cycling Passo del Grimsel - Innertkirchen

From Andermatt, I climbed the Susten, Grimsel, Nufenen and Gotthard passes in June 2010 – in that order. It is one of the most spectacular and varied loops that I have ever done in the Alps. This is a very hard loop for one day as the vertical climb is 5,150 meters over 160km. A real challenge. The direction of the loop is unquestionably the best as road to the north from Andermatt (which descents) is very busy and would not be pleasant to climb. Also, the Gotthard is best done south to north. With stops it took us 9.5hrs. Both of us live in the Alps and have considerable experience doing cyclosports over a similar distance/vertical climb. Grimsel from the north. This is a very long climb that is busy with cars. The combination of cars, length and grade makes this a less attractive climb which is better done in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, for any loops from Andermatt, you really need to approach this climb from the north or suffer a more unpleasant climb up from the north of Andermatt. When coupled with the balance of a loop, it is really not that bad and is spectacular as you approach the top.

My personal climb rating: 4 stars

I climbed passo del grimsel together with the furka and susten in the first weekend of september 2007. It was the first climb that day. I felt very good. It was a quite easy climb. Though I knew we had to climb a lot that day, I soon took some distance from my father (Im only 16 years old!). The only bad thing was, that there were a lote of motorbikers going up. I cant understand whats so special about climbing a mountain by motorbike! And they dont even understand what its like to climb a mountain by bike. They just dont have the respect to drive slowly as they pass you. Anyway, the climb really started to become steep after about 10 kilometers. Thats where I took a little distance from my fathers friend as well. As you can see on the profile, theres a very steep part after some 14 kilometers. Thats where the main road and the cycling road separated. The main road went into a tunnel. Us cyclists were lead around that tunnel. It was beautiful out there! No cars, nice surrounding. After that, I had to climb to the first lake. I had a nice view over the mountainpass wich I already had behind me. Luckely, I had taken a good look at the mountains profile. Because, unlike my father, I knew I still had a long way to go. The final part (already up the second lake) was the heaviest. Trough the clouds I could just see a little bit of the snowy mountain peaks. It was an awsome sight. I had the advantage that Im not that heavy. The steeper parts where quite easy for me. It was very cold at the top! That was too bad for the fact that I still had to wait for my dad, who finally arrived about 15 minutes later. Once up, I was glad Id made it. That was number 1. Only 2 more to go then!