Col des Aravis, a road with very nice scenery
Col des Aravis is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 1.487m (4,879ft) above the sea level, located in the Haute-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 French Alps, the winding road to the summit is totally paved with many hairpin turns. It’s called D909 (Route du Col des Aravis). The pass is 19.2 km (11.93 miles) long running from the village of Flumet to the south-east with La Clusaz to the north-west.
Col des Aravis is the lowest pass in the Aravis mountain range. The road to the summit is a bit steep, hitting a maximum gradient of 10% through some of the ramps. Climbing from the resort of La Clusaz, the arrival to the pass is greeted by an amazing view of Mont-Blanc clearly emerging from surrounding mountains. On the summit there’s a chapel devoted to St. Anne, founded in 1624 by Pierre-François de Belletour, lord of Flumet, for the protection of the travellers passing by. If you climb the pass in July or August, you must pay attention to the heat and cars in the road.
The pass has been used many times in the Tour de France race. There are 2 routes to reach the summit. Starting from Flumet, the ascent is 11.5 km long. Over this distance, the elevation gain is 576 meters. The average percentage is 5 %. And starting from Thônes, the ascent is 18.9 km long. Over this distance, the elevation gain is 866 meters. The average percentage is 4.6 %.