Col de la Croix-de-Fer & Col du Glandon loop

June 12, 2025

Col de la Croix-de-Fer has been on my list for some time. Why? Possibly just the name, possibly Scott Anderson’s post from 2015, I really don’t know.

We started early, not to best forecast rain, but to accomplish the climb before the heat really set in. Thd climb was tough, but it wasn’t made particularly worse by the heat. Yes, it was hot, but not like Col de la Madeleine two days ago. Plus, I refilled my bottles with fresh cold water at a water point in Saint-Sorlin-d’Arves. Not sure what to call it (and I didn’t take a picture), but it was a green thing shaped like a skinny barrel with a rotating knob on top—a few turns on top and you are rewarded with a gush of cold water. Al didn’t think he needed any but ran out on the descent.

For the first part of the climb, we seemed to be heading straight for the Aiguilles d'Arves.

There were 3 short (longest ~500 m), well-lit tunnels. They were nice and cool inside and saved a lot of climbing.

Perhaps that grey rock is the reason the rivers are grey.

Al was waiting for me at a shady picnic table at the lower end of Saint-Sorlin-d’Arves. Nearby was the oddly-decorated Église Saint-Saturnin.

Exterior of Église Saint-Saturnin; we didn’t try to look inside.

Waiting/snack stop, Saint-Sorlin-d’Arves. The traffic cones are because all the crosswalks are being repainted.

Saint-Sorlin-d’Arves is the base of Les Sybelles, a ski area. We kept seeing “sybelles.ski” painted on the road, on retaining walls…perhaps in hope of free advertising when big races come through (as the Dauphinée will do in a couple of days).

The climb was steep at the beginning, then moderate with even a couple of short descents, but after Saint-Sorlin-d’Arves, it was steep the remaining 6 or so km to the summit (and steep through town as well). I was in need of a short break at about 2.5 km from the summit where I saw a group of 3 young French cyclists dealing with a puncture. I offered use of my pump, a Lezyne Micro Floor Pump, instead of the little mini pump they had and they accepted. Apparently this was not the first puncture of their day! Later, at Col du Glandon, Al lent his multitool to another young French cyclist who needed a very small Allen key to adjust his front derailleur. He needed his large chainring for thd descent and wanted to make speed because he needed to climb Galibier today! I’m tired just thinking about it but he didn’t think it was a big deal.

Then I thought I’d get a bike portrait at the actual Croix de Fer.

We didn’t climb up to the monument TA described because I forgot about it and Al had already been waiting a while. Instead, we set off downward and almost missed the turn to Col du Glandon. Happily, no backtracking was required.

The pic doesn’t do justice to the sparkling waterfall and the creek flowing through the meadow. The turn to Col du Glandon is just around the corner.

Speaking of the descent, it started very pleasant, though no additional layers were needed, but then became like riding into a dry sauna. The valley of the Arc was extremely hot, as it has been in the afternoons since we got here. We saw nowhere open to get food so missed lunch once again. A cold Coke in Saint-Étienne-de-Cunes and beer and chips back at our hotel will have to hold us until dinner time.

Al has just passed the camping car. The scale of these open meadows always amazes me.

See the camping card at the centre of the photo? There were 5 or 6 of them, all set up on an exciting corner to watch the Dauphiné go by in a couple of days (we think).

After the hot 10 km along the Arc valley, we finally reached Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and our air-conditioned hotel.

I saw this sign on the way into town our first day, then missed it yesterday, and finally stopped for a pic today. It’s the top claim that caught my eye.

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Today's ride: 63 km (39 miles)
Total: 784 km (487 miles)

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Lyle McLeodWell done, another big day! The meadows do look beautiful. We’re just starting to get the heat you’ve had (over 35 as we were riding today, and humid by rhe lakes. This really adds a whole extra level of effort! However we’re done now … and relative to your days, we’ve been done for a while :)
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1 week ago

Scott AndersonIt's too bad you're in such a heat wave. It looks so much drier than when we were there, even though it was almost exactly at the same time of year.
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1 week ago

Jacquie GaudetTo Scott AndersonThere’s nothing you can do about weather except complain about it! Today (Saturday) should be the last hot day for a while.
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1 week ago