The history of Pic Blanc…
It was in the 1870s that Joseph Bayle, parish priest of the village of Oz 3300s, took part in the first expeditions to the Oisans peaks. The highest point of the Grandes Rousses massif bears his name: Pic Bayle. It was this sharp mountaineer who named the summit “Pic du Lac Blanc”, more commonly known today as “Pic Blanc”. Around 90 years later, the cable car to the summit was built. Many skiers, walkers and mountain bikers use it to get to the Pic Blanc. This emblematic spot is also the starting point for one of the world’s most famous mountain bike races: the Mégavalanche. Every summer, athletes race down the Pic Blanc slope to Allemond, covering more than 2,600 m of vertical drop!
An exceptional place
The Mont Blanc, the Meije, the Grandes Jorasses… mountains as far as the eye can see! Straddling the communes of Oz 3300s and Le Freney d’Oisans, Pic Blanc is one of the highest peaks in the Grandes Rousses massif, along with Pic Bayle (3,465 m) and Pic de l’Étendard (3,464 m). From the Pic Blanc, you can admire the surrounding mountain massifs, and an orientation table will help you recognize each of the peaks: Pic Bayle, Grande Casse de Pralognan, Grande Motte de Tignes, Grand Paradis in Italy, the Vanoise glaciers, the Dent Parrachée, the summits of the Maurienne as well as the Meije and the Barre des Écrins… The panorama is exceptional on a clear day: it offers a palette of colors ranging from the blue of the sky to the ochre and gray of the rocks, via the emerald green of the lakes and the white of the eternal snows…