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Col du Sabot

Le Col du Sabot (FR-38-2100b) est le seul col plus de 2000 m revêtu du département de l’Isère … et de plus il ne l’est que sur un seul versant.

*The blue cross indicates the position of the Sabot pass*

Toponymy

Sabot comes from Sabaudia, the Savoie dialect.

Geographical location

Massif

The Col du Sabot is located in the Massif des Grandes Rousses.

Geology

The Col du Sabot lies in the depression between the Aiguillettes massif on the right and the Rochers Maupas on the left. A small fault here caused a crystalline mini-block to tilt and slide, like a vertical domino lying on its neighbour to the left. The resulting depression was later filled with Triassic deposits. This Triassic dolomite bed, covering the crystalline substratum, is clearly visible a few dozen metres to the east of the pass.

Hydrography

Both slopes are tributaries of the Eau d'Olle (a tributary of the Romanche, then the Drac and the Isère), while the Vorge, a tributary of the Flumet, rises at the Col and flows south-westwards.
To the north flows the Sabot stream, which joins the Eau d'Olle downstream of the Grand'Maison dam.

Access

From the south-west, au départ du Verney (près de la Centrale Électrique de l’Eau d’Olle), du carrefour de la D526 (route de la Croix de Fer) avec la D43a (818 m) on accède au col du Sabot en 14,5 km. On traverse Vaujany ( à 10 km, alt. 1250 m) et passe par Le Collet FR-38-1400 (à 7,7 km).

The road leading up to the Sabot pass ... in the background the Lac du Verney (source Isère-tourisme)

Au nord, un sentier permet de rejoindre en 2 km le barrage de Grand’ Maison (1705 m).

Author's caption: "The northern end of the Rochers Rissiou and the Grand Maison dam seen from the north, from the lower slopes of the Rocher Pilliozan (Lac de l'Ane path).

What to see - tourism

On either side of the Col du Sabot are the Grand'Maison hydroelectric facilities :

To the northAt the bottom of the path is the Grand'Maison dam and lake.

To the south-westFrom the D43a, the Lac du Verney, the hydroelectric power station and the EDF Hydrelec museum.

See articles Col du Glandon or Col de la Croix de Fer for information on dams, electrical installations and the Hydrelec museum.

Administrative status

Currently

The pass and its two slopes are located in the commune of Vaujany (Isère).

History

According to "oisans.comUntil 1860, the Sabot pass marked the border between France and Savoie. Vaujany, on the route des cols, was then equipped with a border office ...where the Grand'Maison reservoir now stands, in the past, vast alpine pastures were shared between the French and Savoyards.

The Grand'Maison was a large building used to house shepherds. Information completed by " Isère-Tourisme " Behind the Col du Sabot was a border post, some of whose ruins still exist.

This role as a border, with customs posts, came to an end in 1850 when Savoie became part of France. The development of the road network with the democratisation of the car isolated this road in favour of the present-day road that joins the Glandon and Croix de Fer passes via the Rivier d'Allemond.

Note du rédacteur : Si le col du Sabot était la frontière entre le Dauphiné (la France) et la Savoie cela devrait signifier que le passage par le col du Sabot (Allemond, Vaujany, Col du Sabot, Col du Glandon ou de la Croix de Fer) était plus praticable que l’itinéraire par le défilé de Maupas . .(cf :. Éboulement du Pic Brunard en 1989), (Allemond, Rivier d’Allemond, Défilé de Maupas, col du Glandon), mais pas d’information à ce sujet trouvée sur internet par le rédacteur. Pas non plus d’information ni de photo sur les ruines du poste frontière cité par Isère-Tourisme.