An old military road to Barbara Lowrie Refuge
Rifugio Barbara Lowrie is a high mountain refuge at an elevation of 1.753m (5,751ft) above the sea level, located in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont.
Located in the Cottian Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps, the road to the hut is very narrow and the asphalt is in very bad conditions. The Rifugio Barbara Lowrie rises in the centre of a large plateau among larch woods and pastures, and is towered over by Monte Manzol and Monte Granero. Every September, becomes the setting for the challenging Cronoscalata, a cycle race up what is considered one of the steepest climbs in Italy. The road to the summit is an old military road.
The ascent is 9.3 km long. Over this distance, the elevation gain is 1.045 meters. The average percentage is 11.2 % but the last 6km are over the 12,5%. Expect some sections with a wild gradient, up to 20%. There are some narrow sections -scarcely wide enough for two cars- where if two vehicles have to pass each other, one might have to reverse for some kilometers of winding narrow road to get to a place wide enough to pass. It shouldn’t be attempted by those who don't know how to reverse.