DIFFICULTY: Black

DISTANCE: 91 km

CLIMB: +3200 m

TIME: 5h-7h h

WITH MUD: Feasible

MARKINGS: No

AREA: Francia

EXIT: Saint Lary Soulan

ARRIVAL: Saint Lary Soulan

VARIATIONS:

 

DESCRIPTION

 

Undoubtedly, the queen route of Zona Zero Road, if we take into account the hardness and length of the passes.

The Col de Portet is the continuation of the Pla d’Adet, the famous ascent to the ski resort of Saint Lary, and will soon be one of the most famous passes, as the Tour de France will be making its debut in 2018 and its scenery and toughness will impress everyone. If the first part is already very tough, the second part is not far behind, as in addition to the steepness and altitude, there is hardly any tarmac, the road surface being a dirt track.
It is therefore advisable to be very careful on the descent, and only do it on a road bike if you have experience in these matters. Otherwise, it is better to climb only as far as Pla d’Adet.

The second pass (actually there are two) has yet to be used in competition, but it is perhaps the most beautiful climb of all those proposed in these routes. We enter the Neouvielle Nature Reserve along a narrow road that passes through different landscapes as it climbs, from damp beech forests to scattered black pines, rocky cliffs and mountain lakes.

The first lake we come across is Oredon, where the ascent forks: to the left we go to Cap de Long, a large dammed lake between majestic three-thousand-metre-high mountains, and to the right to Aumar and Aubert, located in an idyllic watercourse (this section has a barrier and is sometimes closed to traffic, as it is inside the Reserve). On the route we have proposed to do both climbs, as both are worth every drop of sweat, but we leave it up to you to choose whether to do one, both or not to go beyond the first lake.

Few fountains or bars, take water, you sweat a lot!!! 🙂 🙂

As an option when the road to the lakes is closed (from the first snowfalls until well into spring) and avoiding the dirt sections of the Portet, there is the variant, which climbs Pla d’Adet, Piau-Engaly (famous for Escartín’s victory in 1999) and the Bielsa tunnel.

 

TERRAIN

 

The road up to the lakes is narrow and twisty, so watch out for oncoming traffic.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

 

From May to October