Cormet de Roselend
This pass road seems
to be on many favorite lists. It is the closest
paved road to the west side of the Mont Blanc
Massif, but you only catch a view of it at one
particular place. On the other side of the pass is
the lower Beaufontain group of mountains. This
road stays above treeline for a long time. On both
sides approaches lead through deep glacially cut
gorges.
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1.(00.0km,804m)
START-END WEST ALT: Bourg Saint Maurice,
near river l'Isere
2.(01.1km,812m) START-END WEST: Bourg
Saint Maurice, turnoff to Cormet de
Roselend
3.(13.9km,1545m) turnoff to les Chapieux
and ville des Glaciers
4.(20.2km,1968m) TOP: Cormet de Roselend
5.(28.4km,1605m) Col de Meraillet on the
shore of Lac de Roselend; also turnoff to
Col de Pre
6.(40.4km,743m) START-END EAST: Beaufort
7.(50.6km,543m) Queige and turnoff to Col
de la Forclaz
8.(59.0km,348m) START-END EAST ALT:
Albertville, bridge over Arly |
Approaches
From South. Three pass roads converge in
Bourg St Maurice, Kleiner Sankt Bernhard Pass (Col
du Petit St Bernard), Col d'Isere and
Cormet de Roselend. Unlike the other two, the
approach to Cormet de Roselend starts climbing
immediately upon leaving the roundabout outside
town, and enters the massive gorge of the
Versoyen. Framed by a V made of trees and rocks, a
snowy peak on the south of N90 slowly grows in
posture as the road rises.
That was only the first part of the workout. The
road levels out a bit and enters a high alpine
valley, still with vertical walls. Another ice
dissected peak manages to creep into view at the
head of a valley on the right side at "les
Chapieux". There is a junction with a dirt road
and this is also the site of a fairly primitive
looking, but expensive auberge. The pressures of
tourism here may be higher than first suspected.
Surprise - the ice dissected peak is really a
flank of Mont Blanc. Now the "pressures of
tourism" part starts to make sense too.
Continuing past les Chapieux, the road turns east
and climbs a breadloaf shaped mass far above
treeline. The top is a wide tundra gap with the
most impressive peaks on the south side, Aguile de
Grand Fond. Surprisingly all the peaks in that
group are still well below 3000m. On top of the
pass is a small parking lot and maybe a portable
souvenir/ham shop.
From North. (described downwards) This
side is not quite as stark looking, but maybe even
more scenic. You can see various block shaped
mountains in the distance falling away like a
staircase. After the road passes two restaurants
it descends to the Roselend Reservoir. Unless it's
getting late too early, this is a chance to relax
(from the strenuous downhill). The road makes its
way to a picturesque chapel opposite a waterfall
on the opposite side of the lake. It's almost a
little too picturesque. It looks like it has been
put up just for photgraphic purposes. In a way it
was, and in another way it was not. It is a
reconstruction of a chapel that was submerged in
the reservoir. The reconstruction is authentic but
the location appears contrived.
Just when leaving the lake the road passes a
point labeled "Col de Maraillet" on the map. It is
a shoulder point on the paved route, and I can't
find a second approach to this pass on the map, so
it remains somewhat of a mystery.
After turning away from the reservoir, and the
route up Col du Pre,
there is one more great view from the edge - and
then the road descends into a massive V cut gorge,
using many forested switchbacks. At the bottom
waits a small picturesque tourist town. Beaufort
has two hotels, one small grocery store and no
gites. The road continues to descend in the valley
to Queige and Albertville.
Historical Notes
Before the reservoir came the town.
The town of Roselend was already a tourist
destination. It had three hotes for wealthy
tourists. Between the time that the land for the
damn was sold, to the time that the damn was
actually filled to maximum capacity with water, 29
years passed (1949-1978). Prior to this major
water storage facility, there was already a
smaller reservoir at this location.
Cycling - Tour de France: The
race crossed the summit 10 times between 1979 and
2009.
A day on an
extended tour:
(< Col de la Madeleine|>)
Cormet de Roselend: Aime > Bourg St
Maurice > Cormet de Roselend > Beaufort >
Queige: 51.8miles with 5190ft of climbing in
5:21hrs (VDO MC1.0 m4:12.6.18)
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