Level up your trail skills in 3 days in le Vercors

We meet at 10am at the gite for a meeting with the guide and participants. After a briefing on what's in store for the next few days, we set off for a gentle warm-up loop through the forests of the Vercors, towards the Roches d'Herbouilly, a natural lookout point overlooking the karstic valleys typical of the massif.

The route then continues towards the Pas de Sambue, where the slope becomes a little steeper. This is ideal terrain for practising the basics of climbing: managing your pace, body position, using your arms and conserving energy.

The descents that alternate along the route are an opportunity to practise support techniques and reflexes useful for progressing on natural terrain.

Back at the gîte, we enjoy a moment of recuperation before an evening devoted to watching the descents filmed during the outing, as well as a reminder of the fundamentals of mountain trail running: safety, equipment, map reading and route management.

For this second day, we're setting off on a long outing for a complete immersion in the ridges and balconies of the Vercors.

We gradually climb towards the slopes overlooking the Grande Moucherolle, a vast limestone wall that marks the edge of the plateau. The alternation between rolling sections and more sustained climbs is perfect for working on endurance, managing continuous effort and the ability to restart after a climb.

The technical descents allow you to apply the advice you learned the day before, working on your footing, anticipating the terrain and precise positioning. It's a full, varied and instructive day, designed to help everyone progress at their own pace.

Back at the gite, we enjoy some quiet time before an evening devoted to the basics of planning: building a season, types of sessions, alternating load and recovery and defining appropriate objectives.

On this final day, we quickly gain height to reach the Rochers de la Balme, an emblematic ridge line in the massif. The trail, which is aerial but not technical, offers sweeping views of the Grand Veymont, the Hauts Plateaux and the Écrins when the weather is clear.

The traverse from the Tête des Chaudières to the Pas Ernadant gives you the chance to work on the precision of your movements, reading the terrain and managing your pace on the sometimes stony limestone. With rolling sections, short steps and false flats, this loop is an excellent opportunity to consolidate what you've learnt on the course.

At the end of the afternoon, we return to the gite for a group debrief. This is the time to discuss how you're feeling, to come away with some personalised training suggestions and to identify where you need to improve in the future.

The course finishes at around 4pm.