BOURG D'OiSANS
Oisans aux 6 Vallées
Eau d'Olle  Ferrand   Lignarre  Romanche  Sarenne  Vénéon

La Vallée du Vénéon

The Vénéon valley, the main access to the Ecrins National Park, is a magnificent, continuous fork which gradually joins the world of man to the alpine world via an impressive progression.

An astonishing "crossing" towards dizzy heights amid an environment evermore abrupt and mineralised whilst it approaches the hamelet of La Béarde, a true Mecca in the mountaineering world.

From there, a walk up the Etançon valley, which even for the modest walker, is an extraordinary introduction to the beauty of hight altitude mountain ranges.

Glaciers, moraines and prestigious summits are all easily visible with the amazing south face of La Meije which shuts off the Etrançon valley with its vertical face.

But the Vénéon has other features... lower down, each of its valleys has waterfalls, rapids and lakes as a result of the steepness and narrowness of the landscape. The symbolic village of Saint Christophe en L'Oisans perched an a former glacial constriction seems to guard the entrance to Haut Vénéon. And close to Venosc, a village with character, riddled with narrow cobbled streets, is the Lake Lauvitel, the largest in the Oisans area, an hour's walk from the hamlet of La Danchère, one of the wonders of the Ecrin National Park.

CHAMOIS TRACKS The chamois, both the male and the female, show off their fine, characteristic antlers all year round, which, unlike the deer, never fall. The chamois, which live in herds, have become a symbol of the Ecrins National Park.

THE FLORISTS OF VENOSC During the long history of peddling in l'Oisans. Venosc was well known for selling flowers. The peddling of tuber, roots, mountain flowers and plant seeds became the main activity in this village which as a result, became famous thoughout Europe. One can still hear the story today of amazing destiny of mysterious blue rose seeds, sold to the court of the Russian Tsars...

GASPARD DE LA MEIJE His name was Pierre GASPARD. This solid countryman from Saint Christophe en Oisans became very famous in the mountaineering wold by succeeding in being the first to climb La Meije in 1877. This impressive summit, which reaches a height of 3982 metres was the last of the main summits in the Alps not yet to have been conquered ; With this amazing feat, obtained with his client Boileau de Castelnau, Gaspard was to become Gaspard de la Meije for prosperity and one of the most famous guides ever to have known Les Ecrins.

A CABLECAR BETWEEN TWO WOLDS In both summer and winter, hikers, walkers and skiers apprciate the cablecar which assures a connection between Venosc in the Vénéon valley and the dizzy heights of les Deux Alpes.