The Dauphiné Alps (French: Alpes du Dauphiné) are a group of mountain ranges in Southeastern France, west of the main chain of the Alps. Mountain ranges within the Dauphiné Alps include the Massif des Écrins in Écrins National Park, Belledonne, Le Taillefer range and the mountains of Matheysine.
Massif des Cerces (French pronunciation: [masif de sɛʁs]) is a region of the French Alps on the Franco-Italian border. On the French side it lies in the departments of Hautes-Alpes and Savoie.
The massif consists of smaller mountain chains including Mont Thabor as well as those of the Grand Galibier, Mont Chaberton and the Rois Mages. It is bordered by the massif de la Vanoise to the north, the massif du Mont-Cenis to the north-east, the Alpes Cottiennes to the east, the massif du Queyras and Écrins to the south and the massif d'Arvan-Villards to the west.
The Drac (French pronunciation: [dʁak]) is a 130-kilometre (81 mi) long river in southeastern France. It is a left tributary of the river Isère. It is formed at the confluence of the Drac Noir and the Drac Blanc, which both rise in the southern part of the Massif des Écrins, high in the French Alps. It flows through several reservoirs on its course, including the Lac de Monteynard-Avignonet. It flows into the Isère at Grenoble. Its major tributary is the Romanche.
The Drac flows through the following departments and towns:
Gap (French pronunciation: [ɡap], Occitan: [ˈɡap]) is the prefecture of the department of Hautes-Alpes, in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, southern France. In 2019, the commune had a population of 40,631, making it the most populated city in Hautes-Alpes. At a height of 750 metres above sea level, to the south of the Écrins Massif, it is also France's highest prefecture.
Together with other Alpine towns, Gap engages in the Alpine Town of the Year Association for the implementation of the Alpine Convention to achieve sustainable development in the Alpine Arc. Gap was awarded Alpine Town of the Year in 2002. In 2013 Gap was named the sportiest city in France by the national sports newspaper L'Équipe.
The Vanoise massif (French: massif de la Vanoise, pronounced [masif də la vanwaz]) is a mountain range of the Graian Alps, located in the Western Alps. After the Mont Blanc Massif and the Écrins Massif it is the third-highest massif in France, reaching a height of 3,885 m at the summit of Grande Casse. It lies between Tarentaise Valley to the north and the Maurienne Valley in the south. The range is the site of France's first national park, established in 1963, Vanoise National Park. The ski resorts of Tignes and Val-d'Isère and the 2,770-metre-high Col de l'Iseran are located in the eastern part of the range.