Col du Galibier
	Height	Climbing height
	2642m Sign 2645m	585m (Col du Lautaret); 1438m (Briançon) 1212m (Valloire); 2064m (St. Michel de-Maurienne)
	Difficulty	Beauty
	3 (5) South 4 (5) North	3-4 (5)
How to get there	You can go all the way from Grenoble up to Col du Galibier, which makes it hard and long climb with approximately 2400 height meters to climb. You can also start in Briançon (highest town in the Alps at 1204 m). The hardest side is the north side though. The climb starts properly in St. Michel de-Maurienne (712m) and passes by Col du Télégraphe (1566m) where it is downhill to Valloire (1430m). From Valloire it is fairly steep all the way up to the pass. It is however never steeper than 12%. See profile at altimetrias.com.
Other comments	This pass is only rivalled in popularity by the Passo dello Stelvio/Stilfser Joch in Italy. No high mountain pass have gained such a prominent place in the history of the Tour de France as the Galibier. It is difficult to find a cyclist interested in mountain cycling that has not been here already. The popular cyclist event La Marmotte also let ordinary cyclists compete over this (and other) mountain pass each year. It is quite beautiful (around the higher area) and quite hard as it is a long ascent from any direction. Water can be found for example at Valloire on the north side and at Col du Lautaret on the south side. There are much traffic down in the Maurienne valley and also until Col du Lautaret on the south side. [05-2642a;o266]