Located between the Chaîne des Puys to the North and the Cézallier plateau to the South, the Mont-Dore massif is comprised of four volcanic units – the Sancy massif, the adventitious massif, the Banne d’Ordanche group, and the Puy de l’Aiguiller group – whose rich and complex geological history began nearly three million years ago. Only 900,000 years old, the Sancy massif (photo) is the youngest of them and owes its alpine profile to its relative youth.