Chalet Reynard is a former refuge turned into a restaurant at the foot of a ski resort, at an altitude of , on the southern face of

Mont Ventoux Mont Ventoux (; oc, Ventor, label= Provençal ) is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some northeast of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the department of Drôme. At , it is the highest m ...

, in the

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The station was created in February 1927 by .

Access

Chalet Reynard is located at the intersection of the RD 974 road, connecting

Bédoin Bédoin (; oc, Bedoin) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Geography Located at the base of Mont Ventoux, it is the starting point of one of the three routes to the summit of ...

to the summit of Mount Ventoux, and RD 164 joining Sault. The routes from Sault and Bédoin are accessible throughout the year. However, much of the route up Mount Ventoux is closed to traffic in winter, from November 15 to March 15, for weather reasons.

Sport

Winter Sport

In winter, the station uses two

ski lift A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Hochschwarzwald. Types * Aerial l ...

s to reach six ski slopes, red and blue, for a total of of

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

. A track to practice

snowshoe Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footwe ...

ing is marked to reach the summit of Mont Ventoux. Down the tracks, a cottage named for the station, which is open all year, offers services, catering and a shop.

Sport in Summer

Since 2011, in the summer, a bike park is accessible to MTB practitioners to use three trails, as well as a

pump track A pump track is a circuit of rollers, banked turns and features designed to be ridden completely by riders "pumping"—generating momentum by up and down body movements, instead of pedaling or pushing. It was originally designed for the mountain bi ...

(a loop built flat, consisting of a multitude of bumps, cuts and banked turns) and a training centre for initiation to the discipline. This station has other sporting activities, especially since the beginning of the twentieth century. Apart from the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

since 1951, cycling is seen as the most widely practised sport, even though the road is considered as the most difficult from Bédoin, the Chalet Reynard was also the crossing of the

Mont Ventoux Hill Climb Mont Ventoux Hill Climb is a car and motorcycle hillclimbing race course near Avignon in France. The course, up Mont Ventoux, starts from the village of Bédoin and rises for , to the observatory at the summit, for an average gradient of 7.4%. In ...

, from 1902. Two

hiking trails A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. The ...

, the

GR 4 The GR 4 is a long-distance walking route of the Grande Randonnée network in France. The route connects Royan with Grasse. Along the way, the route passes through: * Royan * Saintes * Montbron * Aixe-sur-Vienne * Aubusson * Mont-Dore * Les Va ...

and the GR 9, also pass through the Chalet Reynard.

References

Bibliography

External links

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Le Chalet Reynard
Ski areas and resorts in France Sports venues in Vaucluse