French Alpine Passes in June

FullFrameRob

Along with some friends im doing a charity cycle ride across France in June from Calais to Nice and as part of the route we are taking in some of the big mountain passes in the Alpes.

Now ive been reading online that a few of the passes arnt fully open untill June now we are planning on doing the Madeleine on the 19th of June and the Galibier the following day, there shouldnt be any problems with passes been closed that late into June should there ?

ut_och_cykla

I'm also interested in when passes open in June! Iseran/izoard amongst others. thansk for any info.

wakemalcolm

nypd

Was over the Galibier at around the same time last year. Apart from the thunderstorms on the Telegraph, all was OK although the usual mountain weather precautions and advice should be heeded.

Enjoy!

CumbrianMan

I use this website to check the cols. http://www.infotrafic.com/home.php
It's in french, but I reckon it's easy to fathom out.
Look down on the left hand side where it says Etat des Cols. Ouvert is naturally the open cols, and Fermes the closed cols.

Good luck on your ride.

Cheers

xilios

CumbrianMan wrote:

I use this website to check the cols. http://www.infotrafic.com/home.php
Cheers

Hey nice link CumbrianMan I put it on my favorites, thanx.

ut_och_cykla

Thanks - that's great!

chill888

The link on the above comment is the BEST link and very comprehensive. I use it a lot.

http://www.infotrafic.com/home.php

But it's often not perfect (it errs on the side of saying closed when really open)

For example, Col de la Colombiere was marked as closed 4 weeks after being rideable last year - but had a small sign for cars.

This one below is good for several classic alps climbs. Also, emailing the Tourist office as the snow decline and they will give you PRECISE opening dates. And remember you can usually cycle these climbs a few days before they are open to cars- which is often Marmotte filled magic.

http://www.maurienne-tourisme.com/actua ... e-cols.asp

ut_och_cykla

Thanks all

Anonymous

It really depends on the severity of the winter snows...rememeber the Galibier was snowed off in 1996 TDF...

I was there on the last week of May a few years ago...The Galibier Col wasnt open but we managed upto the Tunnel...and theres was 20ft banks of snow there...alos the Glandon was closed until our very last day...all in all it should be open for you but there is always a chance of them still be snowed under....hope all goes well for you.

ecrinslodge

Generally the cols are cleared by then, but you can always get freak storms that close them even in the middle of the summer. Enjoy