June 8, 2025
Val d’Aosta day 5 - Gran St. Bernard Pass
Exceeds expectations
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How often do you get a legendary climb 1.5 miles away from your hotel that is a top ranked climb in the world? This is definitely a cycling dream and it was magical.
The pass is so spectacular, it was even in the Tour de France 5 times although it’s not that close to France and it’s
been featured in the Giro 8 times.
Grand St. Bernard is ranked 30th hardest climb in the world by PJAMM with a 21 mile climb (5700’, topping out at 8114’).Colle de Gran San Bernardo is the border between Italy and Switzerland and has an incredible history. First noted in 390 bc as the route used by the Celtics in invading Italy, it created a big Celtic community for hundreds of years with still people having ancestry in those tribes. Julius Cesar tried to take the pass from the Celts. He failed but finally Augustus succeeded. The Romans built the first road here in 43 complete with a temple to Jupiter. Napoleon traversed the pass when he invaded in 1800 and used mules to haul up cannons which then killed all the mules off so they needed 100 men each to haul them up(liberal monetary rewards were incentive) This was May/June and snow was quite deep apparently and so packed they slid down the other side, including Napoleon. Wouldn’t that have been a sight to see? Today it’s still the lowest pass on a ridge cutting between two big mountains: Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa.
At the top of the pass is a Gran San Bernardo hospice that was built in 1049 and famous for helping with Saint Bernard dogs (breed named after this hospice). There is a statue of Saint Bernard who was cofounder of Knights Templar and well known for bringing new monks to the monasteries and is the patron saint for monks and nuns.
This pass is the only route to Switzerland from northern Italy and is so well used that Italy and Switzerland built a 4 mile tunnel thru the mountain. This diverted much traffic except for Sunday motorcycles and speedy high end cars. I lost track of number of Porches and cars with rearing horses. 😉. We did see two Lamborghinis as well but honestly the more expensive the car, the more of a jerk was my non scientific conclusion.
The pass is almost surreal in its beauty. Simply wow.
Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 209 miles (336 km)
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