Copyright: © 1998 - 2010 John Gardner
| A Walking Guide to the Massif de la Chartreuse |
Guide Books and Maps
French mapping compares favourably with the best. The French equivalent of the Ordnance Survey, the Institute Géographic National, have the whole country covered in a number of different scales, including the orange 1:50,000 series, and the blue 1:25,000 series. The latter are also supplied in tourist editions for the major walking areas. The accuracy of the maps is reliable, and the presentation is excellent, with the subtle shadowing on the blue series being particularly useful.
The Chartreuse area is covered by two special 1:25,000 IGN maps, 3333 OT, and 3334 OT, covering the north and south of the Chartreuse Massif respectively. Whilst they are not quite as clear as the standard 1:25,000 maps, using somewhat more intense colours, they do highlight the major footpaths, and are strongly recommended. They are not expensive (€10.10 in November 2008), and may be obtained locally, or directly from the excellent IGN web site. Good water-proofed versions are available from Aqua 3 for about £16 (July 2009).
The one serious criticism that has been levelled against these maps in the past, is that they have not been overlaid with a survey grid, making grid references difficult to use. However, since 1999, the TOP 25 walking maps are gradually being re-published with a kilometre square grid superimposed to make them more "GPS friendly". See below for further details.
The TOP 25 maps are also available on CD with GPS compatible software. These cost about €35, but they do cover a huge area - normally two CDs to a department. Unfortunately, it is necessary to buy two for Chartreuse, as it overlaps between Savoie (73) Partie Ouest and Isèrere (38) Partie Nord. A better alternative is the Géorando series. These include aerial photographs, 3D representations, an English language interface, and allows you to plot walks, and upload and download routes from a GPS unit, for about €40. Originally, one covered the whole of Isère and Savoie, but this no longer seems to be available. However, they do have an alternative option whereby you can buy the software for about €25 and download the individual maps for €1.50 (all prices November 2008).
1:50,000 geological maps are also available from the IGN. These are expensive (€35 in November 2008), and four (748, 749, 772, and 773) are required to cover the whole of the massif. 748 is probably the most useful.
One interesting variation on the theme of maps is a series of "Photoguides de Randonnée" published by the Société de Recherches et d'Etudes Aériennes. These are pamphlets containing aerial photographs of the hills with the main walking routes superimposed on them. They also include brief descriptions of the routes. Whilst being of little value as either maps or guides, they are an excellent means of getting across the salient features of the topography. There are five available in the Chartreuse series costing €7.63 for the set (July 2004), and if encountered, they should be snapped up.
In recent years, a number of French walking guides for the area have been published. My favourite is "Chartreuse, Randonnées Pédestres Pour Tous", by Antoine Salvi available for about €9.45 (September 2002). This is a clearly laid out book which communicates the nature of the routes pretty well, and is also sensibly priced. Unfortunately, the print edition is now difficult to get hold of, but it is available on the web.
Also recommended, but not as a guide book for those who are on their first visit, is "Chartreuse Vercors - Les Randonées du Vertige" by Pascal Sombardier (€30 in November 2008). This describes some of the more exciting walks as well as some of the local via ferrata, and includes some superb photographs.
The latest addition to those available is "Chartreuse Secrète et Randonnées Sportive" by Jo Perez, published in 2008. This is a glossy softback rather expensively priced at 19€. I have strong reservations about some of the routes that he selects, but they are complemented by a variety of interesting little essays about various aspects of the massif which make it worth buying.
Finally, you should also not forget that access to the Google Earth satellite photography is available both through the web and through a stand-alone utility.
GPS and the Chartreuse TOP 25 Maps
As mentioned above, the TOP 25 series walking maps are being republished with a kilometre square grid superimposed to make them more "GPS friendly". To use a GPS unit in conjunction with the map, first ensure that your map has the words "Compatible GPS" printed on the cover, which shows that it has the superimposed grid. You should then ensure that the grid of the GPS unit is set to UTM, and that the map datum is set to WGS 84. Note that the whole of Chartreuse lies in the UTM 31T zone.