Best road climbs (alpine) in BC?

[sanrensho]

What are the best (long) road climbs in BC?

Specifically alpine/mountain pass climbs, say at least 8 kilometers or longer. Must be paved, although gravel is fine if it can be done on a 'cross bike.

This is a prelude to a future thread entitled "Where should I move to in BC? Must be near a mountain pass or two."

Of the North Shore mountains, Seymour (steeper, harder) gets my pick over Cypress, but I really need to explore some long climbs outside of the Shore. Notable climbs under 8 km are fine too, as long as they're challenging.

Help me find some good climbs to add to my "to do" list.

[brian]

never ridden but Revelstoke to the top of Mount Revelstoke is supposed to be the hardest in Canada at 28kms

[sanrensho]

never ridden but Revelstoke to the top of Mount Revelstoke is supposed to be the hardest in Canada at 28kms

Fock...sounds good.:drool:

Appears to be about 4% grade according to the info here:

http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/revelstoke/activ/activ1_e.asp

[Ned]

Paulson. Salmo-Creston. Bombi. Richter. Cayoosh. List goes on and on.... wished I had time to do it all. wished I had time to do a lot of things.

[sanrensho]

Paulson. Salmo-Creston. Bombi. Richter. Cayoosh. List goes on and on.....

Hey Ned. How about ones closest to me...gives me a better chance of actually hitting them at some point.

[LeeLau]

What are the best (long) road climbs in BC?

Specifically alpine/mountain pass climbs, say at least 8 kilometers or longer. Must be paved, although gravel is fine if it can be done on a 'cross bike.

This is a prelude to a feature thread entitled "Where should I move to in BC? Must be near a mountain pass or two."

Of the North Shore mountains, Seymour (steeper, harder) gets my pick over Cypress, but I really need to explore some long climbs outside of the Shore. Notable climbs under 8 km are fine too, as long as they're challenging.

Help me find some good climbs to add to my "to do" list.

Bottom line is we have shitty road climbs. The closest two to you are the Coquihalla and the road to Manning and they're crap. The Baker climb is nice but its across the border so you can't really move there.

There's some nice climbs in the Calgary Rockies - Highwood Pass for example. Lots of nice climbs in the Kootenays too and Ned has covered most of them.

Washington state has way better climbs in general as they paved a ton of roads.

Now if you asked me about bad gravel or doubletrack climbs, we have a ton of that./

[Ned]

Hey Ned. How about ones closest to me...gives me a better chance of actually hitting them at some point.

Cayoosh is maybe not an offical name but I'm speaking of the Duffey Road there mister. Wanted to ride it forever but life realities don't let me be a greedy ride prick like I once was.

Careful poaching those passes this time of year. The cager kooks are gonna be out in full force right now until September or October.

[sanrensho]

Now if you asked me about bad gravel or doubletrack climbs, we have a ton of that./

Thanks Lee, what you're saying confirms some of my suspicions. Is there anything on the Island worth doing?

How about (relatively) smooth gravel climbs on my 'cross bike? Anything come to mind?

Would have to be smoother than, say, the climb up Fromme to the gondola. (Riding up is fine, but too rough on the way down on a 'cross bike.)

[LeeLau]

Island riding is awesome but it isn't steep or long. The Malahat is the closest climb and that's over real quick.

Duffy/Cayoosh Pass is the steepest closest ride without a ton of traffic but in summer you'll have tons of RVs and slow moving traffic.

There just isn't much cross-bike type roads. The nicest closest climbs are Cat Lake to Brohm Ridge or Stawamus Main but they have lots of potholes and I wouldn't recommend a CX bike there - you'd be crawling the downhills. Both those climbs are quite a bit rougher then the Fromme road

[HeyMan]

Highway 24 Little Fort to the Summit if you are in the area, although not that long I would guess 8 to 10 kms of pretty steep climbing and another 6 km's to the summit not so steep. Wouldn't be a destination type ride, only if in the area, main hill is three lanes rest is two, not a ton of traffic.

[sanrensho]

Excellent, keep the suggestions coming.

[skifreak]

Mount Washington (Strathcona Parkway) is a pretty good hill climb.

[sanrensho]

If things work out, I hope to be riding Mt. Norikura (highest paved road in Japan) next year.

1,380 m elevation gain, 22.0 km, 6.2% grade and closed to public traffic.

http://biketraining.yukihotaru.com/english/repnorikura.html

[shorelocal]

On your way to Japan, stop on Maui and run the road up to Haleakala (sp). I was over there last fall and there were a few ppl doing the climb. Views are great and it seemed pretty damn steep from the driver's seat of my rental car.

[sanrensho]

On your way to Japan, stop on Maui and run the road up to Haleakala (sp).

I wish.

I missed my opportunity to do that ride when my parents moved back from Honolulu. (*Slaps self in head*)

[snorris]

quibbles from south island:

A new subdivision has significantly extended Malahat & well travelled climbs like Maple, Prevost & Richards are awesome on 'cross bike. There are plenty of others too, but conditions are variable.

That said, look elsewhere for big skinny tire climbs.

[Six]

Highway 24 Little Fort to the Summit if you are in the area, although not that long I would guess 8 to 10 kms of pretty steep climbing and another 6 km's to the summit not so steep. Wouldn't be a destination type ride, only if in the area, main hill is three lanes rest is two, not a ton of traffic.

What about the Lac Le Jeune road? Is it all paved now?? I remember camping at Lac Le Jeune and thinking the climb up there would be awesome...but then the pavement ended...

[wallyjames]

Penticton to Apex. Climbs from 340 m in town to 1740 m in 33 km. That seems mild at 4% average but the last 11 km contains half of the vertical. There are ramps well over 10%. Pretty quiet road in summer time, a bit of gravel or sand in the corners sometimes.

Anarchist Pass east from Osoyoos starts well but becomes a series long gradual slogs after the intense switchbacks right out of town. Better to do the IronMan Canada circuit Penticton-Keremeos-Penticton via Richter Pass and Twin Lakes summit. 180 km and 1200 m of climbing. Hot times in the area of 4.5 hrs on race day.

[Smoke]

All the Okanagan ski hills have good roads up them. The back road to Apex from Hedley is really cool, but gravel.

For sheer epicness, the Vermilion Pass from Banff to Radium is top notch, and you can soak in the hot springs on the Radium end.