UKC

Grenoble

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iusedtoclimb 24 Aug 2016
Has anyone been to Grenoble?

Thinking of visiting with the family for an Ultra

are there lots of things to do for kids? Anyidea of a decent campsite near by? What are the surrounding mountains like?
 Dark-Cloud 24 Aug 2016
In reply to iusedtoclimb:

Its a bit industrial in parts but the old town centre is nice, its pretty much surrounded by mountains, the Vercors are especially nice and easily accessible, not sure on camping but we stopped up in the Vercors which isn't too far of a drive
 Doug 24 Aug 2016
In reply to iusedtoclimb:
Nice old town centre surrounded by more modern developments. Its in a basin formed by the Chartreuse, Belledone & Vercors and can get very hot in summer & often seems to have very polluted air. I've often stayed at Le Sappey which is in the Chartreuse but barely 30 minutes drive from the centre of Grenoble. I've always stayed in a B&B but there is a campsite. Lots of walking, cycling, climbing, caving, skiing etc in the area depending on the season.
 The Potato 24 Aug 2016
In reply to iusedtoclimb:

what age are the kids - theres one good via ferrata route in the town and one a short drive away.
Graeme G 24 Aug 2016
In reply to iusedtoclimb:

Visited Grenoble this summer when we stayed in Bourg D'Osians.

My take would be don't bother. The old part of town is nice but nothing special. It's the kind of city you could imagine is good to live in but nothing exciting as a tourist.
iusedtoclimb 24 Aug 2016
In reply to Father Noel Furlong:

We are planning a trip to France and at the end I was hoping to tag on an ultra

http://ut4m.fr/en/courses/ut4m-160/ut4m-160-xtrem/


Would mean wife and kids would need to amuse themselves for a couple of days and have somewhere nice to stay in a campervan.

Race starts and finishes in Grenoble and takes in surrounding 4 massifs
 yorkshireman 24 Aug 2016
In reply to iusedtoclimb:

I live an hour south so Grenoble is my nearest 'big' city - useful for Ikea and retail parks and although the centre is pleasant enough its hardly a destination in its own right.

I was thinking of doing the UT4M next year too as I'm gradually building up to 100 miles (this year's has just finished I believe). Its a good base to be for a load of outdoor stuff but some of the suburbs (banlieu) are best to be avoided (don't be tempted by a cheap Ibis in Villeneuve for instance).

> Would mean wife and kids would need to amuse themselves for a couple of days and have somewhere nice to stay in a campervan.

Loads of lovely places within 15-20 minutes drive. If they have a campervan I'd recommend staying in one of the surrounding villages/resorts.
Graeme G 24 Aug 2016
In reply to iusedtoclimb:
If the trip allows you to be completely separate on those days i would highly recommend the RCN Campsite in Bourg D'Osians. It's next to Les Deux Alpes etc and there's definitely plenty for kids to do in the area. It's about 1 hour drive away.
Post edited at 10:35
iusedtoclimb 24 Aug 2016
In reply to yorkshireman:

Do you know what the race is like? What the running is like?

Is it a big remote mountain race - I don't know the area at all and stumbled across the race looking at something to tag onto our summer hols. I'm after big mountains and away from civilisation for the majority of the race and as few roads as possible

100 miles is all about getting your head sorted - get that right and keep moving and you will be fine (ish). If you have done a few shorter ultras 100 is totally doable. the big issue with this race is the ascent and even more so descending
 yorkshireman 24 Aug 2016
In reply to iusedtoclimb:
> Do you know what the race is like? What the running is like?

I actually don't know too much about it but it won't be too remote because it basically circles Grenoble so you'll never be too far away from civilisation. But the 4 massifs it includes (Belledonne, Chartreuse, Vercors and Oisans) are all stunning areas for trail running so I doubt you'll be disappointed, and despite being close to a town, the mountains are pretty big and it will be very little on tarmac.

> 100 miles is all about getting your head sorted - get that right and keep moving and you will be fine (ish). If you have done a few shorter ultras 100 is totally doable. the big issue with this race is the ascent and even more so descending

Agreed about the head thing - mostly comes down to motivation and race management - I had a couple of years off while I did shorter trail stuff but did an 86km in the Drome a few weeks ago and am planning a 110km near the Vercors in October so either UT4M or £chap£e Belle, both near Grenoble, will be obvious choices to step up to 100 miles next year.

In fact, l'£chapp£e belle might be more what you're looking for as it's high up in the Belledonne so might be a bit more remote..

http://www.lechappeebelledonne.com/

*EDIT: I've just checked as I was sure a friend of mine is running the Echappée Belle this weekend - we were chatting about it before a race earlier in the year and he'd heard very good things about it. He finished UTMB last year so should fare OK, but I'll let you know what he has to say about it afterwards.
Post edited at 11:28

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