links the villages of Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte, Lans-en-Vercors, Villard-de-Lans, Corrençon-en-Vercors, Autrans and Méaudre. Through fi elds, hamlets, wooded valleys and gorges, the route is
88 ❘ FRANCE TODAY Aug/Sep 2022
IMAGES © PIERRE JAYET, DOMINIK FUSINA, ANGÉ LIQUE MEUGNIER, MARION CARCEL OFFICE DE TOURISME SAINT-MARCELLIN VERCORS ISÈ RE
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148
