I have cycled much more in France than Switzerland. And my Swiss climbs are generally in the West.
Here is a comprehensive map of almost a 100 road bike cycling climbs all across Switzerland. Hopefully to help me plan some trips. 🙂
Green = Summit is below 2000 metres
Red = Summit is above 2000 metres
Push-pin symbols = I have done the climb
To see if Cols / Passes are open click here (ouvert = open, fermé = closed).
Clicking on the pin will give additional info on each climb – in some case including link to maps and elevation charts – I’ll add more charts over time.
Note, the link at bottom of map will open a full page zoomable map.
Feel free to notify me of any interesting climbs that are not on the list.
15 Comments
Here is an interesting website with some descriptions of climbs in Switzerland. Hope it will give you some ideas for the coming year…
http://www.velcanto.ch/Velo/Accueilgeneralvelo/Pagesaccueilgene/CarteGenerale.htm
Will,
Two or three missing climbs, not really called “passes” but nevertheless going over the Jura.
From Bassins, Le Vaud and/or Marchissy over the Jura to the “Combe des Amburnex”.
All three pretty steep.
Thank you for collecting these climbs, very good reference.
Frans
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Swiss Climbs
I did 2 outstanding climbs in Switzerland recently and would recommend them:
Grosse Scheidegg – starting from Meiringen the views are spectacular.
Axalp – starting from Brienz – averages above 9% and is one of the best climbs I’ve ever done, very tough. Interestingly the Axalp climb is not that well known, I have no idea why! I was the only cyclist climbing virtually the whole way up and down.
as already mentioned click on this link for more info (French)
http://www.velcanto.ch/Velo/Parcours/Bern/PagesBern/CarteAxalp.htm
We stayed in Axalp when we did the Alpenbrevet a couple of years ago – beautiful place. Didn’t actually ride it though (my wife did, while we were doing the AB, she loved it)na
I live in Montreux, CH and most of the climbs out of the valley floor are notable but one missing from your map is the ascent from Lavey-les-Bain to Morcles. It’s particular nasty. To add insult to injury, they’ve added a number for each hairpin turn counting down to the top….29 to be exact. If you continue past Morcles, you can add another 22 hairpins and almost another 800m vertical to make this a triumph of a climb.
Evan,
thanks
My favourite type of comment : a route suggestion.
Sounds great and added to my list to do,
cheers
Beside Axalp, another missing climb that could be included in the region of Berne is Gurnigel.
Great great job you’ve done!
Tschüss
Valentina,
thanks!
I have added Axalp and Gurnigelpass. I am not certain I have Axalp in the correct place – if anyone knows please comment 🙂
Hi Will,
Can agree with Evan, up to Morcles is a killer climb. Husband was training for the Raid Pyreneen last year and he didn’t warn me properly before we started! Happily there is a cafe in Morcles where I had a restorative drink while he carried on and did the last bit.
Even the ride down was scary!!!!
Great info on the site, thank you.
I can recommend the climb up to Col de Sanetsch which is fairly testing…1850m vertical. We did it starting from Riddes, along to Conthey in the valley, and then up from there. It was cold at the top. But you can buy alpage cheese from Severine who looks after the cows up there in the summer 🙂
Happy cycling 🙂
Hello Will,
First, congratulation for your blog, it is an amazing source of inspiration for my future bike ride 🙂 I saw on the map that apparently you never ride to Arnensee. To go there, there is a paved road with only a few cars (cars have to pay to access the road) and some steep section. At the top, the lake and the landscape are beautiful.
Cheers,
Thx for the comment. I was there in 2004 (before I started this blog). Must go back.
This is an unbelievable resource. Thank you sooooo much! I coppied the google map to my account so I can keep track of my climbs for the next years. Thank you!!!!!
I came across your website a few months ago while planning a trip to Switzerland and the Dolomites (June 2019). While I’ve been to the Dolomites a few times, I had no idea where to start in Switzerland. Your website is an amazing source of information! I would have never learned of Grosse Scheidegg and that ended up being the most gorgeous climb I’ve ever ridden! We didn’t make good time up because we were constantly stopping for photos. We also did the ride to Lake Engslenstee from Meiringen. Again, STUNNING! Both of those rides are hands down more satisfying than the epic passes around the area. Thanks for such an amazing blog!