Mont Aiguille circuit

6 points of interest

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  Colossus with a foot of clay

  The foot of Mont Aiguille is shaped from marl, a sedimentary rock that is prone to gully erosion and scouring. These numerous ravines are clearly visible on the south-eastern side. At the foot of the rock wall, the keen eye can make out huge blocks that come from the mighty limestone wall of Mont Aiguille. An entire portion of this wall collapsed one day due to the retreating ravines. This is how Mont Aiguille disappeared little by little following one collapse after another.
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  Torrent des Ruines

  The toponym “les Ruines” is common in the Alps, often referring to unstable terrain that suffers heavy erosion and torrential flooding: lava, a mixture of water, earth and blocks of stone. The floods move at speed (at tens of km/h) in a very straight, steep channel, but behave like a drift that can transport blocks several cubic meters in size (the equivalent of a car or even a van) just like volcanic lava.

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  Chapel of Trézanne

  Nestled at the foot of Mount Aiguille, the Chapel of Trézanne offers a magnificent view of this majestic mountain, overlooking it more than 1000 m. This small Romanesque chapel is characterized by its thatched roof which was rehabilitated in 2001 and recently renovated. Before the eighteenth century, the thatched roofs were numerous in the Trièves: they were gradually replaced by tile roofing, notably because of the fires.

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  Mont Aiguille

  The Mont Aiguille, from its 2087 meters, is a mound of the eastern barrier of the Vercors. Indeed, the Mount is composed of the same materials as the rest of the plateau (limestones and marls deposited by the sea before the rising of the Alps) to which it was formerly attached. The most tender limestones and the presence of numerous faults facilitated the dissolution of the limestone over time, leading to the isolation of Mount.

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  Font Rousse camp

  Shacks were built here to house young men as part of the paramilitary youth workcamps – Chantiers de Jeunesse – belonging to the Monestier-de-Clermont group, which were set up during the summer of 1940. The task was to instil a sense of discipline and duty together with respect for authority, since military service was no longer permitted under the conditions imposed by the Armistice (June 22, 1940). Working in the forest kept the young men busy, while festivals were held to glorify the commitment to the homeland. The group's workcamps closed in early October 1943. A short while later, members of the Resistance from Camp 2 (initially set up at Puit des Ravières in Corrençon) dropped down through the highland areas of the Vercors to the sheepfold near the sawmill before moving on to the premises deserted by the Chantiers de Jeunesse. Louis Kalck (André) took over command of the Font Rousse camp before handing it over to Jean Beschet in the spring. The latter orchestrated the ambush against the German convoy that was crossing the Allimas pass on July 3, 1944.
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  The Mont Aiguille, object of fantasy

  This grassy patch of barely 5 ha is an island of vegetation separated from the rest of the Vercors massif. In Medieval times, it evoked the idea of an earthly paradise, which God made inaccessible to humans because of original sin. 
  The first ascent in 1492 made it possible to discover a beautiful garden, populated with chamois and birds, dotted with flowers, including the white lily, heraldic symbol of French royalty. This was taken to mean that this pristine space had always been promised to the King. Three crosses were erected, visible from below, to show that this plot of land was attached to the kingdom of France and the Christian world.