Le Col de la Colombière

The Col de la Colombière, a mountain pass in the Savoie that connects the town of Cluses and the ski resort of Le Grand Bornand and then on to Thônes, has frequently served as a mountain stage of the Tour de France, most recently in 2009. From the pass, looking southwest, you can see la Tournette, the mountain that rises opposite the gite where we were staying.

At the pass itself, you find views of the rugged formations of the Aravis range.


As the snow fields melt, they feed streams that tumble from the mountain in long waterfalls.

As Susie and I walked around the pass, a bouquetin (a kind of wild mountain goat) looked down at at us from a ridge just above the pass.

And over the lower ridges, fantastic peaks of the Aravis beckon you to explore further.