Col des Gondrans
	Height	Climbing height
	2347m	1135m (Briançon)
	Difficulty	Beauty
	3-4 (5)	4 (5)
How to get there	The climb starts on the same road out of Briançon (1212m) as the climb up to Col de l’Izoard (2360m). After a series of bends you get out of Briançon and come to a place where a surfaced road takes off to the left. That is NOT the road to take. It is a bit higher up along the road going off left – a road that goes almost straight ahead rather than left really, but on the left side of the Izoard road. It is a small, rather rough, military road that does not seem likely that it would take you up the mountainside (it is closed to cars). It soon starts to wind its way in a seemingly endless series of hairpins. The surface is very poor (I think it was gone in one little tunnel). There is no problem to get up on a road bike, but you do not really look forward to descend the same road again. The road is a bit better higher up. It is a little hard to guess where you are heading, but take a guess on one of the higher points of the mountain that you could glimpse from below and you will not be totally wrong. The pass is at the point where the tarmac ends (which is at a crossing on the plateau far above). It is possible to descend this pass on the other side on the unpaved road ahead. There are also other unpaved roads going up here, but they are only paths for some stretches (at least the one you see ahead in the photo here).
Other comments	There are absolutely NO water on the way up at all and it is a very dry, hot and long road up here! If you want to explore the rough-stuff roads around here, you should get hold of a good map (like IGN 1:25 000) of the area. The main road ahead at the pass height should go down near the Col de Montgenèvre/Colle del Monginevro (1850m) on the French side of the pass, but I am not sure whether it would be easy with a road bike or not (as I have heard different stories). There are very good views around the top over the Briançon area and the forts, and also of the Janus fort still higher up (which one could visit). [FR-05-2347]