Route Reconnaissance: Col & Tunnel du Parpaillon
The first snow had arrived last weekend in the mountains around Puy-Saint-Vincent. Looking out of our window, we could see that the snowline was around 2,800 metres. With the Col du Parpaillon at 2,783 metres and the tunnel at around 2,640 metres, it looked like we might still be able to make it to the top. But how much snow would we find along the way?
First snow of the year, on our way to the Tunnel du Parpaillon last weekend - okt 2026
Anne and I decided to head back to the Parpaillon, a mountain pass that holds a special place in our lives and in the history of Le Pilgrimage.
We hadn't been back since the tunnel closed a few years ago, and I was curious to see what the old trail over the pass looked like. Perhaps it could become part of one of our routes again next year.
But when we arrived at the start of the northern climb, at 2,000 metres, just above Crévoux, we already found snow on the road. Clearly, it had been much colder here than at home over the past few days. It was cold and windy, so we put on some extra layers and started climbing.
As we made our way up the frozen tracks, my thoughts went back to the first time we came here, in 2020.
Peter, an old friend of ours, had told us about this climb and the tunnel near the top, the Tunnel du Parpaillon, at 2,640 metres. Built by the military to create a faster connection between the Ubaye Valley and the area around Embrun. The road leading up to it is one of the many old military roads in our region. We got excited and planned a multi-day bike trip from Puy-Saint-Vincent, which was still our holiday destination at the time, but also a place we were thinking about moving to.
Shots of our first Tunnel du Parpaillon climbs in 2020.
From Barcelonnette, we climbed through forests, first with leafy trees, later with pine trees, before reaching the open alpine landscape above the treeline, riding through the land of marmots towards the tunnel.
The desire for adventure, to explore new landscapes and the curiosity about what lay on the other side, or in this case, on the other side of the tunnel, had already taken me to beautiful places all over the world. But it was during this climb that we started to realise we could actually make this region our home. It was here, on the Parpaillon, that we decided to leave Amsterdam behind and move to Puy-Saint-Vincent, where we could combine our love for the mountains, cycling, hiking and food.
One of the shepherds’ huts along the northern side of the climb, October 2026.We leave the shaded part of the climb behind us. The sun comes out and it starts to get warmer. Snow falls from the yellow needles of the larch trees. There are still about five centimetres of snow on the track, but we can ride uphill without slipping. We leave the treeline behind and the wide, snowy landscape opens up around us.
We decide to stop for lunch, cross a small stream and prepare our sandwiches with Tomme cheese next to a mountain cabin. As we sit there, I think back to how that same Parpaillon had also convinced me to go ahead with Le Pilgrimage. The idea of bringing people together around the dinner table and riding special routes through the mountains. With my wife Anne, who is a chef, and my cycling friend Cyril by my side, and the Tunnel du Parpaillon as one of the highlights of the route, I felt confident enough to organise the first edition of Le Pilgrimage.
A few years later, that first edition took place, with around twenty pilgrims climbing the Parpaillon from Barcelonnette, on the southern side. This time, the weather was much worse. It was cold and misty, and it looked like it could start raining at any moment.
The evening before, I had driven my Volkswagen van, which we used as a checkpoint, to the northern side of the tunnel. The weather was so bad and the wind so strong that I parked inside the tunnel itself. It was the only place where I could find some shelter and get a decent night's sleep.
The next morning, I made a small wood fire just inside the entrance of the tunnel, hoping to provide some light and warmth for the wet and cold pilgrims riding up from the other side.
Gathering in the tunnel around the fire back in 2023. One by one, they arrived, soaking wet, and collected the final stamp on their brevet cards in my van. The tunnel gave us shelter, the fire gave us warmth, the cheese we had brought gave us something to eat, and the shared adventure brought us together. Outside, the rain was pouring down, but inside the tunnel, we shared a special moment. It felt like it could last forever. Nobody wanted to leave, until we heard the thunder getting closer and decided to ride down together. Back into the cold, heading towards Puy-Saint-Vincent, where we would meet again in the warmth of Chalet AlpeLune, around the dinner table, to finish the first edition of Le Pilgrimage.
Scenes in and around the Tunnel du Parpaillon during the first edition of Le Pilgrimage Gravel.
After lunch, we get back on our bikes. There are still 400 metres of climbing left before we reach the tunnel. Together with Anne, I continue riding uphill and realise how much has happened since our first visit to the Parpaillon. From our move to the Alps to the first edition of Le Pilgrimage, and all the beautiful places we've seen and people we've met in the Hautes-Alpes and Piemonte over the years.
Just before the tunnel, the snow gets deeper and we have to get off our bikes and push them for the final part of the climb. As mentioned earlier, the tunnel itself has been closed for several years because of the risk of collaps. But above the tunnel, an old trail still leads towards the mountain pass. Long before the military built the tunnel, travellers used this old mule track to cross from one valley to the other.
In 2027, Le Pilgrimage will celebrate five years, with the fifth edition of Le Pilgrimage Gravel and the first edition of Le Pilgrimage Bikepacking coming up. Two special editions that make us want to return to where Le Pilgrimage once began.
But the old trail is now covered in about a metre of snow, so we decide to turn around. What Mother Nature leaves behind after the winter, including the condition of the gravel road, the riverbeds and the final climb towards the pass, will decide whether the Parpaillon returns to one of our events next year. The trail down the other side might be more difficult to use, though.
Anne carefully descending down in the cold. Fingers frozen... We'll come back in late spring to explore the route again. Only then will we know if the Parpaillon can be part of one of our events. But whether we choose this mountain pass or another, a pilgrimage will always invite you to go a little further and discover what lies beyond the next pass. Sometimes that means getting off your bike and pushing it for a while. Because that's often the only way to reach some of the most beautiful and quiet places in the mountains. Places that can give you new ideas and lead to unexpected experiences.
We take a few more photos, eat the last of our baguette, put on our warm clothes and turn around for a long, cold ride back down through the snow. On our way back, we came across a little cheese hut on the southern side of the pass. Closed now, but it might be open next summer. Another good reason to return to the Parpaillon!
Photography: Yorit Kluitman, Cyril Chermin & Simon Rosmolen
Words: Simon Rosmolen
