Col des Montets (elevation 1,461 m or 4,793 ft) is a mountain pass in the French Alps in the Haute-Savoie department of France. It is on the road between Chamonix, the Swiss Col de la Forclaz and Martigny in the canton of Valais, Switzerland.

Col des Montets
Elevation1,461 m (4,793 ft)
LocationHaute-Savoie, France
RangeAlps
Coordinates46°0′13″N 6°55′24″E / 46.00361°N 6.92333°E / 46.00361; 6.92333

The pass is generally open in winter, but it can be closed in extreme weather and frequently requires snow chains and/or winter tires. Conditions can be checked with Chamonix tourist office. The railway tunnel of the Saint-Gervais–Vallorcine railway has been modified to also carry road traffic on a convoy basis between trains when the pass is closed.

Elizabeth Robins Pennell bicycled through the pass in the 1890s.[1]

The pass appeared in the Tour de France five times from 1959 to 1977: Charly Gaul was the first rider to cross the pass in 1959.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Elizabeth Robins Pennell (1898). Over the Alps on a Bicycle. T. Fisher Unwin. p. 19. OCLC 50002343.
  2. ^ "Le col des Montets dans le Tour de France". www.ledicodutour.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-08-03.
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