Chamrousse () is a

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...

in southeastern

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 ...

, in the Belledonne mountain range near

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

in the

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.department. It is located in a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

of the same name and is situated on the Recoin at and the Roche Béranger at . The ski-lifts reach the ''Cross of Chamrousse'' at .

Population

Olympics

Chamrousse hosted the six

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 ...

events of the 1968 Winter Olympics, where

Jean-Claude Killy Jean-Claude Killy (born 30 August 1943) is a French former World Cup alpine ski racer. He dominated the sport in the late 1960s, and was a triple Olympic champion, winning the three alpine events at the 1968 Winter Olympics, becoming the most su ...

won three gold medals in the men's events. All women's events took place at Recoin de Chamrousse, located away.

Skiing at Chamrousse

There are more than of

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

runs at Chamrousse and 24 ski lifts. There are also of trails for cross-country skiing. Cross-country skiing can be practised from the opening of the resort to early or mid-April.

Cycle racing

Details of the climb

The road to the ski station starts at

Uriage-les-Bains Uriage-les-Bains (or ''Uriage'') is a spa town in France, at above sea level. Uriage is attached to the communes of Saint-Martin-d'Uriage and Vaulnaveys-le-Haut and is located in the department of Isère, beneath the ski resort of Chamrousse ...

from where the climb is long, gaining in elevation, at an average gradient of 6.5%. There are several sections in excess off 11% in the early stages of the climb. For the Tour de France, the summit is at an elevation of . The ski station can also be reached by a more northerly route, from Uriage-les-Bains via Saint-Martin-d'Uriage. This climb is gaining in elevation, at an average gradient of 7.2%.

Tour de France

The climb of Chamrousse was used in the mountain time-trial in the 2001 Tour de France.

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong ('' né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005 after recovering fr ...

won the stage (#11) on 18 July 2001, when he took just over an hour to complete the

hors categorie Khors, Хорсъ is a Slavic god of uncertain functions mentioned since the 12th century. Generally interpreted as a sun god, sometimes as a moon god. The meaning of the theonym is also unknown: most often his name has been combined with t ...

climb from Grenoble to the ski resort. In 2012, Armstrong was disqualified from winning this stage, following the

Lance Armstrong doping case The Lance Armstrong doping case was a major doping investigation that led to retired American road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong being stripped of his seven consecutive Tour de France titles, along with one Olympic medal, and his eventual admis ...

. The ski station was re-visited by the race on 18 July 2014. The winner of the

stage 13 ''Stage 13'' is a 30-minute American anthology television series produced and directed and hosted by Wyllis Cooper Wyllis Oswald Cooper (January 26, 1899 – June 22, 1955) was an American writer and producer. He is best remembered for cre ...

from

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the t ...

was the Italian

Vincenzo Nibali ), The Nibbler , birth_date = , birth_place = Messina, Sicily, Italy , height = , weight = , currentteam = , discipline = Road , role = Rider , ridertype = Climber , proyears1 = 2005 , proteam1 = , proyears2 = 2006–2012 , protea ...

who increased his lead over his nearest rivals, with

Richie Porte Richard Julian Porte (born 30 January 1985) is an Australian professional Road bicycle racing, road bicycle racer who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . His successes include wins at 8 UCI World Tour, World Tour stage races: Paris–Nice in 201 ...

, who began the day second overall, losing nine minutes on the climb.

References

External links

* '
guide web touristique
' {{authority control Ski resorts in France Venues of the 1968 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiing venues Communes of Isère Sports venues in Isère