Col de l'Iseran

View of the summit of the Col de l' Iseran from slightly higher car park ( June 2005), behind the point of the Lessières, 3041 m

The Col de l' Iseran with a height of 2764 meters is the highest mountain pass in the Alps on mobile - the Col de la Bonette is 2715 m high, reached 2802 m only by the additional loop, but this is not a passport.

Location

The pass is located in the French department of Savoie. The continuous paved road is part of the Route des Grandes Alpes. It combines here the high valleys of the Isère ( Tarentaise) and Arc (Maurienne ).

The actual pass road runs from Val d'Isere in the north to Bonneval- sur-Arc in the south. In particular, on the north side but has the well-developed previous increase of Seez to Val d'Isere also almost always pass road character with gradients between seven and twelve percent ( SG 2).

On the north side there are well-known ski resorts such as Tignes and Val d'Isere, Tignes along the dam at the road passes through a long series of galleries and tunnels, while the south side was uncovered by a barren mountain valley.

The road is passable only in summer; in winter it is used as part of a ski slope of Espace Killy.

Directly west of the pass is the point of the Lessières, a relatively easy to ersteigender Three peaks with an altitude of 3041 m and an impressive view of the mountain pass.

Tour de France

The Col de l' Iseran was already seven times in the program of the Tour de France, most recently in 2007, before that in the years 1938, 1939, 1949, 1963 and 1992. 1996, he was also on the program, but due to bad weather, the crossing time canceled at short notice.

Chapel with a statue of Edgar Delvaux

View from the Pointe des Lessières of the pass,

South side