Crête de Glaisette Supertrail
Description
The tour starts in Château-Queyras. You first roll downhill for a short distance on the main road before turning right onto the pass road to the Col d'Izoard. The ascent to the top of the pass is on asphalt, but the scenery is extremely impressive: craggy rock formations, wide plateaus and panoramic alpine views make the climb an experience.
It is worth pedaling all the way up to the top of the pass, even if the top section on the way back has to be ridden on the road again. The actual trail begins just below the pass - an initially quite wide path that leads to the Col du Tronchet. The trail is easy to ride, only the last few meters to the pass are a little steeper and require more effort for a short time. From the Col du Tronchet, you reach the Crête de Glaisette - the starting point of a long and varied descent.
The trail leads smoothly over the mountain ridge with alternating S2 passages and regular S3 sections. Technically and scenically, this descent is an absolute highlight. Finally, you reach the top station of a ski lift, where a short counter-climb follows before you enter the "Supertrail" to Lac de Roue - fast, grippy and with ideal flow. The final section back to Château-Queyras through the forest offers completely different qualities: Rooty, rough and twisty sections provide additional variety and round off this exceptional descent perfectly.
Map & GPX-Track
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Details of the tour
23 km
1050 m
1050 m
Château-Queyras
Château-Queyras
3512
well suited
More information
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User comments (4)
About the author: Thomas Giger
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.
A beautiful hike that offers everything you could want from a hike in the mountains. You do have to hike up the road, but the view is already beautiful here. At the top, there’s a fantastic 360° panorama (of the surrounding, higher peaks). It’ll surely be even more beautiful in a few weeks, when everything’s in fall colors and there’s already snow up there. The descent is varied, just as described. Only after the lake do I think there’s been quite a bit of forest work done here, and the trail has become a bit easier overall. In some parts, though, it almost seems like it was designed specifically for mountain bikers. It wasn’t until further down that the promised bumpier section appeared. Our recommendation: if you have enough energy, go for the “Supertour” version—it’s sure to be even more amazing.
There’s another route starting from Col du Tronchet. Instead of going over the Crete, turn left right at the pass and follow the winding trail—which is smooth and fun to ride—until it joins a cross-country forest road. Continue along this path to the right, then follow the Ancien Canal d’Arvieux along the canal path to Lac de Roue. The canal path is very rideable.
From Lac de Roue, you can follow the Ride-Track or take the alternative route described by seckert 72. This makes particular sense for the Izoard Supertour.
It’s more of a shorter but very scenic ride. If you’d rather head back from Lac de Roue to Arviex or the campground in Brunissard, you can do so via the following smooth, flowing singletrails. Take the forest path to the park/picnic area “Le Serre.” Then take the wonderfully smooth and winding singletrail to “Les Maisons.” Just before you get there, turn right onto the beautiful high-altitude singletrack toward “La Champs.” Everything is easily rideable. On the somewhat narrow high-altitude trail, there are quite a few hikers—some even with donkeys. Always stop and make room for them; that goes without saying.
I did the tour today. It's totally worth it! The scenery is amazing, and technically, there's something for everyone here. Five stars from me!