Furka Pass (West side)
The Furka Pass links Gletsch in Valais with Realp in Uri, Switzerland. Its western side, at the head of the Rhône valley, is the one the Tour de Suisse climbs when it heads east out of the Goms. In 2018 a stage started in Fiesch and went straight up the 16.5 km climb to the pass, before crossing the Klausen. Søren Kragh Andersen won it at Gommiswald.
This ride starts on the hairpins above Oberwald and climbs to Gletsch, where the Grimsel road branches off. Gletsch grew from an inn that Joseph Anton Zeiter opened at the foot of the glacier in the 1830s. In the 19th century the glacier reached almost down to the village. By 1862 the Seiler brothers were advertising a newly built hotel there. The road then climbs past the Belvédère hairpin beside the Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhône, to the summit on the border with Uri.
Region: Wallis
City: Obergoms VS
Distance: 13.5 km
Elevation Gain: 834 m
Elevation Loss: 2 m
Difficulty: 651 (Moderate)
FIETS Index: 5.18 FIETS
Avg Grade: 6.22 %
Max cat climb: HC
Min elevation: 1600 m
Max elevation: 2434 m
Ride Category: Climb