- May 29, 2012
- 15
- 24
- 8,580
Hi all,
After a cold and humid winter in the French Alps, which dumped metres of snow on the mountains, a number of the high alpine passes are still closed. I was keen to see how much snow was on the Alps and on Sunday, I took the car to Bourg St Maurice to ride a 120km loop over the Col du Petit St Bernard.
The first climb was the 29km ascent of the 2188m Col du Petit St Bernard, at a steady 4.5%, before dropping to the town of Pre St Didier and Morgex in Italy. The second climb was the Colle San Carlo, a 10.5km ascent from Morgex to 1951 metres at an average of 10%. The final ascent was the eastern side of the Petit St Bernard, with 12km at 6%. In total, around 3,350 metres of climbing.
Snow appeared next to the road from about 1,900 metres with impressive banks of snow that had been cut through to open the road. In places I was riding underneath snow banks around five metres high and riding through rivers of melt water in places. A really nice route and recommended with the great views of the mountains including the Mont Blanc.
Photos from the tour
https://plus.google.com/photos/111059783111780167010/albums/5890137879937218657?banner=pwa
Route Map and Profile
http://app.strava.com/activities/60689602
Video Diary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGdxtJAwA2w
I can see why they are having problems opening passes like the Galibier and Iseran, which are around four or five hundred metres higher.
Cheers, Russell
http://www.grenoblecycling.com
After a cold and humid winter in the French Alps, which dumped metres of snow on the mountains, a number of the high alpine passes are still closed. I was keen to see how much snow was on the Alps and on Sunday, I took the car to Bourg St Maurice to ride a 120km loop over the Col du Petit St Bernard.
The first climb was the 29km ascent of the 2188m Col du Petit St Bernard, at a steady 4.5%, before dropping to the town of Pre St Didier and Morgex in Italy. The second climb was the Colle San Carlo, a 10.5km ascent from Morgex to 1951 metres at an average of 10%. The final ascent was the eastern side of the Petit St Bernard, with 12km at 6%. In total, around 3,350 metres of climbing.
Snow appeared next to the road from about 1,900 metres with impressive banks of snow that had been cut through to open the road. In places I was riding underneath snow banks around five metres high and riding through rivers of melt water in places. A really nice route and recommended with the great views of the mountains including the Mont Blanc.
Photos from the tour
https://plus.google.com/photos/111059783111780167010/albums/5890137879937218657?banner=pwa
Route Map and Profile
http://app.strava.com/activities/60689602
Video Diary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGdxtJAwA2w
I can see why they are having problems opening passes like the Galibier and Iseran, which are around four or five hundred metres higher.
Cheers, Russell
http://www.grenoblecycling.com
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