Activities at the Monteynard lake

Located 25 km away from the south of Grenoble, the lake of Monteynard-Avignonet separates the Trièves and Matheysine valleys. This watercourse, which is coming from the Drac, was firstly natural. In 1897, it was exploited by a Grenoble company of force and light to supply the surrounding towns with electricity.
Today, the artificial lake feeds a hydroelectric power station of EDF thanks to its flood barrier.

By car:

• Grenoble: 35 km (30min)
• Paris: 607km (5h54)
• Germany: 964km (10h02)
• Lyon: 159 km (2h17)
• Bordeaux :693km (6h54)
• Brest: 1.113km (10h28)
• Marseille : 248km (3h11)
• Belgium: 807km (7h49)
• Montpellier: 327km (3h23)
• Lille: 833km (7h53)

By train: you need to go to the Grenoble station or go to the Monestier-de-Clermont station

By plane: land at LYS, Lyon Saint Exupery then take a bus or a train to Grenoble.

Possibility to rent a car or take a taxi at Grenoble or at Monestier de Clermont.

At 15 min away from Treffort, the village of Monestier de Clermont has a supermarket, a gas pump that is just before the slope to Treffort. Furthermore, there are a pharmacy, a general practitioner’s office, and a laundry in front of the supermarket accessible to all. This will allow  you to wash your clothes while you shop. There are also many restaurants available in the village.

What to visit around Monteynard? For beautiful hiking:
On the left bank: the village/resort Gresse en Vercors, Sinard, the Trièves, Avignonet, Treffort, Roissard.
On the right bank: Mayres-Savel, Marcieu, Cognet, Monteynard, La Motte Saint Martin, Saint-Arey.

Living with its time, this lake has not only provided the energy needs of these towns. Indeed, many activities have been developed on this turquoise blue lake. Thanks to it, sportsmen and vacationers can find something they like! For example, you can find: nautical activities, beaches, kitesurfing, hiking, Himalayan footbridges, cycling, runner, rider. Moreover, you can walk around the lake with family or friends.
And all this, in a magnificent setting in the middle of the nature.

This is the place for those who are passionate about walking, hiking, Nordic walking, or the Himalayan footbridges. There are also many paths around the lake that will offer you a breathtaking playground!

Events are also proposed during the high season such as the famous Himalayan footbridges trail which gathers thousands of people each year.
This year, from July 2 to 10, more than 6 000 people are expected to participate in various trail events ranging from 16 to 65 km of race. And 10 departures are scheduled. Furthermore, you can find several restaurants, snack bars as well as three campsites and a lot of nautical clubs.

Thanks to LA MIRA you will be able to visit the lake and enjoy its exceptional landscapes. Indeed, the boat will allow you to cross the lake and thus to go to various points of the lake easily. Or you can simply enjoy a cruise.

Swimming: is forbidden in the lake and can be fined. However, you can swim on the beach of Treffort if you stay near the shore.

Fishing: the maximum depth of the lake is 115 m. The association managing the lake is the AAPPMA. Besides, a license is needed to be able to fish in this second category lake.
It is classified as a large inland lake since the 03/08/1995. To buy your fishing license, you can do it on: www.cartedepeche.fr. Or in the tobacconist Chalvin in Monestier de Clermont, Café Jeanne in Saint Martin de la Cluze. And finally at the Bar-tobacco la Gelinotte in Sinard, the restaurant-camping le Spot in Treffort beach and the restaurant-camping in Mayres-Savel beach.

Pike and zander can be fished from January 1st to the last Sunday of January and from May 1st to December 31st. However, the perch and the white fish can be fished from January 1st to December 31st.
And during the same periods as the category 1 lake of the Isère department, you can fish:

• trout
• Arctic char
• char
• brook salmon
• or even cristivomers salmon.

Thanks to the Wake Ski Club of Treffort and Savel, you will be able to practice wake surfing, wakeboarding, wake skating, monosking, water skiing, baby skiing, stand up paddle, tubing or to privatize a craft correct to enjoy the lake.

With the Wake it easy club and its instructor Ronan Garreau, you will be able to enjoy a unique moment on the water through the practice of wakeboard, water skiing, wake skate, tubing, or wake surf. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced person, you will have a personalized support. Furthermore, the instructor will assure you a regular progress in a playful atmosphere.

For more information on Ronan Garreau, the wake initiator at Lake Monteynard, you can watch his interview:

First, you will also be able to take advantage of occasional courses or sailing workshops in which you will be enrolled by level of practice, whether for beginners or advanced. This, will give you the opportunity to evolve in sailing in a group of your level.

Secondly, the other way to enjoy the lake: doing a paddle or canoe session.

These activities are offered by the ACTV, the Windclub and the GUC on Treffort as well as the SRVG located in Herbelon and by the club of Savel on the other side of the lake. However, the GUC and the SRVG are essentially windsurfing clubs.

By the way, a new club has just arrived on the lake proposing this new discipline “the Wing”. It seems to be democratized very quickly. Practicing the Wing and the Foil will allow you to be at the cutting edge!

The Windclub offers a new activity with the possibility to rent an e-foil! This club is the first nautical club on the lake of Monteynard which is still today a club of young enthusiasts seeking to democratize this sport through various projects.
For more information you can read the interview of Thibaud Moreau, co-manager of the Windclub.

Two beaches are reserved for the launching, the take off and the landing of kites in safety. The North beach located in Treffort, and the South beach located in Herbelon just after the SRVG windsurf club.

For those who want to improve or begin kitesurfing, there are two clubs. First, the Teknikite, which offers courses of different levels over several sessions or by the week. Or there are private lessons of two people maximum.
Secondly, the Freekite school, which is in partnership with the brands “Cabrinha” and “Prokite”. With this club, you will learn or improve your kiteboarding.

If you can do that many nautical activities, it is thanks to a specific climate in Monteynard. The lake is exposed to the dominant wind, mistral, and south wind. The south wind is the one that announces the bad weather on the lake, it is gusty and disturbed and often brings rain. However, what makes the reputation of the windiest lake in France is its thermal wind.
The lake is conducive to the phenomenon of the so-called “thermal wind”. The thermal wind is created by the difference in temperature and inertia between the earth and the lake.
Moreover, the lake of Monteynard located in the middle of valleys intensifies the phenomenon with the acceleration of the air streams along the reliefs.
This thermal phenomenon is non-existent when the temperature of the water and the land is identical.

In the summer at Monteynard, due to the altitude of its location, it is chilly or even cold during August, and hot during the day, especially in the afternoon. The ground stays fresh. Indeed, it only heats up only a few hours in the afternoon. But during this time when the ground heats up, the inertia of the ground becomes unstable which confronts the flows and creates a mixing between the ascending and descending flows.

In the mornings and in the evenings after 6 pm, you will witness a mirror lake, which is perfect to practice of water sports without wind propulsion, wake, canoe, paddle, yoga paddle, stand up paddle, wake baby, tubing, and fishing. From the end of the morning and the afternoon, it is better for the practice of Kitesurfing, Sailing, solo, catamaran, hobie cat, windsurfing, Wing, windfoil, kite foil, skiff, fast. With 15 knots on average two days out of three is 300 days of wind in the year, the paradise of sailors.

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