As an ?Ambassadeur du Parc? (Vanoise National Park) I was invited to a ?training / information? day at the Refuge de l’Orgere in the Vanoise, not far from Modane in the Maurienne valley. It was good to catch up with the other accompagnateurs again and the Vanoise national Park’s wardens.
The day started with presentations on vultures; in particular on the ?Bearded Vulture? (or Lammergeier). Read more …
The afternoon was given over to geologist Gilles de Broucker, now retired from Shell and living in the Beaufortain who is passionate about passing on his knowledge.
His presentation started by explaining, in layman’s terms, how the Alps were formed and focused in on the Vanoise mountain range. He spoke about the ancient alpine sea and alpine ocean where sediments were laid down. Then the coming together of the tectonic plates created the mountains thrusting up what are now the granites of the Mont Blanc range that also appear in parts of the Beaufortain and Vanoise. Lastly the mountains were eroded and shaped by glaciation.
Gilles then helped us to identify rocks, that we had brought with us. An interesting day.
