\paperw4260 \margr0\margl0 \plain \qj\li105\ri105 \f1 \b The Vercors massif\par
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\b0 The enormous limestone block of the Vercors massif, whose tallest peak, the Grand Veyma
rt, reaches a height of 2342 m (7684 ft), rises between the IsΦre and the Dr⌠me. Bordered by high cliffs that make access difficult, the massif had long had an economy based on stock breeding and exploitation of the forest, activities that are now comple
mented by winter sports, as at Villard-de-Lans. In the summer of 1944, the Vercors was the theater of fierce fighting between several thousand partisans and the German army. The re-conquest of Vercors by the occupying troops was bloody and hundreds of pe
ople (both civilians and combatants) were executed.\par
