We are off to Morzine for a fortnight at the start of July. My daughter and I are going DH, so we seem to be ok with that plan.

My OH is taking her road bike and wants to bag some iconic climbs on the tarmac.

My geography of the area is poor, but does anyone know of any epics in the area? Is there a guide book or approved map?

thanks

Ian

The tour is coming through. You want to at least do the climbs they do. col de joux plane is a classic and either of the two roads to Avoriaz and that’s without even leaving the valley.

And the Col de Ramaz, just off the Les Gets – Taninges road.

Looking further afield the Col de Colombiere is the other side of Cluses and is worth a climb (a long day from Morzine though).

Col de Joux Plane is lovely, been featured on the tour & the Dauphine. There’s the route de la Manche too, both of which giving cracking views. There’s the climb up to Avoriaz but little fun, but can do a nice route round to Lac Montriond from near the cafe just before Avoriaz. I like the Mont Chery circular-nice climb up from Montriond area with a descent into Les Gets and back to Morzine. Most climbs have nice cafes at the top (depending on when you’re going

Dredging up more from my memory…

Or down the St Jean du Alpes valley then right over towards Chatel (can’t remember the name though)?

Col de Joux Plan (Morzine to Samoens)
Col de la Joux Verte (Morzine>Montriond>Lindarets>Avoriaz)
Super Morzine (Morzine>Avoriaz)
Col d’Encrenaz (Morzine>Cote d’Abrroz) plus return via Les Gets
St Jean d’Aulpes to Graydon (not a big climb, but nice and quiet)

The Etape ends in Morzine on the 10th July, so have a look at that route & see if you can put something together based on that? Might be one to avoid on the day though..

>> Dredging up more from my memory…

>> Or down the St Jean du Alpes valley then right over towards Chatel (can’t remember the name though)?

Col du Corbier?

As goldenwonder says the Etape does finish in Morzine on the 10th July. It goes over The Ramaz, down to Taninges, along to Samoens and over the Col du Joux Plane, finishing in the center of Morzine outside the tourist office. Deffo avoid these on that day. There are 15000 riders in the etape.

Some route ideas in this which you can pick up a paper copy in the Morzine tourist office usually

Morzine-Road-Cycling-Guide

Most Cols as mentioned above covered here, some of my actual rides which should downloadable for editing and using on a Garmin or similar:

Avoriaz via Col de la Joux Verte

Col du Corbier, Col du Grand Teillet, Col de la Ramez

Col du Corbier loop

Col des Gets, Cirque de Fer de Cheval, Col du Joux Plane

Col du Ramaz loop

Col du Corbier, Évian-les-Bains, Thonon-les-Bains loop

Another vote for the Col de Joux Plan – have ridden it a few times, it’s got a lot of character. Also, the local authorities close one Col off to motor traffic each Sunday during July (I think). I was lucky enough to ride the Joux Plan during one of those events, there was free coffee and cake at the summit!

La Plagne with this playing on a loop 😀

Morecheese covers it well.

‘Le mole’ worth a crack too although a killer, and the climb to flaine ski resort is a classic – bout 22km climb from memory.

All, that is all fantastic! Thank you very much for your concise help here, im v grateful!