Monte Pelvo - Col du Longet

Trail oberhalb des Col d'Àgnel

Normally, you reach Monte Pelvo (Caramantran) from Col Agnel, which involves several push sections. However, if you approach the summit from Saint-Véran, as in this version, you can do this largely by riding. Especially if you are on an e-mountain bike.

Description

The Monte Pelvo between the French Queyras and the Italian Val Varaita is now a well-known MTB destination. In this variant, it is reached from the French side without any significant carrying passages.

The tour ideally starts in the small village of Pierre Grosse at the foot of Col Agnel. Climb along a small road to Saint-Véran, one of the most beautiful villages in France. You then change to a gravel road, which turns into a path along an old water pipe. This path runs almost flat up to the foot of Monte Pelvo. From there, a well-maintained trail rides uphill for almost 500 meters to the Col de Chamoussière. Without motor assistance, it takes a lot of strength to ride this climb in its entirety, whereas with an e-mountainbike it is practically rideable throughout.

After the Col de Chamoussière, the path becomes a step steeper, and the push assist is probably used here and there. You reach the saddle below Monte Pelvo and tackle the last section. The last ten meters in particular are challenging, as they include a short rocky section where you have to carry your mountain bike for a short time. This is the key section of the tour, especially with an e-mountainbike.

The summit at 3021 meters above sea level offers an overwhelming panorama: the Monviso is directly opposite, the Monte Rosa massif and the Matterhorn rise behind it, and Mont Blanc can be seen further to the left.

The descent begins right at the summit. A good trail of difficulty S3 leads through the rough terrain over the ridge to the Col de Saint-Véran. The trail to the left would lead down into Val Varaita, but on this tour you follow the trail to the right on the French side. A varied, sometimes slightly rough path winds its way through the wide plateau until you reach the path along the water pipe that you already know from the ascent. Follow this again for a while until a gravel road branches off to the right towards the observatory. Continue climbing uphill until a trail begins on the right after around 300 meters. This leads to the Col du Longet and thus to the starting point of the second descent of the day.

The following, extremely fun and varied trail of difficulty S2 leads down to the Col Agnel road. On a gravel road, you finally roll the last few meters along the mountain stream back to Pierre Grosse.

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Details of the tour

31 km

1530 m

1904 above sea level

2993 above sea level

1 day

Pierre Grosse