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2 Alpes Interseason Review

What to do in interseason? Les Perrons Via Ferrata!

featured in Activity reviews Author Christa Jackson, 2 Alpes Reporter Updated

The wall to wall sunshine continues here in the Oisans, which is very welcome after a week's UK holiday in what appeared to be a howling north wind (and probably wasn't, but it definitely felt like being forcibly fast forwarded by about a month and a half). To be fair it only chucked rain for one day out of seven, and we did see a reasonable amount of sun as well, but not the warm cuddly sort you get here - more a kind of SunShine-Lite diet version with the best bits taken out and replaced with some sort of chemical imitation.

But all this just serves to remind us all of why we live here rather than there, and why there are still a few visitors hanging about making the most of the weather before everything freezes and you can't go anywhere above 1600m without crampons and a husky.

So what's to do in the mountains outside the season? The resorts are a bit ghost town, especially at the weekend when there aren't any workers around, but in 2Alpes at any rate there's the supermarket, boulangerie, at least one bar and a couple of restaurants open, so while the nightlife isn't what you'd call banging there's the wherewithal to feed yourself and even go out for a beer or two.

To be honest though, staying in resort wouldn't be my first choice at this time of year, unless I actually owned a place already and didn't have to pay for the week (in which case it's frankly rude not to). A week's accommodation in Bourg d'Oisans in the valley is probably easier to organise at this time of year, and has the advantage of being both a) central and b) open. More or less.

While most of the organised activities have packed up after the summer, walking, cycling and general outdoorsness are still on the menu and more fun at this time of year for being less crowded.

Mindful of this, and determined to get out in the fresh air and not turn into complete porkers over the interseason we went off to have a look at a via ferrata this week. Our last effort was a bit of a washout, what with a load of cloud turning up just as we got there (annoying when we'd driven to Alpe de Grande Serre for the purpose), but yesterday's weather was perfect and even warm enough for shorts.

We went for Les Perrons at Venosc, which is accessible from either Les 2 Alpes itself or the Veneon valley at the bottom, though if you start from there you have to walk back down from resort when you've finished, there being no cable car link at this time of year. See the map for exact location.

The walk-in to the route splits from the Venosc/Les 2 Alpes path about half way along its length and takes you past the site of an old slate mine still scattered with bits of industrial debris and old rail tracks, a bit of an odd sight half way up an alp. About 15 minutes walk gets you from there to the via ferrata route, which then took us probably an hour and a half to two hours.

While not particularly difficult, Les Perrons gets a bit interesting in places where they seem to have skimped on the metal bars a bit, leaving you to climb directly on the rock itself. Not a huge problem as there are hand and footholds galore, but a bit outside the comfort zone from time to time especially on the exposed bits.

The route comes out on a rocky outcrop above the Venosc end of resort, giving a terrific view of Les 2 Alpes on one side and the Veneon valley on the other - perfect spot for a picnic lunch or a post-effort snack.

There are several via ferrata in the immediate area, including two at Alpe d'Huez (one easy and the other apparently a bit of a bugger, with overhanging bits and ‘athletic passages', whatever they are) and one below St Christophe en Oisans which follows the line of the Veneon and has lots of scary-looking drops into the water. Generally they stay open and accessible during the interseason, though I'd have a look at which way they face and make sure you leave the ascent until any overnight moisture has dried up - I can't imagine something like Les Perrons being any fun at all on wet slippery rock. And apparently you should be on the lookout for adders if you do the route at Alpe d'Huez as there's a bit of an infestation of them up the Sarenne valley this year for some reason. Not the best place to walk the dog at the moment, I'm told.

Location

Map of the surrounding area