Responsible celebrations. A vacation in the mountains without damaging it

How to escape to the mountains, in the department of Isère for example, while preserving this fragile nature.

The most polluting part of a stay in the mountains is the journey most often made by car, responsible for more than half of the carbon footprint. However, there are other solutions, according to Jacky Bossard, director of the Oz 3300 station, in the Alpe d’Huez area, 45 minutes from Grenoble. “The train, the bus and today, the Eau d’Olle Express, a valley elevator which allows you to avoid the last kilometers, which consume a lot of carbon and diesel”, he lists.

“The last quarter of an hour, we spend it in a cabin, we abandoned our car, we are already on vacationargues Jacky Bossard. It democratized access to the mountains.”

“We have a lot of non-skiers now who are starting to access our areas, if only to stroll in nature or simply be contemplative in front of the great massifs of Belledonne or Grandes Rousses.”

Jacky Bossard, director of the Oz 3300 station

at franceinfo

Then comes the impact of a night there. In the mountains, one in two homes is a thermal sieve, which is three times more than the national average. But things are changing, says Céline Matéo, director of the Belledonne Chartreuse tourist office. “In our territory, we have accommodation called Evasion au naturel. It is a set of several chalets which have been made with sustainable, eco-designed materialsshe presents. This summer, the lawnmower was a donkey and sheep. It’s not a jacuzzi but Nordic baths. They are not powered by electricity but by a small wood stove. They are rethinking their heating method.

Even the activities offered have changed, less aggressive for the fauna and flora. Example: a concert in the great outdoors with Alexandre Guhéry who organizes hikes like no other:

Or a giant zip line in Chambrousse, an ice waterfall to climb in the Vercors. Because despite everything, we must continue to visit the mountains, according to Éric Bouchet, head of the 2 Alpes tourist office. “Every time a person skis on a glacier, they help preserve the icehe defends. Allowing him to ski means preserving as much of the snow cover as possible, which protects the ice from solar radiation.” Moreover, the mountain is not threatened by overtourism