Climbing the Rhône Alps

In France there is a magical place – a place where you can view Roman ruins in the shadow of towering snow-capped peaks. It is a place of unparalleled beauty that beckons to one’s sense of adventure. It is a place where you can let your spirit soar. That place is the Rhône Alps – a land of glacial lakes, deep cut gorges, endless blue skies and home to some of Europe’s highest peaks. There are numerous reasons to visit the Rhône Alps, but to the hard-core mountain climber none is more compelling than Mont Blanc, the 15,517-foot peak on which modern-day mountaineering was born. The birth of the sport resulted from the need to fulfill the spiritual desire to build an altar to the spirits that haunted the once-forbidden heights. Even now, the motivation for many of today’s hard-core mountain climbers still borders on the spiritual. On the other hand, there are others who risk it all just for the sake of accomplishment. Many of the earlier climbers were neither on a spiritual pilgrimage nor out to fulfill a psychological desire. They were on a mission for science. During the 18th century the area around Chamonix-Mont Blanc became a scientific laboratory. Mountain climbing was not for sport, but was undertaken to investigating the great glaciers in and around Mont Blanc. It was in 1760 that mountaineering moved from the scientific and spiritual into the field of sport. A young Genevan scientist who offered a monetary prize for the first ascent of Mont Blanc spurred the move. It took 25 years for someone to claim the prize when in 1786 a Chamonix doctor, Michel-Gabriel Paccard and his porter, Jacques Balmat, made it to the top of Europe’s highest peak. For the serious mountaineer, mountain climbing is often a test of overcoming terrain and weather. It is unlike any other outdoor sport because nature alone provides the opposition and challenge. It embodies the thrill produced by testing one’s courage, skill, resourcefulness, cunning, strength, ability, and stamina in a situation of inherent risk. It is not a pastime for the inexperienced. For the adept climber, pleasures lie not only in the “conquest” of a peak but also in the physical and spiritual satisfaction of intense personal effort, ever-increasing proficiency, and contact with natural grandeur. It can be life on the edge to the max. Today, Mont Blanc is one of a number of mountains in the Rhône Alps that experts flock to in order to test their skills. In addition to the challenge, there is the unequaled beauty that blankets the region. This alone is reason enough to make the journey. Mountaineering is but one of the adrenalin-producing activities that can be experienced in this magnificent region. There are a number of rivers and streams where whitewater rafting can test one’s maneuvering skills. One the most spectacular whitewater river is Italy’s Dora Balta, but a short drive from Chamonix. It has been termed “The Colorado” of the European Alps. For the less adventurous, the Arve is one of the best rivers for your first experience of rafting. The Rhône Alps is also home to a relatively new sport: canoeing. You can slip on a wet suit for protection, slide down rivers that run fast and deep, negotiate rapids and waterfalls. To top it all off, complete your day sitting in natural spa pools in incredibly spectacular surroundings. Oh yes, then there is mountain biking. Nowhere will you find a wider range of trails and altitude. Also on the Alpine agenda are a multitude of mellower outdoor activities such as paragliding, horseback riding, tennis, golf, fishing, wind surfing and day-hiking along the miles of trails that offer breath-taking scenery. And, for those who dream of strapping on their skis and gliding down slopes in the middle of summer, there are several resorts that will accommodate you, including Tignes and Cervinia. Adventure in this scenic wonderland is not all sweat and strain. From the comfort of your automobile, you can follow roads that burrow into tunnels and wind upward to dizzying heights – heights that leave you breathless as you gaze out over a dazzling horizon and where the air is crisp and pure. At the center of this mountain paradise is the Rhône River Valley and its splendid terraced vineyards of Savoy, Beaujolais and Cotes du Rhône, from which are derived some of France’s most remarkable wines. The Rhône, which cuts its way south and eventually joins the Soan and Ain, has for centuries been the pathway to all of France. The valley is graced with Roman ruins and well-preserved Renaissance cities. Among them is Lyon, second only to Paris in size and a city that is as vital and alive as any in France. There is no doubt that the splendor of the Rhône Alps fully defines the words of French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau: “Vivre ce n’est pas respirer, c’est agir”, life is not breathing but doing. Copyright (c) Paris New Media, L.L.C.