The Col de la Madeleine: Maurienne to Tarentaise
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
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Madeleine Pass
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300
XP
+100 France
= 400 total
1 day
The Col de la Madeleine: Maurienne to Tarentaise
300 + 100 XP
At 1,993m the Col de la Madeleine joins the Maurienne to the Tarentaise across the geological contact between the internal Vanoise massif and the Lauzière, framed by the Lauzière at 2,829m to the west and the Cheval Noir at 2,832m to the east. A modern road has crossed it only since 1968, and it has been one of the regular high passes of the Tour de France ever since. In the 16th century the pass went by the name of Colombe, after the highest permanently inhabited hamlet of Montgellafrey at 1,550m — which is why the people of that commune are still called Colombins.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Ride or drive the climb to the col at 1,993m, the first proper road between the Maurienne and the Tarentaise when it opened in 1968 after a mule track had served since prehistory, and find at the top where the lifts of Valmorel and Saint-François-Longchamp meet over the pass, joined as the Grand Domaine in 1990
2
of 4
Stand on the col and work the symmetry of the view: away to the south-west, the Col du Glandon at 1,924m, and to the north-east its mirror image, the Col de la Louze at 2,119m, with Mont Blanc sitting squarely in the axis behind it on a clear day
3
of 4
Stop at Les Épaluts at 1,300m on the Maurienne side and at Colombe at 1,550m above Montgellafrey — hamlets that had no road at all until the late 1930s, and whose last kilometres were stone-laid rather than surfaced
4
of 4
Drop down the Tarentaise side to Celliers, where the slates called lauzes were quarried that gave the Lauzière massif its name, and walk up above Celliers-Dessus to the place local tradition calls the Combe des morts, where the Revolutionary fighting over the pass is said to have ended
Ride or drive the climb to the col at 1,993m, the first proper road between the Maurienne and the Tarentaise when it opened in 1968 after a mule track had served since prehistory, and find at the top where the lifts of Valmorel and Saint-François-Longchamp meet over the pass, joined as the Grand Domaine in 1990
Stand on the col and work the symmetry of the view: away to the south-west, the Col du Glandon at 1,924m, and to the north-east its mirror image, the Col de la Louze at 2,119m, with Mont Blanc sitting squarely in the axis behind it on a clear day
Stop at Les Épaluts at 1,300m on the Maurienne side and at Colombe at 1,550m above Montgellafrey — hamlets that had no road at all until the late 1930s, and whose last kilometres were stone-laid rather than surfaced
Drop down the Tarentaise side to Celliers, where the slates called lauzes were quarried that gave the Lauzière massif its name, and walk up above Celliers-Dessus to the place local tradition calls the Combe des morts, where the Revolutionary fighting over the pass is said to have ended
Before you go
The through road over the Madeleine is one of the Savoie passes shut by snow in winter, usually from late autumn until late spring — check savoie-route.fr before you set out. The ski lifts of Valmorel and Saint-François-Longchamp work over the col all winter, so the resorts being open does not mean the road is. There is food and a shop at the col in season only, and the climb is sustained on both sides, so fill up in the valley at La Chambre or La Léchère rather than at altitude.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
300 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
400 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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