An old military road to the summit of Mont Malamot
Mont Malamot is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 2.885m (9,465ft) above the sea level, located in the northern Cottian Alps, in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. The road to the summit is permanently closed to motorized vehicles. It's one of the highest roads of Europe.
The road to the summit is extreme: really narrow, steep, and full of stones. On the summit there’s a military fortress called Fort Malamot. Built by the Italian Regio Esercito in 1889, on two floors, it could house some 200 troops. The area was further fortified in 1932-1940 during the construction of the Alpine Wall.
The road to the summit is called Strada militare Bivio Varisello-Giaset-Malamot. It’s an old military road. After some kilometers, the road is closed by a wooden barrier. After this point the road is still in good condition of practicability, with stone walls and retaining walls still standing and good drainage of rain water. In the middle, the road is in really bad conditions, almost impassable for cyclists too, largely collapsed due to rainwater and the winter frost.
The road is totally impassable from September to June. Avalanches, heavy snowfalls and landslides can occur anytime, being extremely dangerous due to frequent patches of ice. It has a well-deserved reputation for being dangerous because of unpredictable snowstorms and blizzards, and driving under these conditions, can be extremely challenging. Extremely dangerous. The road is really steep, with gradients over the 20%. It's one of the highest roads of the country.
Pic: https://ruteandoproac.blogspot.com.es/2017/09/verano-2017-alpes-franceses-dolomitas.html