To return the mountain accessible to all : here is the project of an association which has just toured the Vercors. From mid-June to mid-July, Handi Cap Evasion went on an itinerant hike between Drôme and Isère from Villard-de-Lans. For five weeks, volunteers accompanied holidaymakers with physical disabilities on steep paths, thanks to joëlettes. These are kinds of all-terrain wheelchairs mounted on a single wheel.
The five courses of one week each made it possible to achieve a long loop in the heart of the Vercors Regional Natural Park, surrounded by nature. Each trip had around twenty participants: a state-qualified mountain guide, volunteers and five to six people with disabilities. Some made the trip while walking: this was the case for Jocelyne, for example, who was visually impaired. The others trudged aboard the joëlettes. The merry troop was accompanied by Charlot, the association’s donkey, in charge of transporting the luggage of the passengers.
Night under the stars
Far from being content to walk on the wide ski slopes, Handi Cap Evasion prefers to take the small rugged paths to climb the passes and live an authentic mountain experience. Normally towed by two people on flat ground, the joëlettes were put to the test and faced large roots and stone steps thirty centimeters high. The sweat and the efforts are erased in front of the beauty of the landscapes. At the Two Sisters pass for example, at 2,056 meters above sea levelthe team had the chance to observe ibexes very closely.
Handi Cap Evasion saved my life
Thanks to “HCE”, Chloé, 31, was able to reconnect with her love of mountain hiking: sleep under the stars, hear the cry of marmots or even appreciate the calm of nature at sunset. This young engineer from Clermont-Ferrand has Lyme disease. She lived her fourth stay with the association, from July 9 to 16. “Before I got sick, I did a lot of hiking. I came across Handi Cap Evasion by chance and it saved my life. Nature makes me breathe!”
Take a vacation from your illness
The only real vacation I have in the year
For her, it is impossible to take a vacation from her omnipresent illness. The association brings him a breath of fresh air that keeps it going for the rest of the year : “Even if it’s physically demanding to sleep outside and sit on a joëlette, it’s a week without a physiotherapist or doctor’s appointment, it’s the only real vacation I have in the year. With HCE, no matter who you are, disability is no longer a burden, people are there to help you live this week of real vacation.”
For Luc, in his fifties, from Paris, it was the first stay this year. Cerebral motor disability, he has difficulty walking. What was he looking for? “Discovery, not staying within my four walls. I enjoy nature minute by minute, hour by hour!” Thanks to the joëlette, he feels free.
Go hiking together, with or without a disability
I find a lot of energy there
The moments of daily life are an integral part of the stay. Sandrine, for example, accompanies Martine during meals as well as to the shower, to the toilet or at bedtime, to help her slip into the sleeping bag. “We get naked together, so to speak. We are not necessarily used to these intimate gestures but it creates a bond.” At only 19 years old, Emilio has already spent eight weeks as a guide: “I find a lot of energy there. We do extraordinary things like camping or big hikes, it creates a special and unique bond that we don’t find elsewhere.”
Between two climbs, Camille, a young medical student, breathes: “We don’t really feel like volunteers, in fact we all go on vacation together!” By his side, Joël Claudel, the inventor of the joëlette, smiles. He has dozens and dozens of trips to his credit. This handyman invented this strange contraption about thirty years ago, to please his nephew, suffering from myopathy.
Handi Cap Evasion account 900 members and she is always looking for volunteers to accompany the stays. Several local branches also organize day hikes all year round.