Col Lauson
Description
The ascent begins in Eau Rousse - a little above Valsavarenche - in the same style as it continues afterwards: narrow but well-built, steep but in principle rideable. The trail initially leads through a dense fir forest, becoming more alpine after the Levionaz Dessous Alp. The path is so well maintained that you can theoretically ride the ascent almost to the top of the Col Lauson. On the pass, you are at almost 3300 meters above sea level, undisputedly one of the highest points in the Alps that can be reached by mountain bike. On the other side of the valley, the trail is still of the same quality: it is a first-class ride, slightly exposed at the top, then zigzags down towards the Rifugio Vittorio Sella. We forgo the route to the hut, turn left at the top and take the Colle della Rossa with us. We have to climb another 340 meters, this time pushing. The reason for the new ascent is to replace the less attractive route from the Rifugio down to Cogne with the singletrail descent past Les Ors. There are 1650 meters of singletrail altitude difference in one go here.
In Cogne, the fun is over for now. Back to Aosta, follow the main road for lack of alternatives. If you are in a hurry or have no more energy, follow the road to Aosta. You can pick up some more trail by changing sides of the valley on the historic bridge at Pondel and climbing briefly on the opposite side before riding on trails to Aymavilles. You then roll back to Aosta on the road and later on the cycle path.
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Details of the tour
46 km
2170 m
3185 m
651 above sea level
3292 above sea level
1 day
Valsavarenche
Aosta
1583
not suitable
More information
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User comments (3)
About the author: Thomas Giger
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.
A lot of things are really rideable on the ascent. Even for mere mortals. We also did the Punta Rossa della Grivola. It's actually surprising that this is not mentioned in the description. The descent from the summit to the route is (amazingly) rideable. The descent to Cogne is great. But not so typical of the Aosta Valley but a bit more blocked.
We have now also covered the Punta Rossa della Grivola, but with the ascent from Cogne. The combination with Col Lauson is also very interesting. See: www.ride-mtb.com/touren/punta-rossa-della-grivola
On 5.9.2017 we started the tour from Aosta in great weather, rode via Poignon to Chevrere, then on the road to Eau rousse.
From the start there we pushed about 200 m, then rode more or less on beautiful ground in the forest.
From the tree line, the trail would still be mostly rideable, but if you want to save energy, it's better to push and it's hardly slower on the way.the last 300 hm is then finally bike shouldering announced.descent to the Rifugio fantastically beautiful.for the Col de rousse we unfortunately had no more pushing power, also the time was a bit short.
The downhill variant Valmontey is not so bad, with a little suspension travel and physical effort then also "comfortably" rideable over the cross slabs without problems.from Valmontey back on the road Cogne / Aosta.
We were on the road for a total of 8.30 hours.
Conclusion: Great tour but with almost 2900 m elevation gain and a total of 89 km in our variant, the ascent was very demanding in terms of fitness!
There's a better mix on the Invernieux.
Travel time was optimally chosen.
(not much going on on the trail)