| Famous climb |
| Beautiful scenery |
| 46 hairpin turns |
| #41 toughest climb of Switzerland |
| #73 most elevation gain of Europe |
| #54 longest climb of Alps |
| #87 average steepest climb of Grisons |
Passo del San Bernardino is a climb in the region Grisons. It is 31.4km long and bridges 1691 vertical meters with an average gradient of 5.4%, resulting in a difficulty score of 1241. The top of the ascent is located at 2065 meters above sea level. Climbfinder users shared 3 reviews of this climb and uploaded 3 photos.
Road names: 13, La Víla, Stradón de Cabié (13), Arabèla, Strada Cantonale (13), Strada de Campagna, Strada de la Stazión, Strada de San Rocch, Strada de Darba, Strada d'Andergi, Strada de la Mezzénen, Strada
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The variant up to the hamlets of Mesocco takes away traffic and adds interest.
La variante su per le frazioni di Mesocco toglie traffico e aggiunge interesse. Forse perfino più bella della via classica.
Up to and including Darba, the road climbs gradually but is not really challenging yet. From Darba, you can follow the cycle route to avoid the main road for 4 km. As indicated, this route does have some steep sections, but you won't be steep from here. The plus point of this route is that it is a narrow road where no or hardly any cars'll come, so you can meander quietly uphill. This is a lot more fun than cycling on the busier main highway (despite the somewhat more pleasant percentages there). From Breita you rejoin the main road, after which you climb nicely and gradually through a lot of pine forest with quite a few pleasant hairpins. In the short descent to San Bernardino that follows, you can get something to eat and drink before conquering the last part of the pass. Here it is a bit quieter in terms of cars (the main road goes through a tunnel under the pass). With quite a few hairpin bends again through an alpine environment, you eventually emerge at the top of a lake, where you can take a breather and enjoy the fresh mountain air.
Tot en met Darba gaat de weg geleidelijk omhoog maar is het nog niet echt een uitdaging. Vanaf Darba kun je de fietsroute volgen om 4 km lang de grote weg te ontwijken. Zoals aangegeven heeft deze route wel wat steile stukken, maar je zult hier niet steil van achterover slaan. Pluspunt van deze route is dat het een smal weggetje is waar geen of nauwelijks auto's komen, dus je kunt rustig naar boven slingeren. Dit is een stuk leuker dan over de drukkere grote autoweg fietsen (ondanks de wat aangenamere percentages daar). Vanaf Breita kom je weer op de grote weg uit, waarna je mooi geleidelijk verder klimt door veel naaldbos met aardig wat aangename haarspeldbochten. In de korte afdaling naar San Bernardino die volgt kun je even wat eten en drinken om het laatste deel van de pas te bedwingen. Hier is het wat rustiger qua auto's (de doorgaande weg gaat door een tunnel onder de pas door). Met weer flink wat haarspeldbochten door een alpiene omgeving kom je uiteindelijk boven bij een meer uit, waar je kunt uithijgen en genieten van de frisse berglucht.
The climb is very similar to the classical route from the South, but it deviates from to Mesocco to Pian San Giacomo. There, you can either continue on the main road (and do the classical route), or take the bike path (signposted at the beginning) that spiders up the right side of the Moesa until Pian San Giacomo. Do it only if you are still fresh! The 5 km detour is much steeper, rarely below 9％, on narrow village roads (not much space for a car and a bike together, but they were almost free of traffic, and a bit shaded).
The altitude chart and even my Garmin are not accurate.
| 7 km/h | 04:28:43 |
| 11 km/h | 02:51:00 |
| 15 km/h | 02:05:24 |
| 19 km/h | 01:39:00 |
