Coulouvreuse / Montée aux Aiguilles d’Arves

Without Climbfinder, I would never have left the road at the end of the Col du Mollard descent (towards Croix de Fer) for this hidden dead-end gem!
It was for me (June 2023) at the start, briefly queued by a herd of cows on the narrow tarmac stepping towards their pasture. You continuously cycle through the steeply climbing village of Montrond with its little church and a few cottages, before passing the last inhabited farms in Le Chalmieu.
Afterwards it is pure nature with green alpine meadows full of flowers and a skyline of snow-covered 3000+ mountain peaks with the famous three-part rock formation Aiguilles d'Arves that occasionally peeked through the clouds and made you forget the double-digit percentages.
There is no traffic,not even cyclists. The tarmac gets worse the higher you climb which urges caution especially on the descent.
Top is desolate car park with transmitter mast where asphalt stops and turns to gravel.
Thanks to Climbfinder, this also became my starting point for two fantastic mountain trips with mountain boots and backpack.

Literally and figuratively breathtaking cycling route to the French "Tre Cime"!!!
The max for me as a mountain lover!

7km full on from start to finish! Really burnt out at the end but what a feeling of accomplishment to have reached the top, and besides the view is also a great reward!

A very beautiful and tough climb. In principle, it is even harder than indicated here, because you reach the foot of it only if you first do the first 15 kilometers of the Croix de Fer from Saint Jean de Maurienne or another alternative is to first do the Col du Mollard and then descend a few kilometers. I did the first variant and then you have 22 kilometers with just over 1300 altimeters. Because there are 2 pieces of descent in it, you actually climb this in 17 kilometers, which means that you often see percentages of 8-9-10 percent. The road surface is getting less when you take the turnoff to le chalmieu, but the scenery is getting better. Especially the end is beautiful, with a view on the Aiguille d' Arves of 3500 m high.