Mountain Adventures in the Maurienne: Summer routes for a multi-activity holiday in the French Alps

Andy Hodges

Oct 2012 · Cicerone Press Limited

About this ebook

Multi-activity guidebook to the Haute Maurienne region of south east France. The book describes a wide range of the finest day walks, scrambles, rock climbs, via ferratas, treks and mountain biking and road cycling routes, offering all the inspiration needed for a multi-activity or family holiday. The Maurienne valley is served by good transport links, Modane serves as the gateway to the upper valley with links from Paris and Turin served by the TGV. Lanslebourg is the largest village after Modane and offers plenty of choice of accommodation, and Termignon is a reasonably central base for exploring the Haute Maurienne. Routes vary from pretty Alpine lake rambles to mammoth mountain bike routes and include the normal route to the summit of Dent Parrachee, the Matterhorn of the valley that can be reached without crossing a glacier, and arranged by difficulty. Information about facilities and grades for each activity are carefully explained and routes are illustrated with sketch maps, topos and profiles and inspiring photographs. The Vanoise massif is a beautiful range of mountains bounded by the valleys of the Maurienne and the Tarentaise. Sitting on the French-Italian border, the Upper Maurienne (Haute Maurienne) has a southern boundary bordering the Italian region of Piedmont. Its northern border is less pronounced, as the massif of the Vanoise blurs the boundary with the Tarentaise valley.

About the author

Ever since joining Cub Scouts as a boy in 1976 and learning about the outdoors, Andy Hodges has loved mountains. As a student he became a modern sports climber in France, while his summers were spent leading walking groups in the hills and mountains of the UK. A volunteer member of Mountain Rescue for 16 years, he has walked, climbed and cycled extensively in the Vanoise since discovering it for himself in 2004.