velotel
12-01-2017, 04:20 PM
Put this one on your bucket list. Not high, 1581 meters, doesn’t go anywhere, up the mountain, over a shoulder, down another side, not famous, the TdF won’t cross it, just another small mountain road in the Alps and absolutely as fine a climb as any you’ll ever do.
Anyone who’s read my posts over the years has seen that name already. Either as a stand-alone or part of the Grand Traverse loop, a fat-tire road bike ride that pretty much defines a fat-tire road bike ride. I rode the Arpettaz again the other day, five months and one week since the last time back in June with my son and his riding buddies. Up the north side then across the Grand Traverse. Fabulous ride.
This time got stopped by snow and ice some 200 vertical meters (650 ft) short of the col. The idea had been go over the top and down the south side. Silly idea, really. I mean there’s snow on the ground around my house and I’m at 1000 meters, And there’s always more snow in Savoie! The ol’ eternal hope story.
Did it during a weather window, as in blue skies and warming temperatures after days of cold and some snow with more cold, rain, and snow predicted. I was primed for something more interesting than one of my hour or so end-of-the-day spins. Somewhere high, or as high as I could. With minimal car time. I was also tired of being knocked around by gusts of cold air which meant something in Savoie. Narrow valleys, thick forests, usually no or little wind.
Like the north road to the Arpettaz, narrow strip of blacktop twisting up through what I call the enchanted forest under the mass of Mont Charvin. Never been knocked around by winds on that road. On the col but never down in the woods. So, that’s where I went.
Also decided to do a start to the climb that I hadn’t done in a long time. I’d only done it once before and had pretty much forgotten what it was like, other than some sort of long romp across the lower slopes. Rolled into Ugine, took the Gorge d’Arly road past the steel and titanium plant, hooked left onto a narrow road that slices up across a rock cliff to the old part of Ugine. Through the town (doesn’t take long, it’s small) and up a broad road past apartments and houses to a hairpin where a small road goes straight out of the hairpin.
A narrow ribbon of wobbling blacktop angling up and across the mountain. Got to a place where I had to grab a photo. Stopped, pulled out my camera, and damn, forgot to check the battery level. Lasts so long I kind of get in the habit of not looking. Bit me this time. On the other hand a dead camera meant just riding. Saved me a lot of time. I think my legs missed the photo stops.
The junction with the ‘normal’ road. Glanced down at the Garmin. Whoa, 40 minutes since I left the car down the valley from Ugine. Didn’t notice the time go by. Enjoying myself too much.
Now the serious climbing. Sustained steep, steeper, and really steep. Fortunately the latter are short ramps but still thoroughly rude. One of the reasons I’d decided on going up the north road was because I’d thought it might be covered with wet leaves and that I didn’t want to ride down. So up the north road and down the south road that I knew would be clear and dry. All of which turned out to be irrelevant since getting to the col didn’t happen. Plus the road was neither covered with leaves nor wet. Oh well. Probably would have gotten higher if I had gone up the south road but such is life. Choices.
That’s one of the problems with the Arpettaz, which side to choose. They’re both scrumptious. The north side is harder but the south side is well endowed with moments of pain too. Intimate views is what the north side is all about until the final few Ks when the road breaks free of the forest and into the avalanche swept meadows. The south side is the big view side with Mont Blanc dominating once you get high enough. I love ‘em both to be honest and always end up with this internal debate on to go up.
Then there’s the descent side of the game. North side wins this. Fabulous plunge off the mountain, fast, twisty, constantly changing, gravity pulling hard all the way, about the most technically demanding paved descent I know. The south side’s a good one too and would be golden for sure if not for the unsurpassed joy to be found diving down the north road. In the end a person could flip a coin for clockwise or counter and either way come up smiling.
But if a call has to be made, for me the north road is the better climb. Tight, never heard the word straight, traffic rare enough that I’ve done the entire climb without seeing a car, and a good portion of it is in this wonderful forest. And this day was exquisite. I was rolling through this silence of falling leaves, riding past boulders sleeping under mantles of soft moss and brown leaves, the loudest sound was my breathing, and an occasional pop when a pebble shot out from under a tire.
There’s a section of elongated stackbacks where you can look down through the trees and catch glimpses of the road 4 or 5 times. Over 40 switchbacks, 1160 vertical meters (3800 ft), and, did I mention this yet, steep. Not brutal steepness, though there are moments, but sustained effort, the pitch constantly changing, and always the silence. A fine climb.
I was high in the forest closing on the final Ks and looking forward to dropping down the south side. Started seeing patches of snow on the road. No worries. There’d been traffic so there’d be the two tires lanes to follow up higher plus once the trees were left maybe there’d be less snow. Patches got bigger, the tire lines tighter, then the road disappeared under a sheet of snow and ice with no end in sight. Oh well, ride back down what I came up.
Sweetness all the way. Pure joy right to the valley floor. Long too, like really long, like the hands get tired from holding on and braking, even if the braking is only light floating of the pads on the rims. From time to time I’d get a view down through the trees and be amazed at how much vertical I still had to drop.
Like I said, add this one to your bucket list. And if it’s already on that list, move it up. It’s that good.
A few pics from past rides, from the north and south sides, just for a look at what I’m talking about.
Anyone who’s read my posts over the years has seen that name already. Either as a stand-alone or part of the Grand Traverse loop, a fat-tire road bike ride that pretty much defines a fat-tire road bike ride. I rode the Arpettaz again the other day, five months and one week since the last time back in June with my son and his riding buddies. Up the north side then across the Grand Traverse. Fabulous ride.
This time got stopped by snow and ice some 200 vertical meters (650 ft) short of the col. The idea had been go over the top and down the south side. Silly idea, really. I mean there’s snow on the ground around my house and I’m at 1000 meters, And there’s always more snow in Savoie! The ol’ eternal hope story.
Did it during a weather window, as in blue skies and warming temperatures after days of cold and some snow with more cold, rain, and snow predicted. I was primed for something more interesting than one of my hour or so end-of-the-day spins. Somewhere high, or as high as I could. With minimal car time. I was also tired of being knocked around by gusts of cold air which meant something in Savoie. Narrow valleys, thick forests, usually no or little wind.
Like the north road to the Arpettaz, narrow strip of blacktop twisting up through what I call the enchanted forest under the mass of Mont Charvin. Never been knocked around by winds on that road. On the col but never down in the woods. So, that’s where I went.
Also decided to do a start to the climb that I hadn’t done in a long time. I’d only done it once before and had pretty much forgotten what it was like, other than some sort of long romp across the lower slopes. Rolled into Ugine, took the Gorge d’Arly road past the steel and titanium plant, hooked left onto a narrow road that slices up across a rock cliff to the old part of Ugine. Through the town (doesn’t take long, it’s small) and up a broad road past apartments and houses to a hairpin where a small road goes straight out of the hairpin.
A narrow ribbon of wobbling blacktop angling up and across the mountain. Got to a place where I had to grab a photo. Stopped, pulled out my camera, and damn, forgot to check the battery level. Lasts so long I kind of get in the habit of not looking. Bit me this time. On the other hand a dead camera meant just riding. Saved me a lot of time. I think my legs missed the photo stops.
The junction with the ‘normal’ road. Glanced down at the Garmin. Whoa, 40 minutes since I left the car down the valley from Ugine. Didn’t notice the time go by. Enjoying myself too much.
Now the serious climbing. Sustained steep, steeper, and really steep. Fortunately the latter are short ramps but still thoroughly rude. One of the reasons I’d decided on going up the north road was because I’d thought it might be covered with wet leaves and that I didn’t want to ride down. So up the north road and down the south road that I knew would be clear and dry. All of which turned out to be irrelevant since getting to the col didn’t happen. Plus the road was neither covered with leaves nor wet. Oh well. Probably would have gotten higher if I had gone up the south road but such is life. Choices.
That’s one of the problems with the Arpettaz, which side to choose. They’re both scrumptious. The north side is harder but the south side is well endowed with moments of pain too. Intimate views is what the north side is all about until the final few Ks when the road breaks free of the forest and into the avalanche swept meadows. The south side is the big view side with Mont Blanc dominating once you get high enough. I love ‘em both to be honest and always end up with this internal debate on to go up.
Then there’s the descent side of the game. North side wins this. Fabulous plunge off the mountain, fast, twisty, constantly changing, gravity pulling hard all the way, about the most technically demanding paved descent I know. The south side’s a good one too and would be golden for sure if not for the unsurpassed joy to be found diving down the north road. In the end a person could flip a coin for clockwise or counter and either way come up smiling.
But if a call has to be made, for me the north road is the better climb. Tight, never heard the word straight, traffic rare enough that I’ve done the entire climb without seeing a car, and a good portion of it is in this wonderful forest. And this day was exquisite. I was rolling through this silence of falling leaves, riding past boulders sleeping under mantles of soft moss and brown leaves, the loudest sound was my breathing, and an occasional pop when a pebble shot out from under a tire.
There’s a section of elongated stackbacks where you can look down through the trees and catch glimpses of the road 4 or 5 times. Over 40 switchbacks, 1160 vertical meters (3800 ft), and, did I mention this yet, steep. Not brutal steepness, though there are moments, but sustained effort, the pitch constantly changing, and always the silence. A fine climb.
I was high in the forest closing on the final Ks and looking forward to dropping down the south side. Started seeing patches of snow on the road. No worries. There’d been traffic so there’d be the two tires lanes to follow up higher plus once the trees were left maybe there’d be less snow. Patches got bigger, the tire lines tighter, then the road disappeared under a sheet of snow and ice with no end in sight. Oh well, ride back down what I came up.
Sweetness all the way. Pure joy right to the valley floor. Long too, like really long, like the hands get tired from holding on and braking, even if the braking is only light floating of the pads on the rims. From time to time I’d get a view down through the trees and be amazed at how much vertical I still had to drop.
Like I said, add this one to your bucket list. And if it’s already on that list, move it up. It’s that good.
A few pics from past rides, from the north and south sides, just for a look at what I’m talking about.