Col du Joly

A challenging but beautiful mountain bike climb to Col du Joly with great views of Mont Blanc.

This is not the longest loop, but very rewarding. Stupidly, I forgot to put my memory card back in my camera so all photos are with an old iPhone. It’s a challenge to balance an iPhone on a boulder and run to the bike before the timer expires – but I did my best. 🙂

While this eastern side is a rocky, unpaved farm/ski road, the west side from Beaufort is fully paved – ending at the Col itself. Details here.

The view from the Col:

The Col is at 1989 metres, but it’s possible to go much higher. The last time I rode this, I turned up to Aguille Croche at 2487 metres. Details here. Below a favourite photo from there last year:

This time, instead of heading to Aguille Croche, I explored another road higher that starts a little below the east side of the col – see map. It passes the little lac de Roselette and then heads up to Tête du lac de Roselette at 2114 metres. From here, there are certainly hiking trails higher, but it was the “end of the road” for me and my bike.

I have previously climbed the way I descended. But I think the most ride-able and scenic way up is the route I chose here.

This is a short loop, not much more than 20 kilometres. But it’s steep, quiet, and so beautiful.