Minimum altitude: 232 meters
Distance: 9 km
Slope Aspect: East
Vertical Climbed: 356 meters (1,168 feet)
Vertical Descended: 357 meters
An alternative route to Mont Thou in the Lyonnais Mont d'Or range. It seemed ok on paper, apart from a steep section of 1km before the turn onto the route du Genie and so it proved. The start at Couzon was reasonable. There was then a short but quite steep downhill to a roundabout but you can take this on the left to avoid cars, which are rare. Then the climb really ramped up, over 10% for 1km on a rough surface with quite a strong camber. Not easy to ski.
Things calmed on the 3km route du Genie section, a more reasonable 4% but the surface is quite rough. Finally the last km to Mont Thou was very steep. The walk/run down was short and not bad.
It looks like a lot of rollerskiing for not much descent but not really ideal on skating unless you are a powerful skier. Maybe classic?
Road is rough in places. Not too cold. Humid and slippy in places on the run down.
