Page 23 - Cross Country Travel Guide 2019

Jérôme Maupoint guides us around his favouite sites in his Alpine backyard

Chamrousse
Flying in Belledonne from Chamrousse is like
a whole different world. You leave the 1968

Olympic Games and find yourself in a world
of granite and Alpine lakes.
The Recoin at Chamrousse is an afternoon
site that’s ideal with light northerly and
westerly winds. Take-off is at 1,850m at
Aiguille; 3,000m cloudbase and higher is
normal.
In spring and summer, local pilots fly here
after work. Late afternoons can be generous
and endless. You can watch the sunset
over the Vercors while the Grand Pic de
Belledonne and the surrounding faces catch

the golden rays of light. Top-landing on the
summit of Grand Colon is a classic; then
fly back to Lumbin (Saint Hilaire) or Uriage
depending on your logistics.
Chamrousse is a site for any autonomous
pilot looking to learn more about these
mountains and Alpine flying.
https://bit.ly/2A83h9B
Photo: Jérôme Maupoint

Courtet

Trieves is a preserved and sheltered territory.
It has some gems of nature such as the
Grande Tête de l’Obiou (2,790m) that stands
like a prow over the Trieves Plateau. Courtet
is a logical take-off to soar up to Obiou and
access the amazing relief of Devoluy, which
resembles the Dolomites in look. Conditions
are good from April to October.
The mountains here act as a barrier to the

weather between the Northern Alps and the
drier and lower Southern Alps, where, the
sky is bigger and sometimes higher!
Courtet and Obiou offer a great cirque of
Alpine ridges that rise out from a mineral
moon-like landscape. When the flight
takes you to the south, over the west walls
of Devoluy, you enter a world of rocks,

an open-sky geology course. Courtet and
Chatel also offer various hike-and-fly
routes and vol-bivouac potential, especially
at Rochassac.
https://bit.ly/2CbSQD4
Photo: Jérôme Maupoint

FRANCE CROSS COUNTRY TRAVEL GUIDE 2019 23