This climb starts in Martigny (499m) and could be climbed either by taking the main road or taking the road via La Fontaine and Le Fays and later you could also take the old road up. The shortest possible climb on asphalt up via La Fontaine is 10.29 km for a 1028m climb, meaning an average gradient of exactly 10%, which is fairly steep. The main road is quite evenly steep and is fun if you want to set a record time on this classic climb (I got up just over 1 hours at the end of a long day). You could also start the climb in Le Brocard (556m) if coming down from Col du Grand St-Bernard (2469m) or other pass up here.

If you come from the west and the climb over Col des Montets (1461m) the climb starts just after crossing the border into Switzerland (1089m) and is a fairly easy climb from here, but if it includes the Montets climb it is no easier than the Martigny side and it likely does.