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The Sarenne pass

Altitude

The Sarenne pass (FR-38-1999), so more or less than 2000 m?

After a long debate, it seems that the Col de Sarenne has failed the test for the 2000m+ category. It's missing a metre (and raising your bike by a metre as shown in the photo doesn't help!).

Based on the IGN 1:50,000 map, 1974 edition, the discussion was open:

But the one for 2021 concludes the discussion:

For a brief history and more details, see the article : Col de Sarenne: 1999 m or 2009 m written in March 2020 on the CTG website with the collaboration of several CCC members.

Toponymy

Sarenne is the name

the glacier above l'Alpe d'Huez, well known to skiers. it used to be used for summer skiing, but its rapid melting in the twentieth century led to its disappearance.^e century threatens its very existence
of the torrent that rises there ... and
the pass above the Sarenne valley (where a tributary, the Nou, has its source)

Geographical location

Massif

The Col de Sarenne is located in the Massif des Grandes Rousses

Geology

The Col de Sarenne lies at the end of a long valley that cuts across the southern end of the mighty Grandes Rousses range. Here, the Sarenne has carved out a deep canyon beneath the Alpe d'Huez resort, cutting between the Triassic sedimentary deposits to the south and the strongly banded gneisses (alternating light and dark layers) to the north.

Overlooking the pass to the north, Château Noir is the result of the extrusion of volcanic rock into the old Hercynian Cassini fault.

A particular geological feature between Alpe d'Huez and the Col de Sarenne is the presence of previously exploited coal seams (Herpie mines, to the north and halfway between the col and the resort).

The white Sarenne glacier has also dug its open-air gallery into a dark coal seam.

Readers interested in this subject should refer to the comprehensive article by geol-alp.com

Hydrography

The Romanche has two tributaries on either side: the Ferrand, which flows into the Romanche downstream of the Chambon dam, and the Nou stream, which meets the Sarenne below the pass (altitude 1826 m).

The Sarenne rises in the Sarenne glacier to the north of the pass, well known to Alpe d'Huez skiers, and flows into the Romanche at La Paute, downstream of Bourg-d'Oisans.

Access

It links theAlpe d'Huez and the Ferrand valley (Clavans en Haut-Oisans).

West side

The N85 runs from Grenoble (90km, alt. 214m) to Vizille (72km, alt. 278m), then the D1091 to Bourg d'Oisans (40km, alt. 719m).

Departing from Bourg d'Oisans the D211The RD25A (also known as the Route du Col de Sarenne), which takes 13.8km at an average speed of 7.91mph and 21 bends, leads to Alpe d'Huez (1,800m), from where it takes 8.3km to reach the pass via the Sarenne gorges.

The road and the Sarenne gorges

South-east side

It can be reached in 13 km from the RD1091at the Chambon dam (altitude 1050m), via the RD25 (then 25A) which passes through Mizoën, Clavans le Bas and Clavans en Haut-Oisans).

From Briançon (27 km away, alt. 1215 m) the D1091 leads to the Col du Lautaret, passing through the resort of Serre-Chevalier and its various villages: Chantemerle (commune of St Chaffrey - 22.5 km away, alt. 1350m), Villeneuve (commune of La Salle-les-Alpes, 19 km away, alt. 1385), Monetier les Bains (13 km away, alt.1500 m).

The road towards Clavans

Modification of access

(Copy of article from 2020 : Col de Sarenne: 1999 m or 2009 m)

To find out more about the history of the construction of the Col de Sarenne road, we asked the following questions Alpe d'Huez Town Hall.

Frédérik TANE sent us the following reply: "The road between Alpe d'Huez and the Col de Sarenne was built at the same time as the famous tunnel (the black run opened in 1964 below the Pic Blanc). In fact, it was the same company that built this section of road and the tunnel: the Isère-based company Vigne. At the time, the road passed through the Brandes archaeological site.

In 1967, the start no longer passed through Brandes but slightly upstream thanks to the construction of the altiport road. That same year, the road was extended between the Col de Sarenne and Le Perron in the Ferrand valley (a large rock protects a house from avalanches). The work carried out in 1967 was carried out by Pegaz & Pugeat, who also built the bobsleigh run at Alpe d'Huez (1967 World Championships and 1968 Olympic Games).

The section of road between Le Perron and Le Chambon already existed.
Thank you for mentioning the name of Robert Hustache, a living memory of Alpe d'Huez, in your article. He has provided me with invaluable information to help me answer your question.. "

When was the road to the Col de Sarenne surfaced?
This information was difficult to obtain. We knew that in 1980 and 1982, for the second and third BRO (see below), the route included 10 km of dirt road, and having been there again (photos above) that the road was surfaced on both sides in 2008.

The centcollists have provided us with the following information:

In 1985, on the eastern side, and after Clavans, the road was not completely surfaced.

It was in the 1989 addendum (page 61) that the Col de Sarenne was changed to a road pass (CV) without specifying the slope. It was therefore probably tarmacked in 1988. The pass is listed as a road pass in the 1994 edition of the Chauvot (book format).

What to see - tourism

Alpe d'Huez side

As well as the ski resort and the 21 laces, theAlpe d'Huez has a modern and original church, whose appearance is reminiscent of a silhouette of the Virgin Mary. At the instigation of Father Jaap Reuten, parish priest from 1964 to 1992, it was designed by architect Jean Marol in the 1960s (completed in 1970) and decorated with colourful stained glass windows by the artist Arcabas.

This church is home to the only organ of its kind in the world, in the shape of a hand reaching for the sky, designed by the composer Jean Guillou and the German organ builder Detlef Kleuker. Every year, concerts are organised around this instrument on Thursday evenings, winter and summer, as well as organ, panpipes and choral singing courses in the summer.

Ferrand valley side

The old houses, built mainly of stone, blend into the sloping terrain. They include areas dedicated to housing livestock in winter and hay storage, with the part dedicated to human habitation reduced to the bare essentials.

Saint-Jacques-et-Saint-Christophe parish church in Mizoën
built in 1889, dominates the village.
It can be seen from the Chambon dam

The Chambon dam

Construction work began in September 1929 and was completed in December 1935.

Since 2003, it has been awarded the "Isère's 20th-century heritage site.

After 80 years of existence, the dam has fallen victim to the alkali-reaction phenomenon (concrete disease), and every fifteen years it has to undergo special treatment. For this reason, replacement of the dam is planned within the next twenty years.

You could have seen the Col de Sarenne refuge on the pass:

The refuge was built in 2003 and was located on the left as you reached the Col from Alpe d'Huez.

It was destroyed by fire on 27 December 2016 (see the article by Jules A). Extract "From this large and beautiful building of 1000 m² built in 2000, revolutionary in its design using Jura fir trees with trunks over a metre in diameter, but also in its self-sufficiency in non-fossil fuel energy (wind turbines and solar panels), all that remains is burnt debris".

Administrative status

The Col de Sarenne is located in the commune of Clavans-en-Haut-Oisans.

On the west side, following the torrent Le Nou, you quickly pass through the municipality of Le Nou. Freney d'Oisans... then shortly after the confluence of the Nou and Sarenne rivers in the commune of Alpe d'Huez.

Cycling and cycle tourism

Tour de France and Critérium du Dauphiné :

In 2013, the Critérium du Dauphiné and then the Tour de France used the Col de Sarenne after the ascent of Alpe d'Huez.

The passage of the Tour de France over the Col de Sarenne has provoked a strong reaction from local environmentalists, who have criticised the fact that the route passes close to an area subject to a prefectoral biotope protection order and the potential threat to the natural habitat posed by the passage of an event as big as the Tour de France.

Despite protests and opposition, the route was maintained as it was, albeit with special arrangements: the Tour's caravan had to stop at the first crossing at Alpe d'Huez and special arrangements were made in the pass area to limit the ecological impact as much as possible (ban on camper vans, reduction in noise and speed, warning signs about the natural character of the site, etc.)..

BRO (Brevet de Randonneur de l'Oisans)

For its second edition, the BRO passed (for the 1^eratimes) at the Col de Sarenne in June 1980, the pass road was dirt from the Sarenne torrent to the Perron above Clavans le haut....and that year, the Col de Sarenne was marked 2009 m on the IGN!

Here, The Col de Sarenne - Road to Clavans - during the first BRO in 1980

BRA (Brevet de Randonneur des Alpes)

For the BRA (every 2 years, odd-numbered years), the "Super BRA and Super BRA+" options include the Col de Sarenne in the route.

For the 2023 edition, (starting from Bourg d'Oisans), the pass was climbed by Clavans, making for courses of 197km and 5,200m of ascent and 209km and 5,252m respectively.