From the parking ride into Brignoud crossing the railway line and turn left at the lights. At 2.

Mid morning MTB tour in the sun

This fearsome climb starts from the village of Ornavasso just north of Gravellone-Toce.

DescriptionOne for the climbers. Views over the mountains and Lake Orta from the summit. The climb is through woodland so offers a lot of shade on a sunny day.

The col de Chamrousse (1795 m.) can be climbed by road bike from 3 sides. By far the hardest is the tiny but ueber steep route from Sechilienne.

We set off to tour around and enjoy the beautiful mountains but finally we just did a return to the Belle Etoile and it was not bad at all.We started at 7am.

The climb from Lancey is in the shade in the morning, at least as far as le Mas Julien. Afterwards it is pretty exposed but the road to the power station at the head of the valley has been resurfaced.

From the Bois de Batie car park follow the cycle trail to towards Chambery for 500m under the bridge.

Some late season snow meant that it was possible to tour from Chamrousse. I'd been skiing in resort a week before and it was surprising how much the snow had melted.

As part of a tour to the Petit Van I decided to take in the Via Ferrata couloir rather than ski the Lac Roberts ski slope.