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THE COL DE L’ISERAN

FRANCE

IMAGE NUMBER 1093

The Col de l'Iseran (el. 2,764 metres (9,068 ft)) is a mountain pass in France, the highest paved pass in the Alps. It is situated in the department of Savoie, near the border with Italy. The pass is part of the Route des Grandes Alpes. It connects the valley of the Isère (Tarentaise) and the valley of the Arc River (Maurienne) between Val-d'Isère in the north and Bonneval-sur-Arc in the south. The north side of the pass road is well built with a number of galleries and tunnels, with a maximum grade of 12 percent. The pass has been used five times on the Tour de France since 1947. After the crossing proved consistently difficult, the tour ignored the Col de L'Iseran in recent years but made another attempt with much fanfare in 2019. Again, the crossing was abandoned through bad weather and the high point of the tour was omitted.

TECHNICAL NOTES

The image was taken with a tripod-mounted Phase One 645XF Camera at ISO 50. Exposure of 1/250th of a second and an aperture of F8. Schneider Kreuznach 80 mm lens with leaf shutter. The image was captured on a Phase One IQ3 100 megapixel digital back.