halfway along which Refuge de la Lavey is reached by a footpath spur off the main valley path that links St-Christophe with La Bérarde.
A road snakes above St-Christophe towards the hinted Vallée de la Selle that effectively cuts east to west through the mountains behind the village. While the road itself does not project far, a path climbs through the glen alongside the Torrent du Diable to reach the Refuge de la Selle at the head of the valley, with Le Rateau rising in a tease of ice to the north-east, and the Massif du Soreiller opposite, to the south. The path continues from the hut to the edge of the Selle glacier where, for those with the necessary equipment and expertise, a crossing could be made of Col de la Selle (3201m) in the eastern ridge, and a subsequent descent to Refuge du Châtelleret in the Étancons glen above La Bérarde.
The trail through Vallée de la Selle is not the only one worth considering from St-Christophe, for another mounts the Tête de la Toura (2885m) which acts as the glen’s northern gatepost. There a broad panorama enables a fresh perspective to be gained of this part of the region. North of the Tête cableways string the mountains from Les Deux-Alpes, a major ski resort on a high terrace midway between the valleys of Vénéon and Romanche. As the name implies Les Deux-Alpes comprises two resorts that have merged into one; Alpe de Vénosc and Alpe de Mont-de-Lans. Almost entirely devoted to the whims of the ski industry, one of the cableway systems links the resort with the glaciers of Le Rateau at the western end of the crest spreading from La Meije. Les Deux-Alpes may be reached by walkers along a variant of the GR54, or by cableway from Venosc just outside Bourg d’Arud.
Above St-Christophe-en-Oisans a long and attractive valley leads to Refuge de la Selle
Bourg d’Arud
Bourg d’Arud is another small village astride the road that makes its tortuous way along the valley to La Bérarde. It boasts a couple of hotels, a gîte and a large campsite, while just to the south, on the opposite bank of the Vénéon, the neighbouring hamlet of l’Alleau also offers camping facilities at the foot of a pathway that climbs steeply to the Refuge, Lac and Col de la Muzelle on the route of the GR54, Tour de l’Oisans. The lake is a particular favourite with walkers based in the valley, as is the beautiful Lac Lauvitel in the neighbouring glen to the west. A waymarked path links these two by way of Col du Vallon (2531m), and an excellent two-day circuit could thereby be achieved using Refuge de la Muzelle as the overnight base. Strong walkers could manage the circuit in a single day, no doubt, but the two adjacent glens are so delightful that they ought to be treated with the respect they deserve. On a one-day circuit there would be little time available to enjoy them both at leisure, and some landscapes are just too good to race through.
Bourg d’Arud is served by bus from Bourg d’Oisans, and the little village would make an admirable base for several days of a walking holiday, as would the smaller hamlet of La Danchère nearby. La Danchère does not have the main valley road passing through, for it sits on a spur of wooded land above the Vénéon and below the entrance to the Lauvitel glen. As such it is a quieter place, attractive and with hotel accommodation. Walkers with their own transport might find it worth considering as a short-stay base in preference to some of the valley-bed villages. Lac Lauvitel is reached in an hour and a half by one of two paths. Above the lake Brêche du Périer (2491m) makes it possible to achieve a crossing to a choice of valley systems lying west and south of the mountain barrier walling the lake, with a very fine circuit of two or three days’ duration being an obvious challenge.
Another trail, much less strenuous than that to Lac Lauvitel, descends among lush vegetation to Les Gauchoirs, then continues on the left bank of the Vénéon heading south-west through the steadily-broadening valley. Five kilometres before reaching Bourg d’Oisans, just after passing the Cascade de la Pisse, the Vénéon is swollen by the lesser flow of the Romanche which enters from the right and gives its name to the valley thereafter.
Bourg d’Oisans
For a small town Bourg d’Oisans is a busy place on a site very much seen as the gateway to the Écrins massif, for it serves as a funnel linking the rest of France with the National Park. Downstream the Romanche swings in a south-westerly arc before correcting its course and joining forces with the Isère in Grenoble, the city from which fan out all routes of access to the various corners of Dauphiné. Buses ply the route from Grenoble to Bourg d’Oisans, and from there a brutal twist of hairpins takes a road to the ski resort of Alpe d’Huez on the edge of the Grandes Rousses, which still carry a covering of snow throughout the summer. Another heads upstream into the Romanche valley proper by way of the Gorges de l’Infernet, Le Freney d’Oisans, the dammed Lac du Chambon, La Grave and Villar d’Arêne, and finally departs by way of the Col du Lautaret (2057m). While views from the col are very fine, especially to Pic Gaspard and La Meije, the higher Col du Galibier (2642m) provides additional interest as from it, not only can many of the major peaks of the Écrins be seen to advantage, but northward rise the Vanoise mountains, and far off even Mont Blanc is evident on the proverbial clear day.
The Romanche Valley
The Romanche forms the most northerly moat to the central block of the Écrins massif, and may be considered one of the most important of the whole region. It does not rise at Col du Lautaret, but in a glen further south below the Glacier de la Plate des Agneaux and between the peaks of La Grande Ruine and Roche Faurio. Soon after its birth it is joined in the Plan de Valfourche by the first of its many tributaries, the Torrent du Clot des Cavales. This stream comes out of its own lovely glen carved between the block of La Grande Ruine and the southern flanks of La Meije, here given additional character by the summits of Le Pavé and the tower of Pic Gaspard.
Villar d’Arène stands a short distance upstream of La Grave
Both glens are accessible to walkers by way of the Refuge de l’Alpe de Villar Arêne, set in buckled pastures an hour and a half’s walk from the roadhead. From the hut a trail rises south-westward and forks in the Plan de Valfourche. The left-hand option follows the infant Romanche to its source, then climbs steeply for 850 metres to Refuge Planchard (3169m) on the eastern slopes of La Grande Ruine overlooking the curving Glacier de la Plate des Agneaux. The alternative trail heads west into the glen below Pic Gaspard, on the flanks of which, Refuge du Pavé hugs a knoll at the southern end of a small tarn with a very lonely outlook.
In the pastures below Refuge de l’Alpe de Villar Arêne a wooden post marks another junction of paths, with one cutting round the north-eastern hillside to gain the unseen Col du Lautaret road pass, while the main trail either climbs past the hut to cross Col d’Arsine (2340m), or descends in tight zig-zags to the gravel beds of the upper Romanche valley. La Meije is badly foreshortened above and to the west of this part of the valley, where its great bulk looms overall.
At the roadhead a campsite on the right bank of the river is backed by pines in an open situation, with a hint of good things up towards Col d’Arsine, and more gentle, pastoral country curving away down valley. No more than three kilometres downstream the Lautaret road enters Villar d’Arêne, a village with gîte and hotel accommodation, rather less developed for tourism than is La Grave, the main mountain base in the valley and one of the massif’s three centres for mountaineering; the others being La Bérarde and the hamlet of Ailefroide below Mont Pelvoux.
La Grave
Much of La Grave stands above the road, a huddle of stone-built houses with narrow alleyways between, happily safe from the worst excesses of modern architectural blight that goes under the name of sophistication and which has afflicted many resorts in mountain France. There are old-fashioned hotels in the original part of the village, more modern lower down, and two campsites by the river. Alongside the main road the Bureau des Guides is found not far
