A great road to Cormet de Roselend in the Alps
Cormet de Roselend is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 1.991m (6,532ft) above the sea level, located in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. The pass is traversed by the scenic Route des Grandes Alpes.
Nestled in the Alps, the road to the summit is paved. It’s called D902 and D925. It’s usually closed in winters. The pass is 39.5 km long with 22 hairpin turns and links Beaufort (in the Beaufortain valley) and Bourg-Saint-Maurice (in the Tarentaise Valley). On the west side of the pass sits the Lac de Roselend, a reservoir that is reached by the Col de Méraillet (1605m). The beautiful Lac de Roselend is perhaps what makes this pass stand out. This combined with lovely views of the Mont Blanc mountains has made the pass road become one of the most popular in the Alps. Hairpins everywhere, cow bells as background soundtrack, and ever improving views. It’s a great road. The word Cormet (from the Latin "Culmen") means summit. It gets a decent amount of traffic in summer.
The climb featured in the Tour de France race. The road to the summit is steep, hitting a maximum gradient of 12% through some of the ramps. There are 2 routes to reach the summit. Starting from Beaufort, the ascent is 20.32 km long. Over this distance, the elevation gain is 1.227 meters. The average percentage is 6 % with the steepest sections at 8.9%. And starting from Bourg Saint Maurice, the ascent is 19.35 km long. Over this distance, the elevation gain is 1.154 meters. The average percentage is 6 % with the steepest sections at 10.0%. Its average gradient of 6% hides its true character. It starts relatively steadily with lots of shade from the trees, after around 5km it ramps up to 8% gradients as it turns into a sequence of 10 tight hairpins. It is a nice climb where you will have views of the Mont Blanc mountains when passing by Vallée des Glaciers.