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Region: Switzerland
Climbing effort: 1259 cep
Elevation meters: 1643
Steepest kilometer: 10.7%

Steepest 250 m: 12%
Foot: 498 m    Top: 2141 m
Mean slope: 6.5%
Length: 25.1 km

From: Sion
Road conditions (2025): good
Other race bikers: 1-5 per hour
Motor vehicles: 30-60 per hour
Scenery and road: (3/5)
Restaurant or bar near top: yes

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Other climbs Switzerland

This climb from Sion in the Rhône valley to the Barrage de la Grande-Dixence is hard, due to more than 1,600 metres of elevation gain and 1,259 climb effort points, but not outstanding in terms of scenery. At first, the route follows the busy road from Sion to Vex at a gradient of mostly 7%, good for about 400 metres of elevation gain. In Vex you turn right, and over the next 2.5 kilometres the gradient changes little (7-8%). After that, the road gradually becomes less steep, and after the fairly large village of Héremence there is also significantly less traffic. On the 4 kilometres between Héremence and the last village, Mâche, cycling is easy (mostly 2%). After Mâche, a few monotonous kilometres through the forest follow on a road that again becomes quite steep (9%) and runs almost straight. After just over two kilometres the gradient decreases, the view of the mountain peaks becomes more expansive, and the destination of the ride, the dam, comes into sight for the first time. The road continues to Pralong, and two kilometres beyond this settlement the final phase begins, the hardest part of the climb, whose first 3.5 kilometres have an average gradient of 9.9%. Here the road winds beautifully upwards with a large number of hairpin bends. The landscape — steep mountains and larches — is magnificent. After an unlit tunnel, another half kilometre remains to the end of the ride at the foot of the dam, where a huge building with a hotel stands. For lovers of nature this is not an ideal finish. From here a cable car brings tourists up to the reservoir.