Traversée de la Chartreuse

The Chartreuse massif

The Chartreuse massif is a mountainous massif of the Pre-Alps, located mainly in the French department of Isère and also in that of Savoie, constituting a natural region.

It peaks at 2082 m in Chamechaude. It is essentially made up of limestones forming long lines of ridges oriented from north to south.

The massif experiences relatively significant precipitation but there is little water on the surface.

During the winter season, small ski resorts are operating. In summer, the main activity is hiking. The walls also offer the possibility of climbing, while the numerous cavities attract cavers. The massif is also an important base for free flight.

It is complemented by the Hauts de Chartreuse national nature reserve in order to preserve biodiversity. The natural environment is divided between deciduous and coniferous forests, grassy areas, cliffs and rare wetlands on the outskirts of the massif, sheltering numerous protected species.

The itinerary

The Chartreuse crossing between Grenoble and Chambéry is THE itinerant hike on the Chartreuse massif. A crossing that usually takes from 3 to 5 days.

After a long approach in which we gained altitude, we followed the west traverse itinerary which crosses the Natural reserve of the Chartreuse highlands. Here, we crossed the col de Bellefont (1902 m) and summitted the second highest mountain peak of the massif, Dent de Crolles (2062 m). We had the St. Eynard ridge as the last challenge before the long downhill to Grenoble.

The team

From left to right (Romain, Claude and Rémy) sharing a common objective, as simple (or as difficult) as crossing the massif and getting home before dark.

It was May 15th, rather early for such an adventure. The reason behind the choice is the water availability in the massif. The water sources of Chartreuse get dry early in the summer.

This was the first time I had been involved in a long distance trail running activity. The rest of the group were already immersed in the madness of this discipline!

The photo with four smiles was taken in the Challes-les-Eaux train station in Chambéry before the departure.

One of the last trainings before the big adventure!

Mont Granier (1933 m)

The first kilometers of the day were long. Starting from Chambéry, it takes time to gain altitude in the Chartreuse massif.

In these stages of the route, the speed was relatively easy and the meteo was already warm as expected. Reaching the col de l'Alpette (1547 m) at km25, next to Mont Granier.

The High Plateau

The amount of snow slowed everyone down. The clock does not stop though and we were still half way.

L'Alpette in the Chartreuse highlands

The highlands of Charteuse has its particularities.

Not only you need to be skilled in technical terrain, but also you need to have trained walking.

Yes, a lot of walking.

Up there, one does not find steep terrain, but it is tricky enough to make one walk.

Dent de Crolles

Highest mountain peak in the classical Chartreuse traverse.

Given the time it took for my teammates to overcome the difficulties of snow, their doubts regarding the success in the traverse started to grow.

In long days out there, when such questioning starts to come, the best decision is always to be safe rather than sorry. I already went alone to the highest point of the route, Dent de Crolles and joined them back in Col du Coq (1434 m).

Col de Coq is a popular access point for hikes in Chartreuse, mainly to Dent de Crolles and Pravouta mountains.

Here, they decided to finish their adventure (km46).

Continuing solo

About to reach the summit of Dent de Crolles (2062 m). It was already late in the afternoon and the sky was getting darker.

The itinerary until Grenoble did not present many difficulties. Given the downhills, the terrain is faster and luckily temperatures dropped due to the clouds. I remember my feelings very well. The small insecurity after leaving my teammates together with the excitement of feeling strong made me accelerate. I was running relatively fast with barely no stops, going over my longest distance ever with every additional step.

A friend is fuel

I had been talking with my adventure partner Libor about this activity. I like to share with him my thoughts and doubts about different topics and training is not an exception. He knew about the Traversée de Chartreuse and he did not hesitate to join me for the last 12km.

We met at Saint Eynard (km61). He had brought some additional food, clothes and water in case. Luckily, I did not need any. Because I had a friend. The last three hours had been alone and I needed a friend. Because a friend is fuel.

Grenoble

The last part towards Grenoble felt emotional. An itinerary that I had run hundreds of times as a routine felt special. Having people waiting for me in Grenoble will be something I will not forget!

Merci la team!

My conclusion

To me, these kind of activities are a consequence rather than an objective. That is the approach I would like to carry with me in the future. The objective itself is to be ready in case there is any unexpected adventure in the corner.

For long adventures, there are also some important aspects that I would like to address.

First of all, the nutrition during the activity. I am not a nutricionist and this should not be appropriate for everyone but I learnt that for me food is esential for long distance activities. Without going into precision of the quantities, to me, it is clear the need of both sodium and carbohydrates intakes. The proof is that I did not have any lows.

Secondly, the terrain. Chartreuse is somewhere I regularly train. This means that I was familiar with most of the itinerary. The only unknown part of the route was the beginnig.

Lastly, the need of a team. Everything is much easier when there are others around. We must not forget about sharing. I must not forget about sharing.

The previous excitement was justified. That was a big one!

72 km - 4350 m d+

Here is the link to the activity.

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