Hardknott Pass from Beckfoot

I cannot in all honesty or good conscience recommend this climb to anyone..... unless you want to ride a climb that breaks the difficulty score metric! It's ranking in the UK is skewed by it's short length and elevation gain but with sustained sections well above 25 and some above 30%. It's difficulty is defined by how thin the line is between making it up in one go and putting a foot down.

Wow! It was snowy on the tops, it was sunny up above and there were ice streams under my tyres. What a beautiful challenge! It is tough, no mistake, but it was closed to traffic when I went and out of season. You need to save something for those two hairpins near the top but it almost pulls you up itself by its beauty. Do it!

Zeer moeilijke klim die gelijk heel steil begint en waar je de breedte van de weg nodig hebt op de steile stukken. In het midden een iets minder steil stuk, met de 30％ op het laatste stuk. Wegdek niet geweldig. Gelukkig weinig verkeer als je harkend op de pedalen naar boven kruipt. Mooi als je boven bent!

Brutal climb - there’s no shame in walking. Only elite cyclists can cycle + 20％ gradient sections

One of the hills on the Fred Whitton Challenge.
Approach from the beautiful Eskdale valley where the anticipation of the climb ahead will build up.

The climb proper starts at the phone box/cattlegrid (grid ref NY211011) with an immediate steep section. The climbing is relentless but eases slightly near the Roman Fort. From here the going gets tougher with the 30％ bend calling for low gears or tough legs, perhaps both.

You will get shouts of encouragement from walkers but watch out for cars.

Once you reach the top have a rest and take in the view and perpared for the scary downhill with steep drops and tight bends.

Road bikes will call for you being on the drops to lever the most from your brakes.

Beautiful climb and great views, but very very steep. If you don't bring the big gears you'll defenitily will have to put your feet to the ground, so come prepared.

Absolutely a must-do bucket list climb. Hardknott from Eskdale had become an iconic climb partly because it is on the Fred Whitton sportive route at around the 155km mark. Also the scenery is spectacular, the poor tarmac, bad cambers, streams across the road, stutter bumps and tight hairpins will challenge your bike handling skills and if you do this climb you then have to complete several other tough ones in order to complete any ride. As you can see from the profile it has two very steep sections with a rest in between - there is even a very small (20 metres long) descent near the Roman fort. The data is misleading, however - the steepest section over 100 metres is shown at 22％ whereas there are actually several sections well over 25％ and one is famously well over 30％ - see photos. 80％+ of cyclists get off on this section during the Fred Whitton - I know because I've done this sportive 4 times and taken photos on Hardknott during it many times.
So there is the challenge - not how fast can you get up this climb but can you do it without putting a foot down or stopping, especially if you are over 90kg like me. Bring gears. Big ones.