Tunnel de Parpaillon s(u)
If I were lucky enough to live nearby I would have waited
till later in the year for a ride over - or better through -
this summit. But this is probably the only chance I am going
to get, to ride through this famous tunnel. French filmmaker
Luc Moullet made a film in 1992 about crossing this route on
a bicycle. So I tried to do this route when I was here,
early June, when there was still quite a bit of snow in the
mountains
There is also a trail over the Col du Parpaillon, located
above the tunnel at 2780 meters. Both routes connect the
valleys of the Ubaye with the valley of the Durance. Google
Maps, as well as some signs also refer to the tunnel
entrance as Col del Parpaillon, as well as "Tunnel et
Col du Parpaillon"

|
01.(00.0km,1290m)
START-END EAST: la Condamine in Ubaye Valley
02.(04.6km,1691m) St Anne
03.(07.7km,1861m) bridge over le Berard
04.(10.7km,2057m) road forks; profile follows uphill
route on right
05.(17.0km,2637m) TOP: southern tunnel entrance Tunnel
de Parpaillon s(u)
06.(17.5km,2637m) TOP: northern tunnel entrance
07.(27.5km,1731m) fork in road. Profile follows paved
road on right to La Chalp
08.(29.5km,1655m) La Chalp
09.(32.0km,1480m) upper turnoff to Praveyral
10.(36.5km,1145m) profile stays right towards le
Villard
11.(41.2km,918m) START-END WEST ALT: a hard right turn
leads upvalley towards Guillestre on a very nice road;
profile continues straight
12.(440km,801m) START-END WEST: le Pont Peuf north of
Embrun |
Approaches
From South. In the collection of houses at la
Condamine in the Ubaye Valley, a road starts to climb to St
Anne. Soon afterwards you pass a sign: "Tunnel Parpaillon -
Ferme". Apparently the sign, stating that the tunnel is
closed, has always been there, and - all the same - the doors
have always been open. Some of the lower switchbacks afford the
best views of Fort Tornoux, a fortification from the
"Little Maginot" or Alpine line, an immense
fortification against attacks from the other side of the
mountains. After about 1350ft of climbing you enter St Anne,
location of the exceptional Gite Belvedere. The road continues
on pavement through larch forest, passing some old stone houses
with monumental walls. The pavement ends at an informational
tablet about the tunnel. Subsequently a small bridge over a side
stream does a lot to restrict traffic. Past this point cyclists
and hikers will not have to put up with heavy cars, just in case
there were any before. A second much sturdier stone bridge
crosses is reached further up, at about treeline.

upper southern approach to Tunnel de Parpaillon s(u)
This high valley that follows has a very desolate and dry feel
to it. The path turns left and then starts a traversing ascend
up the ridge to the north. There is also a track following the
bottom of the valley. Numerous switchbacks follow the traverse.
The eyes keep a lookout where the tunnel could be, but there is
no sign of it. The switchbacks slowly work themselves back
towards the south, to the point where you are directly above the
valley approach. By this time I had crossed two snowfields. But
the June snow was soft, and kicking steps was no problem. Then
the road ends, or so I thought at first. Actually the next
switchback was completely obliterated by snow, and I recognized
the reappearing road above. And finally - after the next turn
there was the tunnel portal, surrounded by snow.
From East. These were the conditions
during a first week in June. The first 20 or 30 meters were on
about 40cm thick ice, but melting water had eroded a ditch of
sorts into it. Past that I could see a tiny bright dot on the
other side, the other portal. The ice gradually thinned as I
walked and carried my bike into the tunnel, and then I was on
solid ground. About halfways into the tunnel the ice started up
again, with a little water on top. Several meters later, the ice
broke on every step with about 6 or 10 cm of water below it. It
meant wet feet, but actually walking was no problem, because the
surface below the ice was flat. The other portal on the north
side was completely surrounded by snow. The very top of an
"icy road" sign was visible in a surface of deep snow.
Somewhere below it the road was buried. From here I could
recognize a partially melted out road, maybe 1km down the
valley. The terrain is fairly gentle on this side, so making my
way through the snow downhill was obviousely not as fast as
bicycling usually is, but it wasn't any slower than walking
would be.

After loosing about 300m in altitude, I met the
first vehicles, that had given up ascending from this side. I
have to admit my "bonjours" had a special pride in
them during this descent. Pavement starts back up about 2000ft
below the portal.
Signs on this side refer to the crossing as
"Col Parpaillon", even thought most people really
refer to a tunnel and not a "pass". Here the valley
looks amazingly similar to a scene from the Canadian Rockies
next to the Icefields Parkway. The similarity lies in the
waterfalls that tumble from sheer heights over vertical cliffs
of twisted sedimentary rock layers, crumbling like a croissant.
But this National Park has free access, and you can mountain
bike through it. It seems sometimes the Canadian Rockies are
reserved either for tourists, purchasing 40 dollar snowcat
tickets, or the bears.
Following the paved path to La Chalp, an old village with a
picturesque decaying attraction to it, the road soon becomes
monumentally wide and straight, something I really didn't expect
to see. The road descends onto a balcony of sorts, above Embrun.
The profile descends to Embrun, but if going north to Guillestre,
a turnoff onto D994D to the right stays on this balcony heights,
and is also very scenic, just in a different way. It is a good
vantage point on all the traffic below, while up here on the
balcony there is none.

History
The history of this tunnel is really the history
of the border conflicts between, what is now the Italian
Piedmont region and the Ubaye valley. The strategic location of
Fort Tournoux was already recognized in the second century BC.
The name of the fort bears testimony to this. Tournoux is
derived from "Turnus", a Roman general who was sent
into the alps in 219 BC to oppose the troops of Hannibal.
Repeatetly the spot overlooking the 4km at the convergence of
the col du Vars and Col
du Larche, became a battleground. In the middle ages it was
the Lombards, who crossed from the now Italian side, then the
Saracens. Countless others followed during the complicated
history of European conflicts.
The 520 meter long tunnel with its approach roads was built
between 1891 and 1911 to connect Fort Tournoux with the valley
of Embrun. Col du Vars could also
be used for this, but as part of the "little Maginot"
(also called Alpine") line of defense, an effort was made
to provide alternate routes for every important pass.
Cycling: An issue of Centcols describes
the attractions that this pass has had even on cyclists of an
earlier period, and names a cyclist who crossed the pass in 1903
- two years after its completion. By 1930 the title
"legend" is used to describe it and a group of 29
cyclists visit it.
Dayride
PARTIALLY PAVED / UNPAVED
Tunnel de Parpaillon s(u) , Col
du Vars: St Anne la Condamine > Tunnel de
Parpaillon s(u) > D994D north > Suguet > Guillestre
> Vars > Col du Vars > la Condamine > sp 62.5miles
with 8680ft of climbing in 7:34hrs (VDO MC1.0 m4;12.6.7)
The last day of an Extended
Tour with different start and end points was: Col
de Larche
back to Cycling
Passes in Europe
|