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Trail centres, by their very nature of being designed to be ridden, have easy climbs compared to many local "natural" climbs near me that I always struggle to clean.
True enough, but obviously still considered too difficult by some. The 'trickiest' sections of both Twych (a rooty section about half way up) and Whytes (a step up) both got removed a few years back. Never understood it - both were ridable with a bit of skill and can't have been considered dangerous.
The Cafell climb I find a drag - less to challenge/interest than Twych or the Afan trails but the decents are worth it. Whilst the most difficult climbs are definitely away from trail centres I tend to have a lot more fire road or dull doubletrack climbing on natural rides where generally try to go down all the best stuff.
I hated the Twrch trail climb at Cwmcarn, a slog, and technical without being fun, it's a job to maintain momentum, rooty, rocky, stop start, just not fun at all.
Where as I loved that old climb 😉 I like all of Cwm Carns 🙂 Great trail centre.
Definitely have a love/hate relationship with the Twrch climb.
I always find it a struggle but keep going back for more,and when you eventually get your peripheral vision back its a lovely scenic trail.
Only ever cleaned it once on a full-sus though.
Heartbreak Hill at Kirri is the first one that sprang to my mind - not technical but steep. Having said that I have a 2 from 2 record on it, whereas I frequently fail to clean the first climb at Grizedale - there's a tight corner followed by a rocky section about half way up that always catches me out
Funny, nothing at Kirroughtree really registered with me. A steep section after the road crossing but all over pretty quick I thought.
I've not ridden many centres south of the border but I'd be surprised if there was much as technical as Golspie. Certainly can't think of anything in Scotland as hard in that regard.
Yep Golspies Lactic ladder climb. A good test of balance, technique, stamina, legs, and lungs. I kind of enjoy it I a strange way.
Dalby, Black/WC Course
Climb from near bottom of medusa's drop to top of medusa's.
Not exceptionally hard but the start gets me, bad line out of the corner and your gonna stop, steep and slippy.
A lot of people walk up "k2" on Sutton Bank red route (although not technically a trail centre). I can do it, but my knees are never happy about it.
There's a but half-way round Mabie that does my nut in. Not unrideable but tiring coming so late.
Scotroutes
The stinger? Or scorpion or something.
That was my first thought to be honest, but I've not been beaten by that, heartbreak hill did me in, but I was on a worse bike
Back from lunch 🙂 Interesting comments.. I'd forgotten
road/fireroad climb towards the end of the Beast at Coedy Brenin
It's not super hard but if it's been a sloggy / wet day it's just a bit 'oh really. again'. Descent from there back to the centre is fantastic tho.
There's a few climbs I'll do twice to do the final descent again. Marin comes to mind, winch back up because the descent is so much fun. Used to do it when Jetlag was first built as well.
The first climb out of the carpark at Innerleithen is a killer. That gets my vote
Cafall is great! I don't go riding often, and although the climb is stiff and mega anaerobic, it's manageable. As a whole, the trail is brilliant. Varied, atmospheric,fun descents. Still can't seem to carry any speed in powderhouse section though!
In Scotland, as above Heartbreak Hill @ Kirrie gets me everytime, Ive cleared it once, find it harder since they sanitized it as well, too loose and smooth with gravel now :/
No one mentioned Swinley's vert?
Midlanders! remember the old kitbag hill at Cannock?
my god that was a slog. There's nothing too bad at Cannock really through.
The old kitbag was a boring hard old slog the new one is much better.
Always doable though. If the question was 'worst trailcentre climb' it would be up there 😆
Whites Level always feels utterly bastard if I start from Glyncorrwyg, more doable if I start from the other end and warm up properly on the Wall.
There's a little bit on CYB, I think just before Pink Heifer which is a steepish, loose track followed by a horrid little rock step. For some reason I always cock it up or run out of energy just before the hard bit.
It's just before false teeth I think. Always a good indicator of my fitness as like you say there is a good pull before you reach the crux. If on good form then I have enough oomph for the rock step but if struggling then it's a tough one.
Hardest traiL centre climb I've done is the CYB road shortcut from the cafe to the top of Adams family (so not really on the trail) or the start climb at penmachno went on a bit albeit not technical.
Yeah that shortcut is brutal. But cuts out a lot of Meh.
I know what you mean by that step. You've just finished that superb descent to the bridge and then it's that climb. I've probably done it about half the times I tried it. Most of the failures were of the 'bugger this, it's going to be as quick to walk!'
That concrete bit on the twrch.
Hardest traiL centre climb I've done is the CYB road shortcut from the cafe to the top of Adams family
It's only really bad if you've just stopped for a doorstep sandwich, crisps and a tin of pop.
😉
Still can't seem to carry any speed in powderhouse section though!
Took me over 10 goes at that section to get it figured out 8) Same with Riddler too, dunno why as they're not overly complicated but I keep on either getting too carried away and running wide somewhere or being super cautious instead and killing all my momentum 🙄
I can't say any of the Welsh trail centre climbs have registered as being memorably difficult for me.
Lactic Ladder at Golspie for me. So hard it actually makes going uphill fun!
Climb up to deadwater fell at keilder. God it's long. God its dull.
Rostrevor in Northern Ireland is quite a climb at the start
https://www.strava.com/segments/5776064
1st mile at 10%
Blue 3 at Swinley. What a git!
I'm not great at uphill - I'm more about surviving the climbs to do the fun bit of descending.
I normally make it all the way up cafell at Cwmcarn, but never clear the twych climb. I can do the technical aspect of it - I'm just never fresh enough in the legs to be bothered to battle through so I get off and push. Actually easier than riding.
Hated whites at Afan- just torture.
I have one mate who lives for climbing and just doesn't get my hate for it. Another mate won't ride uphill at all - he'll only do uplift days and smashes the downhill.
I have to try and live with both!
I'm not a climber but before moving to the flatlands of East Anglia I used to spend a lot of my weekends at Welsh Trail centres so had to learn to appreciate them. Twych was tough, only ever cleaned the climb and the concrete ramp once when the rooty sections were still there. I need rhythm in a climb and once I fail one bit the rest is usually tough.
I liked Whites climb, only found the section to the first switchback tricky, and even then it was more brute power than technique. The shortcut fireroad up from the end of Energy, past the end of the black and to Windy point is a real hardly moving slog.
I've only done Inners once but remember it being fairly relentless, it was scorching so perhaps that made it seem harder than it is, I then binned it 1 minute in to the first descent and had to mince down to the car.
Drumlanrig whilst not physically tough is very hard to clear in the wet because of the roots.
Swinley red 18 😛
Cwmcarn though - Twrch is worse than Cafall, or it was. Haven't done it in years, not since the forestry work. Though back then was a lot less fit.
Raven climbs at Brechfa - Maybe not tough but it's tedious, annoying and pretty much ruins the trail for me. 70% fairly dull climbing on that trail for far too short descents (and worse one bit is a fireroad descent!), except at the end where it's okay.
I swear my way up from Thornthwaite to whinlatter/ lords seat every time.
The Nant y Arian one sticks in the mind too.
Personally I really enjoy twrch cafeal and whites all a really good challenge and long enough to get a real burn on if you sprint them.
I've only been to Brechfa once and there was a section of raven I had to push so it must have been tough.
For a real challenge qecp red in the wet....
The only on I can recall as a tough is Innerleithen, car park to Minch Moor. Still, it's pretty much all down hill back to the car from there at least
The rocky one at Pitfichie.
Deadwater fell at Kielder. You start in the valley at 205m and winch yourself up fireroad, through a bog, some badly-surfaced singletrack and finally 4km of exposed fireroad to top out at 575m. Its miserably long, wind swept, cold and generally raining. Oh and I'm generally on my own.
Soon as i saw the title I thought Golspie so glad a few said the same. Ktree (not including moab) is easier I would say. Also a wee honoray mention for Comrie Croft. The red climb is pretty tough in places, never Golspie levels but the fact you usually do it 5 or 6 times on a day there..
For a real challenge qecp red in the wet....
not ridden it in the wet for about 15years but ''tis a slippery bugger from memory. I love qecp, so much fun 🙂 more natural feeling than others
I love the Twrch trail climb at Cwmcarn, especially the last bit up to the fire road. Hated it the fist few times when I wasn't fit on knew the climb. The fitter you get the more fun its is. The last singletrack section up to the fireroad is probably where I can get my heart rate up to its highest, proper heart pounding out of your chest stuff.
Lactic Ladder at Golspie for me.
It's not massively difficult to ride other than a few tight switchbacks and a few awkward sections. The difficulty comes from it's sustained nature, the 750ft of climbing you do to get to it and the 400ft of climbing after it.
I'm sure there are places where conditions will make a climb harder than Golspie, but Golspie is just hard every time.
Anywhere with no warm up where you just climb straight from the car park.
Always just destroys me if I've not had a nice spin first.
Tower ride to the radio mast at Glentress straight up the hiking trail is an excellent climb - very aerobically tough. 1.3 miles, 12% average, 800 feet.
https://www.strava.com/segments/12413033?filter=overall
Keen climbers will love it - you can really get stuck into it. All rideable but there's a steep part just as you come off the bike trail that will ask a few questions. Tackling that with a hangover Sat morning has had me off walking a few times.
Mystic MTB park in Bright. The fireroad climb up to the top in 40 degrees is something I never want to repeat.
Of the places I've ridden it'd probably be the Raven at Brechfa, some of that is pretty brutal. There's one long old climb that's also quite unrelentingly steep.
I don't do trail centres much but I have been round Sutton Bank and trying to think which bit is K2, I think it's the bit up through beech trees just out of the vale floor. I had to walk about ten metres of it as it was somewhat slape due to it having chucked it down the previous day.
Have done the Glentress climb mentioned above - I think it used to be on the original black route (going back fifteen years or more) so might not be on an "official" route these days. The first/main climb to the summit of Minch Moor on Innerleithen Red is fine, just keep plugging away.
There's a difference between climbs you have done before and those you haven't as it's quite hard to pace yourself on the latter plus if you know that there's a technical section round the corner you can get in the right gear for that, etc. Conditions also make a difference - if the trail is wet and slippery then you might have no chance.
The first/main climb to the summit of Minch Moor on Innerleithen Red is fine, just keep plugging away.
Yep, did this with one of the worst hangovers I've ever had during a stag trip the other year - only struggled with the first bit as my body unsurprisingly tried to talk me out of it, after that it was just a matter of tapping it out.
I must be a diesel engine as there are a few other long climbs mentioned that I find no problem at all - it's the steep, punchy ones I come unstuck on.
Just remembered - not a trail centre but the toughest climb I've ever done was on holiday in Spain a couple of years back. Was stating about an hour from Marbella and online suggested some good routes straight out the back of Marbella. Found a bike shop that hired me a bike and Garmin gps - they downloaded a 32 mile ride off-road for me and off I went. Didn't really think it through 32 miles, not kms and 35 degree heat. Apparently it was do-able in 3.5 hours (maybe by an elite cyclist perhaps).
Luckily I took a 2 litre camelbak reservoir and a large water bottle. The halfway round place to get more fluid didn't materialise, and 5 hours in I got to the lunch stop at a village. Had pretty much run out of fluid about 30 mins before then. Never been so grateful for some tarmac to cycle on at that point either.
Turned out from there it was only another hour back to the hire shop. Beautiful scenery all round. It was more concentrated on surviving!