Val-d'Isère and the Col de l'Iseran: The Highest Road Pass in the Alps
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
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Val-d'Isère and the Col de l'Iseran: The Highest Road Pass in the Alps
400 + 100 XP
Val-d'Isère, once an isolated high village of the Vanoise in the Haute-Tarentaise, became one of the world capitals of skiing from the 1930s; it ran the four men's alpine events of the 1992 Albertville Olympics — downhill, giant slalom, super-G and combined — on the Face de Bellevarde, and has organised the Critérium de la Première Neige since 1955, a round of the World Cup since 1968. Above it, the Col de l'Iseran, at 2,764m, is the highest road pass in the Alps; higher roads exist, at the Cime de la Bonette and on the Ötztal glacier, but neither crosses a pass. Its road, built between the wars to link the Maurienne and the Tarentaise, is closed in winter and has become a legend of the Tour de France.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Get to the top of the Col de l'Iseran by bike, on foot or by road, and settle the altitude for yourself: the sign at the summit says 2,770 m while the maps give 2,764 m. Then find the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Toute-Prudence, built in 1939 to the plans of the Savoyard architect Maurice Novarina and listed as 20th-century heritage
2
of 5
Stop at the belvédère de la Tête de l'Arollay at 2,533 m, where three orientation tables stand beside the road, and use them to pick out the lac du Chevril far below, the mont Pourri at 3,779 m beyond Val-d'Isère, and the col itself still three and a half kilometres further up
3
of 5
Go up to the top of La Face de Bellevarde, where all four men's Olympic events of 1992 were run — Ortlieb's downhill, Tomba's giant slalom, Aamodt's super-G and Polig's combined — and look down the pitch, then find the Oreiller-Killy course at La Daille that the World Cup also uses
4
of 5
Take the south side from Bonneval-sur-Arc, the 13.4 km that the Tour's director compares to Alpe d'Huez except that it starts at 1,800 m, and find the two hardest stretches on it: the straight above Pied Montet at over 9 per cent, and the last two kilometres at 10 then 8 — the Tour has only come up this side twice, in 1963 and 2019, and has rated the col hors catégorie since 1992
5
of 5
From the col, walk a stretch of the Grande Traversée des Alpes, which crosses here at its highest point of the whole route, keeping to the path — 250 hectares round the col are under a biotope protection order — and turn back when the weather changes
Get to the top of the Col de l'Iseran by bike, on foot or by road, and settle the altitude for yourself: the sign at the summit says 2,770 m while the maps give 2,764 m. Then find the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Toute-Prudence, built in 1939 to the plans of the Savoyard architect Maurice Novarina and listed as 20th-century heritage
Stop at the belvédère de la Tête de l'Arollay at 2,533 m, where three orientation tables stand beside the road, and use them to pick out the lac du Chevril far below, the mont Pourri at 3,779 m beyond Val-d'Isère, and the col itself still three and a half kilometres further up
Go up to the top of La Face de Bellevarde, where all four men's Olympic events of 1992 were run — Ortlieb's downhill, Tomba's giant slalom, Aamodt's super-G and Polig's combined — and look down the pitch, then find the Oreiller-Killy course at La Daille that the World Cup also uses
Take the south side from Bonneval-sur-Arc, the 13.4 km that the Tour's director compares to Alpe d'Huez except that it starts at 1,800 m, and find the two hardest stretches on it: the straight above Pied Montet at over 9 per cent, and the last two kilometres at 10 then 8 — the Tour has only come up this side twice, in 1963 and 2019, and has rated the col hors catégorie since 1992
From the col, walk a stretch of the Grande Traversée des Alpes, which crosses here at its highest point of the whole route, keeping to the path — 250 hectares round the col are under a biotope protection order — and turn back when the weather changes
Before you go
The Iseran road normally opens on the second Friday of June and closes at the end of October or the start of November, so July to September is the dependable window; dates move with the snow.
The road over the Col de l'Iseran is closed through the winter, when it lies inside the Val-d'Isère ski area. It normally opens some time in late spring and shuts again in October; check with the département before driving up.
The road over the Col de l'Iseran is shut all winter, when it lies inside the Val-d'Isère ski area. It normally opens on the second Friday of June and closes at the end of October or the beginning of November, but the dates move with the snow — the Tour de France had to drop the col for snow in 1996 and a hailstorm with a mudslide closed the road between Val-d'Isère and the lac du Chevril in 2019. Check the Savoie road service the same morning. From Bourg-Saint-Maurice the north side is the longest climb of any col in France, all hairpins with long unfenced drops, and there is no fuel on the pass; at 2,770 m the weather turns within the hour.
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XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
400 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
500 XP
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