The ascent to the Berninapaß from Pontresina is certainly not hard. There are merely 603 elevation meters and only 3 out of a total of 18 kilometers is steeper than 5%. The steepest kilometer (7.2%) is located after Lagalb (after 14 kilometers cycling) on a straight section of the road without trees in the surroundings so the slope can easily be underestimated here. The climb is characterised by both ugliness and beauty. Ugly are the wide road full of cars and motorcycles, the high-voltage lines, the banks of a reservoir and the railway track. Extreme beauty is offered to the climbing cyclist on the right hand side with a view of the Morteratsch glacier and the surrounding mountain giants, including Piz Bernina (4049 m).