サンマルタンドラポルトの峠・トップ17

lol

I must say that this climb is no joke with its gradients, very beautiful.

After the Galibier, if that's not enough for you, you can also get the Tèlègraphe.

The views at the top of this pass are definitely worth the detour 👍

The Col de Tougnète is a new challenge that was created during the summer of 2022 in the Vanoise massif in the heart of the "Three Valleys." The access road was built on the same principle as the Col de la Loze (which is a short distance away) by paving a ski slope in the Les Ménuires ski area. Unlike the Col de la Loze, the Col de Tougnète only offers one slope. The "cycle" path is, of course, closed to motorized vehicles. From the entrance to the Les Ménuires resort (alt. 1,732 meters), it's a "short" climb of 8.350 kilometers, offering 699 meters of elevation gain at an average of... 8.5%!

The Col du Télégraphe is the eternal 'little brother' of the famous and much higher Col du Galibier. This is the approach to the pass.

Spectacular port on all its sides. The most famous slope is the one that goes up through Les Lacets de Montvernier. Once this section is over, there are about 10 km of constant climbing with very beautiful views of the Maurienne valley.

From the hill, if we exclude the overbuilding that has also affected this area, one can enjoy a splendid panorama of the nearby peaks and in particular of the Aiguilles d'Arves, which are in a way the symbol of the entire area. From the pass, if you continue, you descend towards St. Sorlin d'Arves and join up with the road which, starting from St. Jean de Maurienne, continues towards the pass of the Croix de Fer. I preferred to go back towards Albiez to descend directly to St Jean, avoiding the tunnels that I would have had to go through when descending from St Sorlin.