Passologics
Climbs

When ...

Start and end of climb

When is a climb a climb?

For me I feel like climbing when I have a part of 3% or more. 2% is what we call in Dutch ‘False Flat’. The average climb should be 3% or more. In the climb there can be flat parts or descents.
I’ll consider a climb as a climb when
- the average climb (over de total length) is less than 3% but the average of the climbing part is 3% or more
- the distance is more than 1 km

The average however depends on the start of a climb. If the first 5km is 2% and the second 5km is 10% than the avg. % is more than 3%. Where does this climb starts?
And what if there is a long descent in the climb. Is the end of this descent the start of a new climb or not?

Start of climb

Main reason for the differences in distances in several sources for data about climbs is the difference in starting point. Even in a small village the difference between the centre and the beginning of a climb (like a bridge) can be 500m or more.
That’s why I have tried to make a clear definition of the start of a climb.

1. A climb should start with a PART OF 3% OR MORE.
2. The starting point must be a clear, distinguishing, REMARKABLE POINT like
- a bridge, a crossing (fork, turn, junction), a building (church, station) or object (cross, sign, barrier)
- a sharp bend away from river
If the start of the 3%-part is not a remarkable point then a point nearby is chosen. In that case the starting point can start with a short part (<200m) less than 3%.
3. The total climb may not come below the 2% line.
This could be the case if the first (3+ %) part is followed by a long flat part. In that case the starting point should be shifted towards the top.

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Long Descents in the climb

GOED?????

If there is a long descent in the climb the climb is split up in 2 separate climbs (or even 3 if you see the descent as a climb in the opposite direction) if

• the descent is more than half the altitude difference of the toal the climb (better?: more than 20%?)
• the descent is more than 200m in altitude difference.

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If the start of this descent is a top in the database (a pass or mountain summit) than the climb to this top is considered as a real climb of this top.

Example: is the Telegraph part of the Galibier climb?
The N-route to the Galibier start with the climb to the Telegraph (..km,DH ..m), followed by a descent to Valloire and the continuing of the climb to the Galibier

Finish/End of climb

Rule of thumb:
the end of a climb = that point were you tend to stop! (No I don’t mean that nice restaurant or pick-nick place).

Preferably a finishing point should just like a starting point be a remarkable point which it is if the top is sharp (ascent-top-descent) but if the climb ends in a flatter part this is not always clear.

1. End of a pass

The natural pass height. The point with the sign (if there is one and sometimes the sign is misplaced)
There is allways one exact location of the natural pass!

Special:
1.1 Route flattens out
The end is the natural pass height.

Examples Pragelpass: real pas height is eastern top

1.2 Highest point on the route
- If route doesn’t cross the natural pass but higher point
- If from the pass the roads climbs (3+ %) to a higher point nearby

1.3 Long flat part around pass
In some cases there is a (artificial) lake beside the col with a flat road along this lake. In this case there are 2 finishing points: the real pass and the beginning of the lake (mostly a dam).

Example: Passo di Fedaia: the natural pass is the point east from the dam of the reservoir (where the restaurant is), but between this point and the dam the road is allmost flat.

1.4 Tunnel just below pass.
- tunnel <= 100m: middle of the tunnel
- otherwise: begin/entrance of tunnel

2. End of a Mountain Top/Summit or High Point or End-of-Valley

Finishing point: the highest point of the route

Special
2.1 Climbs ends in a village or town

The end of the climb is a remarkable point in the village/town on the main road like a square, a crossing or a building. In a ski village there are usually roads to higher points or quarters but these are often small roads which are not easy to find. So in this case the highest point of the village is not necessarely the end of the climb!
If this follow up road is important enough to put in the database this climb is considered a follow-up climb. The start of this climb is the place were the main climb ends like the centre of a ski village.

Example: Alpe d’Huez (Fra): the official end (Tourist Office) is the street in the beginning of the village (1760m). This is not the finish location of the Tour de France and not the highest point (1860m). From the highest point in Alpe d’Huez there is a dead-end road to Lac Besson (follow up,2080m)

2.2 Climbs in the end splits up a 2 or more equal roads.
If a climb at a certain point split up into 2 ore more equal roads, these roads are considered as separate climbs with there own finishing points. This can be a base ski village were the road splits up to higher, smaller villages.

Examples:
la Plagne: after la Plagne 1800? road splits up into roads to belleplagne and …..

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3. End of a long tunnel (>2km)

Allways: the entrance of the tunnel.
The 2 entrances are the finishing points. Normally the route through a tunnel is flat.
Some tunnels are forbidden for cyclists.

4. End of a Ridge/High Route

Usually: end of the route on the ridge or in the valley

In this case this is not a climb but a route. The route starts in below in the valley, climbs to the ridge and after the end of the ridge ends with a descent to the valley.

More Finishing Points

A top in the database has more finishing points in the next cases:

1. Points ending below the same summit or at a plateau with no (paved) connection

In this situation we consider one topname (summit or plateau) with climbs to different finishing points. You could also split up the top and in some cases I have done this. The climbs can come from different directions (mostly to summits) or are split up just before the end (mostly ski areas).

Examples: Gerlitzen (finishing points:Alpenhof Berger, Gerlitzenhaus), la Plagne (finishing points:Aime 2000, Belle-Plagne, Plagne-Villages), Plateau de Cézallier (many finishing points)

2. Tunnels with a length >100m.

Finishing points are the entrances of the tunel

Examples: Felbertauerntunnel, Tunnel de Tende

3. Between 2 tops (points) is flat part

If there is a FLAT PART < AVG. 3% AND LONGER THAN 200M then this part is NO PART of the climb. This part can contain the highest point on the route and can have short steep parts!

Examples: Passo di Fedaia, Col de Landoz-Neuve, Col du Mont Cenis

4. 2 close tops of allmost equal altitude (<100m) with short descent to a low point between.

Avg. % between to tops (altitude difference / road distance) < 3%.
The finishing points are the 2 tops.

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Examples: Col de la Biche (1325)/Sur Lyland (1345)

Number of climbs and routes

A climb is different from another if they don’t share the same road or they share the same road with the connection point more than halfway both climbs.

Variants
A variant of a climb is a climbing route that connects halfway or before to this climb. A climb with all variants is considered as ONE climbing route.
If it connects at a point beyond halfway it’s should be treated as a new, seperate climb.

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Number of routes:
the number of climbing routes plus all other routes (non-climbs) to the top (<3 %, flat or descending).

Altitude of starting point

It's easier to obtain the altitude of the top than the altitude of the starting point. An accurate starting point needs an accurate altitude. Just a given altitude of the village is not accurate enough especially if this village lies on a mountain. That's why you need for unknown altitudes sources like topographic maps (with a scale of 1:50.000 or better). To cover all W. Europe with topographic maps would make this a very expensive hobby. That's why a lot of start altitudes are estimated.

Length

The length [km] = the road distance between the starting point and finishing point.

I use the distances from maps or other sources. Most maps indicate distances but not always very accurate (no decimals or rounded to 0.5km). If there is no indication between the top and another point I often estimate the distance using the scale of the map.
The best way to measure length is to use your cycle computer (see Measuring Climbs - Measuring Distance). You need to set the right wheel circumference. I often have thought how much of the distance you loose in the descent when cutting off corners of the bends. I really don't know but I'm sure it's not neglectible.

Steepness of a climb

Altitude Difference and Gain

Altitude Difference [m] = Altitude Finishing Point - Altitude Starting Point

Altitude Gain [m] = Altitude Difference + Sum of all descents

Avg. %

As far as I know there is not a uniform standard formula for the (max.) % on road signs.
To measure the avg. % of a climb you should at least measure the altitude difference between top and start and the length of the climb. The easiest way to define a % is a relation between this altitude difference and the length of the climb. You can also define a % by the altitude difference and the horizontal difference.
Mathematically spoken the first one is the ‘Sinus’ of the angle between the horizontal line and the line between the starting point and the top. The second one is the ‘Tangens’. The horizontal difference is very difficult to derive unless you have a climb with a constant %.
So my definition of the average % is

AVG1. Avg. % = Altitude Difference / Length of climb * 100

In words this means that for climb of say 4% on the average the road rises 40m each km
Refinements

AVG2. Avg. % = Altitude Gain / Length of climb * 100

This is the definition I preferr and use in my database. You need to know the total of the descents which is known for a lot of climbs.

AVG3. Avg. % = Altitude Gain / Length over climbing part * 100

This is probably the best definition but the problem is that you need a detailed profile for this calculation. We don’t have detailed profiles off all climbs so this type is hasn’t been chosen because you should benefit the climbs with detailed profiles

Example

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Altitude difference = 800m
Altitude Gain = 1000m
Length = 10km
Length over climbing part = 8km
AVG1 = 8%, AVG2 = 10%, AVG3 = 12.5%

Max %

On road signs and many maps the max. % of a climb is indicated. In the UK you see also other signs with the proportion between the ascent and the distance: f.e. 1 : 4 (=25%)
I don’t know these figures are derived. To measure the max. % you can do the same as the avg. % but then for small parts or you measure continuously the angle of the road. Mathematically spoken the actual % of the point on the road you are standing is related to the angle of the tangent line of the road. (Max.% = cos(angle) * 100)
This method is not very practical to use, because allmost every road has very small vertical parts. Therefore in my point of view the part of the road should at least be 20m or more. If you use an inclinometer you should measure a certain % during 20m or more. <link measuring climbs>

Definition:
Max.% = Altitude difference of steepest part of 20m / 20m

In the table below the relation between the angle, % and the Tan(angle) is presented. Below 10% the 2nd and 3rd column are nearly the same. It’s suprising to see that relatively low angles allready mean high %’s.

Difficulty

see Climbs - Difficulty