What is a "col"?

A "col" is the French word to designate a mountain pass joining two valleys; some authors say there are 8500 cols in France. Others 2110 if you count only car roads. Anyhow there are plenty and enough for a life time!

You find cols almost everywhere in France. Some are very short, some are extremely long! The two main mountain areas in France being the Alps and the Pyrenees, it is where you find most cols, the toughest and highest ones and the most prestigious ones.

Altitude? The Alps are higher than the Pyrenees in general. If you look for cols over 2000m (ie 6,500 feet), go to the Alps!

A col has two sides: the east/the west or the south/north and the difficulty and length of the climb can vary greatly from one side to the other. So when you are told about a col, do not forget the side the person is talking about!