The Trail

A stunning peak, an amazing ridgeline descent, beautiful lakes, and all-round great singletrack. What more could one ask for? Another great MTB adventure in the Queyras National Park. Due to the popularity of this area for hikers, it’s definitely best to avoid it during weekends and peak holiday periods (August).

The Ascent

A short pedal straight out the car park is followed by a good old push up a couple of hundred metres vertical of switchbacks. A short descent, is then followed by a mixture of pushing and mostly pedalling until just before a short, steep section of pushing which gets you to the magnificent Lac Sainte-Anne. just above the lake, a couple more short steep sections, followed by plenty of pedalling over rocky terrain until around 2500m. The next section onto the ridge is a bit of a maze of various trails heading in different directions, but ultimately arriving at the same place, the Col Girardin. Make sure you plan the optimal route for the descent. From the Col, more pushing up past the observatory (Poste Optique Girardin – what a place!), past the Tete de Faviere to the Tete de Girardin at the end of the ridge. The GPX for this route actually stops at the observatory, but it’s worth the short pedal along to the Tete de Girardin proper just for the epic view of Monte Viso.

The Descent

Straight off the top, the descent down the ridge is right up there with the best. Great riding, with an outrageous backdrop from Monte Viso in Italy, to the Ecrins range in France. There’s nothing technically difficult in the descent back to the Col Girardin, but there’s a good amount of exposure just before the col to the, and the trail becomes very narrow. When we did it, a very short section wasn’t rideable because of ice and wet, loose gravel giving way. The next section involves traversing fairly steep ground, with a few switchbacks. There are loads of options, and if you planned it well it works great – the terrain is way gripper than you think. Beyond that, it’s much flatter, rocky terrain down to the lake, carry plenty of speed and it’s great fun. Carry on past the lake, past Chapelle Sainte-Anne, and if you keep your eyes open around here, you’ll pick up bits of singletrack which avoid taking the 4×4 track towards Lac Miroir. Other than some awkward rocky sections, and some loose rock/gravel, there’s not a lot of technical riding between the two lakes. Important – don’t take the higher traverse towards Lac Miroir, it’s a mess of carrying, crawling, and crying. It doesn’t work on a bike. Instead, head down the ski piste for a short section (towards Les Preynasses), then there’s a short climb up to Lac Miroir. Beyond the lake, it’s flat out singletrack all the way to the bottom, with nothing technical to report. Just watch out for hikers, it’s a popular trail.

Variations

In Reverse – The route could definitely be done in reverse, starting from the carpark at the Cascade de la Pisse or Ceillac. This would make a more technical descent, and a higher percentage of pedalling on the way up (perfect for e-bikes). Additionally, you could add another short climb to the Bois de Jalavez (opposite the Cascade de la Pisse), which apparently holds some excellent singletrack, but is yet to be tested!