Mountain Pass: A short film about Col D’Izoard as you’ve (probably) never seen it before

Since 2015, when I took on our first workshop in Montgenevre high in the French Alps, I’ve thought of that area as home, even though, for the most part, the team and HQ are now in Surrey.

Over the past few years, lockdown meant that Surrey was the limit of our travels, so the opportunity to finally get back out there at long last became all the more compelling, even if it was at the ‘wrong time of year’.

If you’ve not ridden Col D’Izoard before you might recognise the Refuge Napoleon just a couple of hundred metres from the Summit Finish, as it’s position means it’s heavily featured in shots of the area in both the Tour De France and Giro D’Italia. Pic by Helen Boast.

Grant from Face Freeze Eco Wax helped Tech our skis in scenes we filmed outside in Ben’s outbuildings in Les Albert. Never Say Die’s unique English Bourbon kept us and the crew warm as temperatures dipped to -23 degrees the night before the ride. Pic by Helen Boast Photography.

Which got us thinking: Could we ride Col D’Izoard in the depths of winter?

It’s nearly two-and-a-half times the height of Mount Snowdon, and temperatures in January can dip down to -30. It’s impassable via road and closed from the first heavy snowfalls until sometime in May, when the local authorities judge it safe enough to clear.

The morning of the ride was the last day possible and the heavy snow and cloud cleared just enough to make the ride possible. Whether it was safe or not on the smaller village roads and the closed climbs was up for debate, but on the morning of the road the main roads were clear and weather was sunny. Pic Helen Boast Photography.

Not many of the people we know who love to ride those climbs in summer have ever even seen it in winter. Cyclists go skiing instead, and most of the Cols we know and love are out of bounds of the manicured resorts, away from the lift infrastructure, high in the back country.

Following that train of thought, Ben (Hodson) and I quickly became obsessed with the idea of getting up there and sharing it all with you, on bikes AND skis.

We hatched a plan. The idea was to pack all our ski touring gear, load up our bikes, ride as far as the road would take us, then finish the rest of the ascent on our skis.

Louwey at Douk Snow made us some custom skis in record time for the film. The intention was to make a fully bespoke set, but we went with Louwey’s own All Mountain template in order to get them into the film. We’ve got some developments in the pipeline for the next set. Pic Helen Boast.

Ben and I love the place, and heading up there on our own isn’t too much trouble with a bit of planning, but in January, getting a film crew up there too could swing between impossible and dangerous, depending on how well we could manage it. We knew we’d need some specialist help—and some backing.

I got in touch with a few friends who run similarly adventurous brands, and who I thought might be up for supporting a slightly out-there idea.

The road from the start to the top of Izoard is 45km from where we were staying. The clear skies on the day made getting shots like this easier than they might have been. Pic shows us riding the main road into Champ De Mars in Briancon. Pic by Helen Boast.

Never Say Die Bourbon have this kind of adventure in their blood, having just succeeded in producing the first-ever British Kentucky Rye Bourbon. POC Sports started as a Swedish snow sports brand, and also make some of our favourite cycling kit, so they were also an obvious choice for the protective gear we’d need. Louwey at Douk Snow makes beautiful handmade skis, so was also on my list, and &SONS had recently got in touch about just this kind of collaboration.

To my surprise, they all liked the idea as much as we did and said they could help.

This might be the world’s first Shimano GRX and Super Record EPS equipped gravel bike with a ski carrier installed? Pic by Helen Boast.

I set to work designing artwork for a pair of skis that would be light enough to be strapped to the bike and work well for the tour up and would also be fun in the powder on the way down, and Ben Hodson set to work planning a route.

Andrew Richardson was just back from shooting a load of new work for Specialized and Canyon, and having worked with him before, I put in a call to check dates and find out if he could ski.

Ben Hodson looks after much of our web and technical services from his home in Briancon. Ben’s more best mate than colleague. Ben strapped his split board to his back, and stowed his gear on the TailFin rack. Pic by Helen Boast.

Helen Boast was easily convinced to fit in some ski photography ahead of a trip to photograph Sting in Dubai, and Carlos Ortola, an old mate from my Snow Cab days, was out in Laax working on a ski instruction YouTube Channel. As luck would have it, my calls landed just as he was planning a trip to Monty on the same week that we wanted to do the shoot, so those two key roles fell into place, too. You really do need a bit of good fortune on a project like this.

Despite heavy snow fall on previous nights, the night before was clear and this meant even minor roads were clear and freeze dried by the morning of the ride. One day earlier and this road would have been ice and snow. Pic Helen Boast.

Securing Carlos was critical to the whole project. He’s a skilled drone cam pilot and probably the best follow ski cameraman working in the Alps. He’s also got significant backcountry experience. If we could manhandle Helen and Andrew up the mountain for the road ride sections with their heavy kit, we’d need Carlos, the mountain goat, to cover our last leg to the summit.

We had our team, and the trip was on.

We detoured around Briancon to avoid the ice in the shadows of the narrow streets. This added a few extra miles, but meant we took in the murals along the river where the locals gather to play Petanque in the summer months. Pic by Helen Boast.

The mild weather in the planning stages made the project look more straightforward, and our biggest concern at that point was whether or not we’d have enough snow to make the ascent on skis at all. We were planning the project in the midst of all the bad news about snow conditions, so we were caught off guard—and relieved—when the temperatures plummeted in the run up to the shoot.

The route we had planned initially would have taken us into the backcountry, round the back and over the top, where we could guarantee good snow cover, but away from the familiar roads cyclists might recognise. This ‘Route A’ meant we’d hike up and effectively drop in on the road climb summit from the slopes above which mark the start of the Casse Deserte.

We didn’t set any records up the climb but the views were worth stopping for, as long as it was a sunny spot. It was -17 in the sunshine, so we had to stay in the sun or keep moving to stave off the cold. Pic by Helen Boast.

Heavy snowfall in the two days before the shoot—some 80cm—had blanketed the valley and made the already beautiful landscape lower down look perfect for the shoot, but it also meant we were forced to push the attempt on the summit back whilst the snow dried off from the tarmac sections so we could actually ride them.

From left, Andrew, Carlos, me and Ben. Helen was out of shot in the van with her stills camera. Inspite of the vans presence, we did carry all of our gear on the cycle leg. Pic Helen Boast.

Snow just kept falling.

The night before, we all met to make the final plans, and wax skis. We raised a toast to better weather the next day, and with the last critical day ahead, got our heads down for an early night. A night cap of Never Say Die Bourbon made this moment extra special. Thanks also to Grant from Face Freeze Eco Wax who helped tech our skis.

Col D’Izoard CLOSED. The base of the climb from Briancon side rises out of the town and past the river, then up into the tree line, over a pretty testing 19.5km, with some half of that being some of the most beautiful switchbacks anywhere in the Alps. Pic Helen Boast.

The next day, we woke to find that minimal snowfall overnight and very low temperatures had dried out the roads almost completely, making the 45km to the Col safe enough. The snowpack higher up was still extremely unstable however, so we opted for the more familiar ‘road’ route for the ski tour on safety grounds. The unstable slopes in the original plan carried too much avalanche risk.

It’s difficult to put into words what cycling with friends means to me, but this shot tells some of the story. Pic Helen Boast.

Despite the revisions to the route, it wasn’t without challenge. The temperature was -22 in the morning and never got above -17 all day, so we were very grateful of the extra gear POC Sports had stumped up for. Its working range is not designed for temperatures this cold, however, so we’d need to be vigilant with all the stop-start riding needed to make a film of the journey.

The result is Mountain Pass: A short film about mates hanging out back home on the mountains.

Thanks to Andrew, Helen, Carlos, Ben, Dee, Louwey, Martha, Jess, Ash, and everyone else who stepped up and helped make this wonderful project happen.

We’re so grateful to be able to share this special place with you from this unusual perspective and we hope it inspires you to tackle an adventure of your own in one of your favourite places, wherever that might be.

In this section we left the usual road route which would be out of shot to the left and opted for the steeper more direct route to the Refuge, where a quick cake and coffee stop would help ready us for the hike to the top and the ski down. Pic Helen Boast.

Hiking the final stretch to the cornice above the Summit Finish in perfect champagne powder was one of the all-out highlights of the whole trip. Pic Helen Boast.

Our original plan was to drop into the bowl and summit from behind the peak that looms high above the highest part of the road, but the powder in the days before rendered the steeper slopes pretty lethal. We hiked to the Summit Finish instead, but still got fresh tracks on the descent. Pic Helen Boast.

Bindings are Fritschi Vipec Evo12’s and were drilled and fitted by Fabritz at Ski Service in Montgenevre. The skins used in the film are custom cut by Fabritz, also.

Casual clothing is by &SONS, and technical wear is from POC Sports. Skis were custom made by Douk Snow.

Never Say Die Bourbon provided their incredible whisky for the crew.

Ben Hodson spends most of the winter in places like this and much wilder, getting away from the crowds, but his stoke levels never drop below that of a Labrador told it’s going for a walk. Pic Helen Boast.

Sausages tied to my boots meant Rocky was only too happy to desert his owner Ben for this shot. Carlos (on the right) doesn’t usually snowplough, and he’s only ever behind if he’s trying to get a shot. Pic by Helen Boast.