What months are the Galibier and Glandon passable?

FrankGrimes

Right, looks like I've talked a good few of the lads into heading over to the Bourg D'Oisain area next year to hit some serious cols. Reckon some will come for 5 or so days and others will come for the weekend. Some will do a couple of climbs each day, one or two might just come to do Alpe D'Huez in isolation, and at least a couple will aim to do the full La Marmotte route in one day. Actually, scratch that - I foolishly emailed them on the link to Mosiki's blog post on his Marmotte experience, so the drop-out list is probably already filling up!

I've got the small matter of a wedding to arrange (or just show up to if I play my cards right ) so I'll probably get a kick in the sweets when I even mention the idea of a cycling trip, but whaddyagonnado eh? So I may be constrained by wedding/honeymoon dates, but the sooner I know what the options for hitting those Alps are, the sooner I know what way to start trying to influence things on the wedding date selection side...

I saw in one of the photos from this year's La Marmotte thread what looked about 2 metres of snow on the side of the road on the Galibier and I think I heard that the pass was only opened in the last week in June.

What dates are the cols generally open from and to? We'd ideally like to avoid the 39C heat in July. September seems ideal if it doesn't conflict, but I'd like to find out what the weather in August and October could generally be expected to be like (I'm conscious that it can always get unseasonally hot or cold or stormy etc. so just want to get a feel for what it would typically be like).

IM0

June to september for high ones like the Galibier...generally
september is generally when the rain hits that area, but that said I was there in Sep also and it was V nice 20's or so when it was nice weather, 50% or more of the time.

lower ones of 2000m can be passible in May also, as can galibier, and you get the trill of cycling down a tunnel of snow nearly about 12' high the road is ploughed so its no problem.

blorg

Early September I think would be best. That is when I did the Raid and it was perfect weather while not as hot as July. Late September I have had very bad weather (rain) in the Pyrenees. I have done all the Marmotte climbs in early October including the Galibier although it was officially closed to cars. We also had sub-zero temperatures and snowstorms on that one though. Of course luck will play a role.

IM0

blorg wrote: »

We also had sub-zero temperatures and snowstorms on that one though. Of course luck will play a role.

I was once told by a guy when I started going over there that going up the galibier on an iffey day is really asking for it...I heeded for a number of years, then one year I was dressed pretty good like autumn, and chanced it
it started raining light v light drizzle, Iwas going for the Galibier from Bourg, it was ok, but the higher I got the worse the weather was, very subtly.

I got to Lautaret but I was heading for the Galibier and that was that..
so I kept going, feeling ok not too bad, but about 3k from the top it started snowing :eek: and was freezing cold 0 or so, \I knew then I had pushed it too far so finally bailed at cafe on galibier [tunnel] and came back, lost the feeling in my hands so bad that a few times my hands actually slipped off the hoods/brakes....did I mention the cloud visibility too :eek::eek:
got down to lautaret, and then just about to La Garde [next village down - 1500m] went into cafe for hot choc, nearly collapsed with hypothermia, was too dangerous to continue to bourg, so hailed a van explained the situation in french :eek: and they gave me a lift down, Pretty much saved my life, if the weather didnt literally get me, my ability to descend busy wet roads with no lights, with hypothermia and the lack of cognition that goes with it! would have.
Sved my life they did one way or the other

moral of story? - when its cloudy and sketchy up the Galibier stay well clear if your without car for support, sound familiar? :pac:

blorg

Have some photos of the weather. Key thing is it is so changeable.

Pyrenees, late September 2008

Aspin/Peysourde are lovely but it pisses rain once I am off the latter.



Tourmalet the next day is wet and cold. Ascending is fine but descending I completely lose any feeling and can't brake. Have to stop and buy ski gloves 4km off the summit.



Soulor/Aubisque the next day is again wet and cold and we have to stop in Gourette on the descent and stay there as we simply can't face going any further down the mountain.



Next day it is abosolutely fine.



Alps, early October 2008

Snowstorm up beyond Alpe d'Huez



Galibier- dry but freezing. I was probably best prepared of the group due to my experience on the Tourmalet the previous month. We stopped on the descent in the cafe at the tunnel and they gave us newspaper to stuff down our jerseys.

TinyExplosions

That hot coffee and the newspaper was a godsend coming off the Galibier!

FrankGrimes

Cheers for that lads. Some great pics there - don't particularly want to get caught up in that nasty weather, but to be honest, I'd take it over 39C heat.

Now to see if I can wangle a way of timing it all so that everything comes together and I can do both the cycling trip and that other thing.

TinyExplosions

A couple more:





And this was the weather further down the mountain:



-stupid flickr