Pelvoux

Recent photos of Pelvoux and Ailefroide

Below you can find recent photos taken in the last few days in and around Pelvoux and Ailefroide (click on image to enlarge)

1ère photo : Ailefroide, 2eme site d'escalade de France, départ de nombreuses ascensions : la traversée du Pelvoux, le Dôme ou la Barre des Ecrins (4 102m), hameau uniquement estival, vous y trouverez tout pour vous restaurer, préparer votre ascension ou tout simplement farnienter ! Ce 3 mai par Bénédicte

2ème photo : Après Ailefroide, en direction du pré de MMe Carle, admirez cette cascade fine, discrète qui se faufile au milieu des rochers. Ce 3 mai par Bénédicte

3ème photo : L'usine hydraulique des Claux vous offre des informations sur le trajet de "La Glace à la Lumière". Ce musée vous présente toute la circulation de l'eau, du Pelvoux jusqu'à la méditerranée, son utilisation par ses barrages pour la fabrication de l'électricité. Ce 3 mai par Bénédicte

4ème photo : Lorsque l'on quitte le pré de MMe Carle, notre regard a du mal à se détacher de ces montagnes qui se dessinent dans ce ciel "bleu des Hautes Alpes". Ce 3 mai par Bénédicte

5ème photo : le Pré de Mme Carle (et sa légende!!) départ de la montée aux refuges du glacier blanc et des écrins, où coule le torrent Saint Pierre. ce 3 mai par Bénédicte

Last update : 03/05/2012     

Presentation of Pelvoux

« ... a series of typical hamlets in the high Oisans : the Poet (the small climb), the Sarret ( the narrow place), the Fangeas (the bog), St Antoine, the Claux (the closed place), and Ailefroide ( the cold pasture), for a long time, the commune merged its existence with Vallouise, before taking the name of the Pisse (waterall) and finally in 1893, that of the highest summit which overlooked it, namely Pelvoux ("the very high mountain") ... » (extract from a document about Pelvoux)

Indeed, Pelvoux is made up of several hamlets which stretch out along the bottom of the Vallouise valley. It gets its name from "Pelva" which means the "big mountain", and was known as the Pisse until 1893, from the name of the Eychauda waterfall at Les Claux. These names symbolically evoke Pelvoux's geographical situation.

Pelvoux, surrounded by high summits with famous names, is the noble route for the heart of the Ecrins National Park.Its territory extends right up to the Barre des Ecrins, the most famous summit in the Ecrins mountain massif. Up until 1828, people crossed over the mountain passes in order to trade, but the necessity of creating Ordnance Survey maps led to great sporting feats. Thus, in 1930, Captain Durand reached the tip of Pelvoux, a summit of 3938 m which bears his name.

In 1848, Professor Puiseux reached the summit of Pelvoux at 3954m, which until then was considered as the highest point in the mountain range. It was from there that he noticed an even higher summit, namely the Barre des Ecrins at 4103m which was conquered in 1864 by the Englishman Whymper.

The Pelvoux-Vallouise ski resort lies on land belonging to 2 different municipalities, namely Pelvoux and Vallouise, and is a small but lively resort for families, close to nature and which usually enjoys a good snow record. The ski area goes from 1250m up to 2300m, with a vertical drop of 1050m and has.334 km of marked runs. Pelvoux-Vallouise is a village resort with good facilities for children, slopes for all level of skiers and a fantastic off-piste and ski touring area.