Surrounding villages and resorts
Six Grenoble 1968 venues can be found in villages and resorts outside the city. Four of them are still in use.
Autrans
France’s cross-country skiing capital, Autrans hosted the cross-country and biathlon events at Grenoble 1968. Its cross-country trails were created especially for the Games, as was its biathlon stadium. As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations in 2018, the course used in 1968 was opened up to the public. The resort’s 180 kilometres of trails are popular with skiers of all levels and provide the venue for the week-long Foulée Blanche, which has been held every year since 1979. This demanding cross-country event attracts nearly 5,000 participants, who compete in races over various distances. Autrans also hosted the 2019 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Skiing World Championships, while its Maison des Sports caters for many other sports throughout the year, such as tennis, mountain biking and hiking.
Also in Autrans, the Tremplin du Claret was the venue for the Olympic 70-metre normal hill ski jumping event. The hill later staged the 1974 Junior European Ski Jumping Championships and a Nordic Combined World Cup event in 1987. Though it has not been used for competition since then, the facility has been extended with the creation of two junior hills. All three hills are used today for junior training and competitions and for beginners’ ski jumping classes conducted by the local ski club, Union Sportive Autranaise. A thriving resort, Autrans has helped drive the local economy and attract visitors to the area, which now also hosts a mountain film festival and music festival.
Bobsleigh track at Alpe d’Huez
This artificial track with natural ice was built at an altitude of 2,000 metres to make the ice easier to maintain. Its exposure to sunlight caused problems in this respect, however. As a result, the two bobsleigh events of Grenoble 1968 were held at night. As it was too costly and difficult to maintain the ice, the track was abandoned shortly after the Games and dismantled in the 1990s. All that remains of the facility is the starting house and finish-line house, which have been converted into a restaurant and equestrian centre respectively. The exposure provided by the Games nevertheless helped the resort of Alpe d’Huez gain in popularity.
Chamrousse
Easily reached from Grenoble and the venue for the six men’s and women’s Alpine skiing competitions, Chamrousse was remodelled for the Games, with new ski slopes created and six new chairlifts installed. Famed as the place where French skier Jean-Claude Killy won his three Olympic gold medals in 1968, the resort has continued to grow and develop over the years, thanks to the Grenoble to Chamrousse 2030 project. In recent years, new apartment hotels, gondolas and chairlifts have been built and the resort’s youth and sports centre refurbished, along with other developments. In 2018, Chamrousse staged light and sound shows on the history of skiing as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations.
The resort has 41 pistes and is spread over three different levels, from Chamrousse 1650 to Chamrousse 1750. Home to a number of ski parks, it caters for families and skiers of all abilities, and attracts tourists all year round. As well as skiing in the winter, visitors can also enjoy hiking, walking, climbing and mountain biking in the summer months. The resort hosts FIS-ranking events and the Stars of Chamrousse, an Alpine ski race for juniors.
Ski jumping hill at Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte
A standalone venue that hosted the men’s large hill competition, the ski jump at Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte was built in such a way that ski jumpers appeared to be flying over nearby Grenoble when they took off. The images caught by the world’s photographers at the Olympic Winter Games helped market the city and promote its status as the “Capital of the Alps”. The venue was used for training and competitions through to the 1990s, hosting FIS Ski Jumping World Cup competitions in 1980 and 1981.
Strong winds made safety an issue at the hill, especially with athletes jumping ever higher and further. When the FIS introduced new regulations in 1990 the hill was closed and subsequently abandoned, as significant investment would have been needed to adapt the site. Although the ski jump is still standing, it is now in a state of disrepair. The cost of dismantling it has been estimated at EUR 540,000. Since 2018, the landing area has been used to host the Vercors Multisport Festival, an event that brings together 5,000 people for running, climbing and mountain bike events.
The luge track at Villard-de-Lans
The track hosted the three luge competitions at Grenoble 1968, after which the venue staged only a few international events before being used for local competitions and youth training. Abandoned in 1994, the site was bought four years later by the French luger Frederic Bertrand, who competed at the Olympic Winter Games Albertville 1994. He converted it into a leisure park offering family and recreational activities. The last 400m of the track are used for luging in the summer months.