Thursday June 16th - Sustenpass

We finally awoke to a clear day. This was definitely one day we needed good weather as we were to climb the 2224 meter Sustenpass. Our Swiss friend Markus drove to Interlaken to ride with us. Also along for the journey was his friend Gabriel. They both live on Lake Geneva. Markus and Gabriel mapped out a route that would take us to Sustenpass to watch the race. The return was another climb called Gross Scheidegg on the way back to Interlaken. It turned out to be an epic day as the Gross Scheidegg was probably the hardest climbs I've made on a bike

We set out to the east and stopped for coffee along Lake Brienzer. After that, it was ten more miles to the base of Sustenpass. The climb started in the village of Interkirchen after riding 38 mostly flat kilometers. Susten is a long climb of 30 km with a 1600 meter ascent (5248 ft). The last half of the climb is the steepest.

We started the climb about one hour ahead of the race. The peloton caught us 25 km into the climb. We watched from a switchback which followed the feed zone. After the race passed, we climbed the last 6 km, then made the descent back to Interkirchen.

The hardest part of the day was an insanely steep climb called the Gross Scheidegg. This was a 4140 ft climb over ten miles. The official grade is 8%, however there is a 4 km flat section in the middle. So most of the climbing is over 10%. It took us a couple hours to complete this climb. The road was very narrow and only local vehicle traffic could use the road.

Ride Map

Large (1600 X 530)
Small (800 X 270)

Profiles

Sustenpass
Gross Scheidegg

Photos of Sustenpass

Photos of the Gross Scheidegg Climb