Argentiere Page 2 of 3 Climate Argentière la Bessée is located in an area with an excellent climate (Figure ). The region is internationally renown for being a very healthy location especially for 'cures' for bronchial illnesses. In 1994 Argentière la Bessée was voted by French people in a national survey (Le Point, 1993) as being the Départment with the best quality of life. Argentière is thus well suited to develop an aspect of 'health tourism' similar to the neighbouring towns of Briançon and Embrun. Nodal Valley Location The position of Argentière la Bessée is at the confluence of four valleys, the rivers Gyr, the Onde, the Fournel and Durance. The nature of the water enables the development of speciallised water sports. The Durance has been developed for the white water sports canoeing, kayaking and rafting . The site in Argentière has been used for competitions at international level and is now the training centre for the French national team. In 1993 over 300,000 users took advantage of the white water facilities. Geomorphology Climbing is rapidly developing as a sport in France with more than 300,000 practising the sport. The mountains are part of the surroundings of Argentière la Bessée, there are cliffs everywhere, even next to the town centre. The rocks are calcareous and of exceptional climbing quality with a wide range of altitudes. This suggests the valley sides are ideal for the development of Argentière la Bessée as a climbing centre for the High Alps region. Many of the slopes have high amounts of sunlight and are not covered with snow for very long with access to climbing for 10 months a year. Mining heritage Argentière la Bessée has a very significant industrial and mining heritage. It is an old mining site possibly even Roman, but certainly 12th century. Minerals were mined from several sites, but only one is accessibile. Poor access hampers any short-term development, but it does protect the initial heritage site. If this were not the case, then collectors and visitors would have pilfered and vandalised the remains, hunting for specimens. An inventory of the mines is being carried out by the local Geological and Mining Society. This is a long but essential task as it is a very rich area. | 1 | 2 | 3 | Page 2 of 3