Vercors Plateau

The Vercors Massif is a range in France consisting of rugged plateaus and mountains straddling the ''départements'' of Isère in the French Prealps. It lies west of the Dauphiné Alps, from which it is separated by the rivers Drac and Isères at the massif's eastern limit face the city of Grenoble.

Background

Over time, various features of the complex geography have been recognised including, the Quatre Montagnes (four mountains), the Coulmes (gorges), the Vercors Drômois (Drome Vercors), the Hauts-Plateaux (high plateaus) and, in the foothills, Royans, Gervanne, Diois, and Trièves.

The massif is sometimes called the "fortress." The movement of people tends to be between the massif and the surrounding plains rather than between the various parts of the massif itself.

Until the mid twentieth century, the name ''Vercors'' was used to describe only the township of La Chapelle-en-Vercors (with Royans), and the northern area around Lans-en-Vercors, Villard-de-Lans, Autrans, and Méaudre) and was known as the ''Four Mountains'' area.

In June and July 1944, the massif became important in World War II with the establishment of the Free Republic of Vercors, led by the Maquis du Vercors, a base for the French Resistance against German occupation.

The Vercors includes the largest alpine karst area in the Northern French pre-alps, and contains a number of large and deep cave systems. These include Gouffre Berger, which is over deep, and the Réseau de Coufin-Chevaline (grotte de Choranche), a show cave in the Bourne Gorge which has almost of mapped passages.

The Vercors has several resorts for cross-country skiing and for down-hill skiing. Villard-de-Lans is the biggest down-hill ski resort.

This sporting area is environmentally protected, and although the natural environment has been drastically altered throughout history for the purposes of agriculture and forestry, plans for afforestation will make it one of the major forests of Metropolitan France and a reserve for species such as the southern tulip and black grouse, two symbols of the park, as well as the re-introduced griffon vulture and the alpine ibex. The differences in climate and altitude across the Vercors are reflected in the high level of diversity in the fauna and flora.

Etymology

The name ''Massif du Vercors'' is derived from the name of a local tribe who lived in the area at the time of the Roman conquest of Gaul, who were known as the Vertamocorii (also spelled Vertamocori, Vertacomicorii, or Vertacomocorii), meaning ''excellent troops'' or ''troops of the summit''. Modern inhabitants are referred to as ''Vertacomiriens''.

Prior to the 1900s, the name Vercors referred to the upper valleys of the Vernaison near the township of La Chapelle-en-Vercors. At the beginning of the 20th century, Henri Ferrand explored the massif, taking numerous photographs, publishing books, and describing the geology of the mountains. Ferrand was the first to use the term ''Vercors'' in its contemporary sense. The geographers Raoul Blanchard and Jules Blache, popularised the term in the late 1920s and early 1930s. By the 1950s, the term was ubiquitous.

Geography

Location

The Vercors Massif lies in the Prealps, in the south-east France, straddling the departments of Drôme and Isère, both of which are part of the Rhône-Alpes region, about south-east of Lyon. The massif covers with a north-south length of and an east-west width of .

The massif is surrounded by the Chartreuse Mountains to the north, the Matheysine area of the Dauphiné Alps to the east, and the Diois Massif to the south. In the far south-east, the massif joins with the col de Menée.

The massif is drained in the north-east and the north-west by the Isère