The latest video from The Col Collective sees Mike Cotty head up a climb that due to its location may never feature on a Grand Tour, but which can hold its own with almost anything the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia or Vuelta can offer – the Sustenpass in Switzerland’s Bernese Alps.
The road itself was built between 1938 and 1945, a time of course when most of the rest of Europe was at war and Switzerland was neutral.
Here’s what Cotty says about the climb:
At 27.8 kilometres in length Switzerland’s Sustenpass can easily have you feeling quite daunted at the prospect of scaling it on two wheels. The grandeur of the road immediately instils a sense of anticipation and excitement as you leave Innertkirchen on what can only be described as a true journey. Lush meadows, dense forests and chocolate-box villages make way for a sensory overload of tunnels, waterfalls, high mountain lakes and glaciers!
Sometimes the road can feel endless, but in some respect that can be a good thing as the surroundings are so dramatic and beautiful all at the same time if you’re anything like me you’ll be crying out for it to continue all the way to heaven and beyond.
Vital Statistics
Start: Innertkirchen
Length: 27.8km
Summit: 2,224m
Elevation gain: 1,602m
Average gradient: 5.7%
Max gradient: 10%
Ridden in early July
1 thought on “Video: Mike Cotty heads up Switzerland’s Sustenpass”
Rode it from Innertkirchen in
Rode it from Innertkirchen in June, having first done the Grimsel pass in freezing rain & fog. It’s a long old climb, but never feels overly steep. The descent to Wassen is nice and non-technical and you can get some decent speed up, but it’s worth knowing about the cafe stop a couple of km down on the Uri side if you don’t fancy hanging around at the top in dodgy weather!