August 3, 2009

This panorama of the Parc National de la Vanoise was taken from outside the park, looking in, from a point called Col Noir. As you scroll from the left, the really big snowy peak is la Grande Casse (3855m), the highest mountain in the Vanoise Massif. The rocky peak to its lower right is l’Aiguille de la Vanoise (2797m), a popular climb. Further right, the Glacier de l’Arcelin peeks over the cliffs. You can see the path down the cliffs that the glacier once took – sadly it has retreated markedly in the previous decades, like the other glaciers of the park. This glacier joins the Glaciers de la Vanoise which lie in the middle of the park and form an absolutely massive area of year-round ice and snow.