French Mountains passable (Mont Blanc)

I am planning a trip down to Bosnia and will cross at Portsmouth/Cean then make my way down past Geneva over Mont Blanc then down into Italy.

When would the mountain region down that way be passable in summer gear. I do NOT want to be doing this when its freezing!

Originally I wasn't going to go till Sept this year but now looking to potentially bring it forward but seeing as they have real winters down that way I thought I would check when it would be passable on a bike without worrying about freezing to death.

It will always be cooler at altitude BUT it is the mountains I have done passes in mid to late July where it was 32 degrees in the valleys and 20 miles away it was minus 2 over 1500 metres with 2 inches of snow , use local webcams and have alternative routes as your friend.

Neil W said:

It will always be cooler at altitude BUT it is the mountains I have done passes in mid to late July where it was 32 degrees in the valleys and 20 miles away it was minus 2 over 1500 metres with 2 inches of snow , use local webcams and have alternative routes as your friend.

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This is what living in the south of England does to me.....I understood it would be cooler but bloody hell.

Ok thank you

Mont Blanc has a tunnel.

It was 3 degrees in Jan at the tunnel entrance.

Bigcats said:

This is what living in the south of England does to me.....I understood it would be cooler but bloody hell.

Ok thank you

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As Neil says; i have woke up to snow in Cortina in August; that does'nt mean to say you'll get the same; it wont be bad enough to kill yer if you forget yer cardigan;

We love a “What’ll the weather be like, eight months hence? “ thread.


Q. Will it be warm enough for summer clothing in the mountains in September 2023?

A. Maybe yes, maybe no.

Q. What is ‘summer gear’?

A. Who knows?

It’s not Mont Blanc, but this was taken on 13 September 2012





And this, on a different mountain on the 14 September 2012





Whilst this was a different mountain again, on 28 September 2016




A big difference in temperatures between the tops and the bottoms.

Snow and wind and freezing at the top one year (September 2012) and scorchio at the top, later in September 2016.

We can assume (probably) that you’ll be taking at least some throw-over waterproofs on your jaunt across France and Italy in September in your summer clothing and, presumably, you’ll have some room for at least a T-Shirt and a fleece? If it’s cold, put them all on. If it’s not, then don’t.

If you want to travel without bringing winter gear, or too many layers, you can take a (fairly) longer route and go through the coast.
Essentially route Napoleon all the way to Nice/Monaco via Parc d'Ecrins and Barcellonette and then come in through Ventimiglia.
It is a very nice route too.

I've traveled back to the UK on my GS through that route this October, specifically because I didn't have too many layers with me (I left in August) and didn't want to end up in snow/unpredictable weather.

The route is generally lower altitude and safe. I've done it in March too. Some snow here and there, but clean roads.

Mesh type summer gear gets, shall we say, ‘fresh’ much below about 15 C, if used for a long period. When it falls beneath 10 C, you are no longer riding in summer temperatures. You probably wouldn’t put your summer mesh gear on in November, when the temperature at home is 10 C at 11:00 AM. So why might you when it’s possibly 10 C or less in the mountains in September or indeed, any month?

This is where just a simple couple of decent layers and maybe a thin EDZ type, very thin, ‘shell’ come into their own. Still cold? Then chuck your thin waterproof jacket and over trousers on, too. Better still, a thin modern, electric jacket liner, which will stop the wind AND keep you very warm. It won’t though keep you dry.

Wapping said:

Mesh type summer gear gets, shall we say, ‘fresh’ much below about 15 C, if used for a long period. When it falls beneath 10 C, you are no longer riding in summer temperatures. You probably wouldn’t put your summer mesh gear on in November, when the temperature at home is 10 C at 11:00 AM. So why might you when it’s possibly 10 C or less in the mountains in September or indeed, any month?

This is where just a simple couple of decent layers and maybe a thin EDZ type, very thin, ‘shell’ come into their own. Still cold? Then chuck your thin waterproof jacket and over trousers on, too. Better still, a thin modern, electric jacket liner, which will stop the wind AND keep you very warm. It won’t though keep you dry.

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Agree with this.
Last September we went on our travels around Europe. I wore my Rukka air vent jacket thing when needed I put my thin Richa waterproof over jacket on. Immediately 5 degrees warmer.

It appears it has all been said. It could be 30c when leaving the UK, 20c in France (or 40) and anything from -5 to plus 35 on the tops of some passes. As usual, you'll have to take a variety of kit to be able to regualte against very cold or very hot temps. Perhaps a mesh jacket but also a good fleece or lightweight down underjacket plus a good waterproof (and windproof) overjacket. cover all bases.
I presume when you say 'over Mont Blanc' you mean the tunnel between nr to Chamonix and Courmayeur? The heights at either side of the tunnel are 4200ft French side and 4500ft Italian side.

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Edit: About 1,280 metres.

10+ years of the Alps has taught me that looking at climate charts has nothing to do with the weather YOU will get on YOUR day.

It does show when you are most or least likely to have the weather you want, go and grab a dice from that monopoly set evryone has somewhere and roll the following to see how it pans out, one roll for each of your days.

Late May - Roll a 6
June - Roll a 4,5 or 6
July - Roll a 3,4,5 or 6
August Roll a 4,5,6
September - Roll a 5 or 6

For all other months you need to roll a 7.

I have been to that area in June, July and August, generally I have had good weather each time, I think most my Alps trips have involved the odd cooler day, the odd wet day and most have a few cool mornings, and f going for a long days riding the first pass of the day can be pretty chilly. But even when it is 30c in the valleys you might find the tops of high passes below double figures, and they can feel pretty chilly if it is overcast and windy.

Depends what you mean by "Summer Gear" if you are thinking of a trip of several thousand miles in a mesh jacket, jeans and trainers you are likely gonna be dissapointed - the odds of not being are similar to Euro-millions.

If you mean a summer textile suit with a set of waterproofs and a nice warm fleece you can put under it when its a bit chilly then Mid June to Mid September is likely to be OK and I personally would go for July, probably 1st half as slightly less busy.

I always wear a textil suit and take the inner liners, typically they are in for the first early morning run to the tunnel, and possibly across a bit of France, although last time it was high 20's before we even got on shuttle and 42c before the day was out, so they pretty quicky got thrust into bottom of pannier and stayed there for most of the trip, other trips they have remained in for most of the trip.

I find the outlast stuff very good so my suit is plenty warm enough with just a baselayer down to @10c, and not too hot until beyond 20c, this varies a lot with humidity 25c at the top of a pass can feel very cool, compared to the UK where a muggy 17c can feel pretty uncomfortable in the same gear.

The up / down nature of passes means the temp changes so often that a compromise outfit is fine, otherwise your putting your fleece on half way up each pass, then taking it off again half way down etc. This is where quality textiles are perfect, especially if they have good venting - mine is not great, but I just half open the front zip and loosen the zips on the ends of the arms to let air flow up them.

I too was wondering what ‘Summer gear’ actually meant.

I didn't consider mesh.

I normally travel with a mesh jacket in my luggage, but that one comes out over 30 degrees usually

an alternative route that should be passable in most weathers is to go via Germany and Austria. The A10 motorway south of Salzburg is clear most of the year and has tunnels under the highest bits. Enter Slovenia near Villach and onto Bosnia. Toll free in Germany and 5 euros or so gets you a 7 day vignette for Austrian motorways.

It would certainly be easier than going ‘over’ Mont Blanc, in any weather.

wessie said:

an alternative route that should be passable in most weathers is to go via Germany and Austria. The A10 motorway south of Salzburg is clear most of the year and has tunnels under the highest bits. Enter Slovenia near Villach and onto Bosnia. Toll free in Germany and 5 euros or so gets you a 7 day vignette for Austrian motorways.

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But would it not be more interesting and cheaper to fly?

I don't understand why people don't know what summer gear is.....When its summer and hot its what you wear rather than winter gear.

I am well aware of layering clothing but I am trying to gather as much info as possible to whether I would need to carry a winter jacket or can get away with a summer jacket (I would always carry the layers as they take up very little room but a jacket is comepletely different). I would rather not carry unwanted gear that I don't actually need, especially as my warm under layer and waterproof over layer are both extremely good.

I do not wish to go via Germany, I am going via France, Italy and catching the ferry into Split for a reason.

base layer then heated liner then mesh over that and a waterproof over that if its raining same for bottoms, should just about cover it, remove heated liner if hot.

Bigcats said:

I do not wish to go via Germany, I am going via France, Italy and catching the ferry into Split for a reason.

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Do this route: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/L...a84f11881620a!2m2!1d8.946256!2d44.4056499!3e0

Longer, but as stated earlier, generally lower altitude and easier with the climate.

I generally travel with a Dainese Carvemaster and use layers if needed. I keep a mesh in the roll bag for very hot temperatures.
Went multiple times to about zero degrees and it's just about due to personal resistance to colder weather. If you are crossing the alps during summer you go up and down in a matter of few hours. Check the weather in the morning and prepare for what to expect (generally nothing terrible).

Gets a bit sketchier in later months. I travel by bike between Italy and the UK quite often and took that route (and slight variations of that) to avoid colder weather when traveling in October/March.

You stated that you wanted to Cross from Geneva/Mont Blanc. The route is longer, but not that much longer (considering a multi day trip from the UK).