Claps de Luc et Saut de la Drôme

Impressive rockslide in the river Drôme, restraint of water and the famous “Saut de la Drôme", nice place to picnic and refresh yourself in summer under the the shade of the pine trees. Climbing spot (over 120 routes for all levels), via ferrata.

It’s an amazing site with one multitude of blocks, offering a typical slab climbing. The difficulty generally moderate, makes it one spot principally for initiation and average practice.
A bit of history:
Everything started in 1442 when one base of the “Pic de Luc” collapsed. In sliding, it hit one limestone spur, divided and broke in huge blocks and blocked the Drôme in two points… thus were formed two lakes: Le Petit downstream and Le Grand upstream.
“Le Grand Lac” was 5 km long and aroused desires because it had a lot of fish. In 1561 it became the property of “Les Chartreux de Durban” (monks for who meat is forbidden).
It was only in 1804 that the huge block “Le Papa” was drilled to let the water running in the actual place of “Le Saut de la Drôme”. This wide stretch of water is now one large agricultural plain (the farm of Bouligon in ruins and its terraces once cultivated) and the marsh of Bouligon, last remnant of the lake.
The necessity to avoid the Claps during the construction of the railway of “Briançonnais” in the beginning of the 20th century allowed the site to get one beautiful viaduct, long of 244 m and 44 m high.