Via ferrata Roche Veyrand

The path starts from St Pierre d'Entremont school car park. walk towards the centre of the village. At the yellow sign ‘Pré du Comte’ , before the bridge, take the path that climbs to the left. It is marked with the PDIPR signpost (yellow plaques and paint) and completed by the specific via ferrata signpost (small plaques engraved with a yellow practitioner on a green background). Most of the path continues through the forest.
The slope is steep from start to finish, with over 300m of vertical drop. Don't be discouraged, the result is well worth the effort.
Shortly after reaching the bottom of a cliff, walk along it. At the signpost of the junction, take the path that descends a few metres to the left, then cross to reach the start of the first part.

1st part (faily difficult) :
Starting altitude: 970m
Arrival altitude: 1130m
Difference in altitude: 160m
Cable length: 450m

The start takes you out of the wood to an easy first slab and the Dolmen bridge. Several slabs follow, with plenty of natural holds. An escape route leads to the steep path to Les Clapiers.
A beautiful dihedral leads to a new series of passages on a path and slabs with a bit of void below. The ‘Pas Loquace’ footbridge (17m) leads to the final slab of this 1st section.
From here you can :
- Continue to the 2nd part of the via ferrata
- walk up to the top of Roche Veyrand in 1 hour, then descend via an accessible route in 1 hour 30 minutes (return via Tournette/la Fracette) to reach St Pierre d'Entremont.
- Descend directly along the Clapiers path. Be careful, it is steep and difficult. Allow 1 hour.

2nd part (very difficult) :
Departure altitude: 1130
Arrival altitude: 1300m
Vertical drop: 170m
Cable length: 350m

Start by going around a small boulder and continue on to reach a pillar that leads to a ledge on the left where there are several caves, which are great for keeping cool in summer.
At the start of the ledge, go around a pillar and you immediately get a feeling of void. You are roughly in the middle of the south face.
The route continues, passing the ‘Pont des Balmes’, to reach a vertical section. Halfway up, there is an overhang that is not very difficult to pass.
The route now continues upwards on a ridge that crosses to the right above 200-250m of gas, to reach a chimney a few metres high. After a few metres of traversing under a roof, there is a final overhang, before finishing this via ferrata on a small, gentle slab.
It takes 15-20 minutes to reach the summit of Roche Veyrand, where you'll have an uninterrupted view of a large part of the Chartreuse massif:
- Cirque de Saint-Même (south-east)
- Plateau sommital de la Dent de Crolles (South-South-East)
- Chamechaude (South)
- Sommet du Pinet (or le Truc) (East)
- Le Granier (North-East)
- Dent de l'Ours (South-South-West)

Return :
2 possibilities from the top of the via ferrata:
- The more accessible recommended route: from the top of Roche Veyrand. Allow 1h30 to 2h for a gentle descent through the forest, passing through ‘la Tournette’ and the hamlet of ‘la Fracette’ before reaching St Pierre d'Entremont.
- A more direct and challenging route: follow the Clapiers path along the ridge and back to the path leading uphill. Be careful, it is very steep and very hard on the knees. Some steep sections are secured by cables, which you should not hesitate to use.

Equipment hire: Entre Monts Vélos 06 19 94 98 05 (St Pierre d'Entremont) and Brun Sport 04 76 88 62 12 (St Pierre de Chartreuse).
Guides: Alpes Ascensions 07 49 83 27 87, La Maison de la montagne 06 87 48 41 68, Kahotep 06 11 60 80 20, Cartusiana 04 38 86 91 31, Ecole de Porte 06 95 69 50 08

Supervision strongly recommended.

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