Corps, La Salette and the Lac du Sautet: The Mountain Sanctuary and the Drac Canyon
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
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Sautet Lake Paddler
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225
XP
+100 France
= 325 total
1 day
Corps, La Salette and the Lac du Sautet: The Mountain Sanctuary and the Drac Canyon
225 + 100 XP
Above Corps, the sanctuary of Notre-Dame de La Salette stands at 1,800m where two young shepherds said they saw a weeping lady on 19 September 1846. Below the village the Sautet dam, the first on the Drac, closes a narrow canyon, and the lake behind it is the valley's water for kayaks and paddleboards.
Required Activities
1
of 3
At Notre-Dame de La Salette, 1,800 m up between the Beaumont massif and the Valgaudemar, walk the vallon de l'apparition and find the three life-size bronzes that mark the stages of what Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud said they saw, then the first chapel — three metres square, in two colours of limestone — standing 100 m north of the basilica in the fathers' cemetery, and Arcabas's stained glass in the chapelle de la rencontre
2
of 3
Stand on the crest of the Sautet dam — 126 m from its foundation, the tallest arch-gravity dam in the world when it filled in 1935 — and look straight down into the Drac gorge, then walk to the bridge that spans the gorge below it and pick out the rungs of the via ferrata on the rock face
3
of 3
Take a kayak, a paddleboard or a licence-free electric boat out from the nautical base on the Lac du Sautet and paddle up the flooded arm of the Drac towards the dam
At Notre-Dame de La Salette, 1,800 m up between the Beaumont massif and the Valgaudemar, walk the vallon de l'apparition and find the three life-size bronzes that mark the stages of what Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud said they saw, then the first chapel — three metres square, in two colours of limestone — standing 100 m north of the basilica in the fathers' cemetery, and Arcabas's stained glass in the chapelle de la rencontre
Stand on the crest of the Sautet dam — 126 m from its foundation, the tallest arch-gravity dam in the world when it filled in 1935 — and look straight down into the Drac gorge, then walk to the bridge that spans the gorge below it and pick out the rungs of the via ferrata on the rock face
Take a kayak, a paddleboard or a licence-free electric boat out from the nautical base on the Lac du Sautet and paddle up the flooded arm of the Drac towards the dam
Before you go
The nautical base on the Lac du Sautet runs 15 June to 31 August only, daily 9h to 21h, and can stop launching when the reservoir level drops — it is a hydro lake, not a natural one. The sanctuary is open every day all year, but it sits at 1,800 m: the climb is the modern road via Saint-Julien, taken by coaches without difficulty, and in winter it needs snow tyres or chains. Do not use the old pilgrim track, which has gradients up to 30 per cent.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
225 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
325 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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