Toughest Climb in Ireland?

cantalach · 01-09-2008 1:36am #1

So all this talk on another thread about the Connor Pass vs Sally Gap got my wondering...what's the toughest climb in Ireland?

For me, it's the Priest's Leap which is located right here, roughly 8 km NE of Glengarriff as-the-crow-flies. Depending on where you regard as the start, it goes from roughly 50 m to 465 m over about 5 km. This works out at just over 8% which doesn't seem too bad. But what these comforting numbers disguise is that most of the elevation gain is in a series of savage steps. You even go downhill for a while halfway which is psychologically horrible. The steepness is all the more challenging because it's just a narrow boreen, with plenty of gravel, potholes and rivulets of water, all of which add up to minimal traction - particularly problematic as you're out of the saddle a lot of the time.

But don't take my word for it. In the wonderfully flowery prose of the time, The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland 1844-45 had this to say about the Priest's Leap:

A wild and alpine mountain-pass, [...]. The alpine acclivities which lead to it are bold, romantic, and often frightfully naked and rugged; and both the pass itself and a track through these acclivities are traversed by one of the wildest roads in Europe, [...]; nothing can be more direct than its uphill flights, or more decided and unswerving than its downward progressions; no mountain-elevation, however bristling with crags or formidable the aspect of its precipitous sides, deterred the stern and uncompromising engineer who laid it down. He carried it over the loftiest summits, the wildest moors, at the bottoms of the most desolate glens, and along the most dizzy steeps overlooking the deepest glens. A savage-looking defile is sometimes made available as a conduit for every ferocious breeze that loves to bowl and sweep along such localities [...].

Murph100 · 01-09-2008 9:20am

Jaysus Cantalach,

Thats a blast from the past, I'm from those parts, so I know that place pretty well, thats one right crappy road, even for a car, would be in prefect condition right now after our lovely summer !

Murph

tunney · 01-09-2008 9:24am

As Mr Kelly said when asked this question - "the one right before my house".

hunnymonster · 01-09-2008 10:33am

Didn't know he lived in the same street as me. :)The gradient up to our house is 12%* Piece of cake when you're turning left up the hill but not so much fun making a right turn and having to wait on traffic for a standing start.

*it is only about 500m though so not even as the races as they say. :-)

Muller_1 · 01-09-2008 12:18pm

Though I haven't been there, I believe the Gap of Mamore in Donegal has a lot of votes

Quigs Snr · 01-09-2008 12:24pm

Its nasty. I put a video up on youtube at one stage of some of my teamates doing it in the 2007 RAS. Looks brutal. Interestingly the National Hill Climb championships were run there this year, only a couple of weeks ago.

Chips Lovell · 01-09-2008 12:45pm

Quigs Snr wrote: »

Looks brutal. Interestingly the National Hill Climb championships were run there this year, only a couple of weeks ago.

Ryan Sherlock (who came second) wrote about it on his blog.

jamesonandcoke · 01-09-2008 2:01pm

Coomakista Pass on near Waterville in Co Kerry is probably the toughest climb I've ever ridden.

DirkVoodoo · 01-09-2008 2:08pm

Whatever that one in Wicklow that we tackled one saturday was called, not really a climb, more of a farmer's detour. I think Blorg said his Garmin was reading 22%.

Anyway, I got stuck in my big ring for some of it and made hard work of it, so for me that would rank with the toughest I have done. Thought my heart was going to pop!

I think any climb is going to be tough if you go about it the wrong way, I've tried using Raam's technique (dividing it up into 3 parts) and its worked so far, even on some tough ones.

lukester · 01-09-2008 3:12pm

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Whatever that one in Wicklow that we tackled one saturday was called, not really a climb, more of a farmer's detour. I think Blorg said his Garmin was reading 22%.

Where is this? I've been looking for nasty climbs in Wicklow

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

I've tried using Raam's technique (dividing it up into 3 parts) and its worked so far, even on some tough ones.

Care to share this technique? Was in looking at cycling training books today for tips

blorg · 01-09-2008 3:23pm

The idea is that you take the first third easy, the middle third at "normal" climbing pace and then you should have something left to blast it for the final third.

blorg · 01-09-2008 3:32pm

lukester wrote: »

Where is this? I've been looking for nasty climbs in Wicklow

That was this one although this Saturday we did this one which is short but pretty steep, definate 25% section.

lukester · 01-09-2008 3:36pm

blorg wrote: »

The idea is that you take the first third easy, the middle third at "normal" climbing pace and then you should have something left to blast it for the final third.

Hmm..that makes sense, although I'm thinking of climbs like parts of the Sally Gap where the final third is the hardest, how does it work there?

lukester · 01-09-2008 3:38pm

blorg wrote: »

That was this one although this Saturday we did this one which is short but pretty steep, definate 25% section.

That's funny, I've driven both of those roads recently on the motorbike. How tough are they? They looked fairly hard from the saddle of a motorised two wheeler

Raam · 01-09-2008 3:40pm

lukester wrote: »

Hmm..that makes sense, although I'm thinking of climbs like parts of the Sally Gap where the final third is the hardest, how does it work there?

You just take the pain and grind it out.

lukester · 01-09-2008 3:41pm

Raam wrote: »

You just take the pain and grind it out.

So no change there then

Raam · 01-09-2008 3:43pm

lukester wrote: »

So no change there then

Pretty much

If you are finding the climbs easy, then you aren't going fast enough.

ROK ON · 01-09-2008 3:46pm

blorg wrote: »

The idea is that you take the first third easy, the middle third at "normal" climbing pace and then you should have something left to blast it for the final third.

I have been climbing with the complete opposite strategy.
Blasting it out of the saddle initially, droping to the granny ring for the middle section and trying to spin, then dying and having to stop and catch my breath for the final third.

The only time it really works is if the climb has a short sharp steep bit at first and has a flatter gradient for the rest of the climb.

The suggested method seems so obvious, but I have never tried it before. Will try it in future to see is there a difference.

lukester · 01-09-2008 3:47pm

Raam wrote: »

If you are finding the climbs easy, then you aren't going fast enough.

Must stick that on a post-it somewhere, along with 'pain is just the weakness leaving your body'

Chips Lovell · 01-09-2008 3:49pm

If I am finding the climbs easy, then Raam isn't going fast enough.

amjon · 01-09-2008 4:13pm

cantalach wrote: »

So all this talk on another thread about the Connor Pass vs Sally Gap got my wondering...what's the toughest climb in Ireland?

For me, it's the Priest's Leap which is located right here, roughly 8 km NE of Glengarriff as-the-crow-flies. Depending on where you regard as the start, it goes from roughly 50 m to 465 m over about 5 km. This works out at just over 8% which doesn't seem too bad. But what these comforting numbers disguise is that most of the elevation gain is in a series of savage steps. You even go downhill for a while halfway which is psychologically horrible. The steepness is all the more challenging because it's just a narrow boreen, with plenty of gravel, potholes and rivulets of water, all of which add up to minimal traction - particularly problematic as you're out of the saddle a lot of the time.

But don't take my word for it. In the wonderfully flowery prose of the time, The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland 1844-45 had this to say about the Priest's Leap:

A wild and alpine mountain-pass, [...]. The alpine acclivities which lead to it are bold, romantic, and often frightfully naked and rugged; and both the pass itself and a track through these acclivities are traversed by one of the wildest roads in Europe, [...]; nothing can be more direct than its uphill flights, or more decided and unswerving than its downward progressions; no mountain-elevation, however bristling with crags or formidable the aspect of its precipitous sides, deterred the stern and uncompromising engineer who laid it down. He carried it over the loftiest summits, the wildest moors, at the bottoms of the most desolate glens, and along the most dizzy steeps overlooking the deepest glens. A savage-looking defile is sometimes made available as a conduit for every ferocious breeze that loves to bowl and sweep along such localities [...].

+1 mate,did this with a few friends over 2 years ago without spds had to walk a fair bit of it and still focked up my gears

unionman · 01-09-2008 4:35pm

blorg wrote: »

The idea is that you take the first third easy, the middle third at "normal" climbing pace and then you should have something left to blast it for the final third.

I have a slightly different method. It's not fast, it's not pretty, but I get there eventually:

1. Realise that suddenly the flat road has turned into a hill because the other riders in the group are suddenly getting smaller and smaller.

2. Don't allow pride and the fear of humiliation force me to power ahead because let's face it, I have no idea how long this hill goes on for. Obi-Wan Kenobi like, el tonto's voice pops into my head, "Don't make the mistake of trying to make the pain end quickly." Wicklow hills and destroying the Death Star, pretty similar when you think about it.

3. Start gearing down...click, lower...click, ooh, still have another lower one to go, click, ooh, and another, click, doing! Oh right, granny gear, ok, keep pedalling.

4. Keep pedalling

5. Keep pedalling (do I really need to tell you that I mean 'slowly' at this point. Perhaps not, let's assume that's a given).

6. Keep pedalling

7. Oh look, the guys seem to have taken a break up there, must be near the top. Keep pedalling.

8. When the other cyclists in your group are close enough to hear you speak, big smile.

9. Stop pedalling and say something like 'actually, that was pretty OK I thought'.

10. Repeat steps 1 to 9 at next hill.

LDB · 01-09-2008 4:50pm

what about St. Patrick's hill that they did yesterday in the final TOI stage? anyone done that? its 25% isn't it.

cantalach · 01-09-2008 8:55pm

LDB wrote: »

what about St. Patrick's hill that they did yesterday in the final TOI stage? anyone done that? its 25% isn't it.

I did it just over an hour ago as it turns out. Yes it's 25% but very short. It's newly resurfaced too with lovely smooth tar - much of it was concrete before. Overall, it's very doable compared to some of the other bergs around the city.

michaelm · 01-09-2008 10:30pm

In my own area (North Tipp) the hardest climb is believed to be what is locally known as "Step" - this is located just outside the village of Silvermines about 6 miles from Nenagh. This is where Paul Kimmage, when making a lone break in one of the Nissan Classics , famously got off his bike and was about to abandon but for the encouragement of a few locals who helped him on his way. This year it was looked at as part of the TOI route but they regarded the descent on the other side as too dangerous.

Raam · 01-09-2008 10:34pm

michaelm wrote: »

In my own area (North Tipp) the hardest climb is believed to be what is locally known as "Step" - this is located just outside the village of Silvermines about 6 miles from Nenagh. This is where Paul Kimmage, when making a lone break in one of the Nissan Classics , famously got off his bike and was about to abandon but for the encouragement of a few locals who helped him on his way. This year it was looked at as part of the TOI route but they regarded the descent on the other side as too dangerous.

RogerB and myself (and a few others from here) did it this year on the TOI sportive. It was nasty as hell. They neutralised the descent and made us all stay behind the lead car, which was fine by me. The ascent was no fun either. It felt like one of those dreams where you are trying to run, but can't.

LDB · 01-09-2008 10:38pm

cantalach wrote: »

I did it just over an hour ago as it turns out. Yes it's 25% but very short. It's newly resurfaced too with lovely smooth tar - much of it was concrete before. Overall, it's very doable compared to some of the other bergs around the city.

Ah right, I was thinking that it might be too short alright to be considered the toughest. I wouldn't relish having to do it 4 times at a fast pace though!

cantalach · 01-09-2008 11:14pm

michaelm wrote: »

In my own area (North Tipp) the hardest climb is believed to be what is locally known as "Step" - this is located just outside the village of Silvermines about 6 miles from Nenagh. This is where Paul Kimmage, when making a lone break in one of the Nissan Classics , famously got off his bike and was about to abandon but for the encouragement of a few locals who helped him on his way. This year it was looked at as part of the TOI route but they regarded the descent on the other side as too dangerous.

Yes, I know the Step, though I haven't actually cycled it because of a catastrophic mechanical the morning I was supposed to go up it a few months back. Of people I know who have done the Step and the Priest's Leap, opinions are divided as to which one takes the honours. They're both killer climbs one way or the other.

TinyExplosions · 02-09-2008 12:29am

Anyone else find it worrying that they are looking at this list thinking "I've got to try that"??

Raam · 02-09-2008 9:18am

Raam wrote: »

RogerB and myself (and a few others from here) did it this year on the TOI sportive. It was nasty as hell. They neutralised the descent and made us all stay behind the lead car, which was fine by me. The ascent was no fun either. It felt like one of those dreams where you are trying to run, but can't.

Sorry, the one we did was Keeper Hill.

michaelm · 02-09-2008 6:04pm

Raam wrote: »

Sorry, the one we did was Keeper Hill.

Are you sure? - there are markings on the road for the Tour of Ireland (only appeared in early May) and they have nothing to do with last week's race as it was going in the other direction.

Raam · 02-09-2008 8:04pm

michaelm wrote: »

Are you sure? - there are markings on the road for the Tour of Ireland (only appeared in early May) and they have nothing to do with last week's race as it was going in the other direction.

Maybe we did the one you mentioned also. It was all a bit of a blur

You can get details on the route here...
http://www.tourofireland.eu/theRoute.htm
Stage 3 is the one.

EH · 02-09-2008 8:43pm

The toughest I've tackled is from the 9 stones to the mast on Mount Leinster. Its then 2-3km of pure pain. See below for information

climbbybike.com - Mount Leinster

Eoin

02-09-2008 9:16pm

The toughest climbs I've found are the Glengesh Pass in Donegal and one short nasty climb just outside Portmagee.I needed about 5 breaks on the Portmagee one

Basically because the lowest gear on my touring bike would be about 1-6 on my mtb (as I assume is the case with most road bikes.) I just about managed the Glengesh Pass although it was incredibly tough and the only reason I managed it was because of the low geared mtb I was on.The bigger climbs I've done were nice and gradual.I found Coomakista(sp?),the Healy Pass and the Gap of Dunloe were fairly nice.It's the shorter incredibly steep ones that finish me off.

michaelm wrote:

In my own area (North Tipp) the hardest climb is believed to be what is locally known as "Step" - this is located just outside the village of Silvermines about 6 miles from Nenagh. This is where Paul Kimmage, when making a lone break in one of the Nissan Classics , famously got off his bike and was about to abandon but for the encouragement of a few locals who helped him on his way. This year it was looked at as part of the TOI route but they regarded the descent on the other side as too dangerous.

Whereabouts is the Step?I don't live too far from that area and would love to give it a go

raam wrote:

Maybe we did the one you mentioned also. It was all a bit of a blur
You can get details on the route here...
http://www.tourofireland.eu/theRoute.htm
Stage 3 is the one.

Keeper Hill would be fireroad all the way to the top so looking at the map ye went up the shoulder of Cooneen Hill(I think.)

Raam · 02-09-2008 9:17pm

Deleted User wrote: »

The toughest climbs I've found are the Glengesh Pass in Donegal and one short nasty climb just outside Portmagee.I needed about 5 breaks on the Portmagee one Basically because the lowest gear on my touring bike would be about 1-6 on my mtb

I've done that climb at Portmagee. It's a right little stinker.

Raam · 02-09-2008 9:22pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Keeper Hill would be fireroad all the way to the top so looking at the map ye went up the shoulder of Cooneen Hill(I think.)

Pretty sure we did Keeper Hill. It's listed here:
http://www.tourofireland.eu/images/maps/stage3.xls (line 87)

02-09-2008 9:25pm

The bad thing is I tackled it first thing in the morning full of energy with a full irish breakfast in me and I still failed miserably!Plus I still had to cycle to Sneem that day by way of Coomakista Pass and another 300m+ climb before Ballinskelligs.It's the first cycle where I've actually ended with more energy than I started with!

EDIT:Actually you're right,looking at the google earth file it seems ye did go up the side of it,not the highest point though.Looking at the profile the highest point reached was 1350ft. The top of Keeper Hill would be approx. 2050ft.The climb is marked as a grey track on the OS map,I'm surprised that route was included in an official race!

cantalach · 02-09-2008 11:26pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Whereabouts is the Step?I don't live too far from that area and would love to give it a go

Head south from Silvermines village - see partial GPS trace below.

LDB · 03-09-2008 9:29am

Raam wrote: »

I've done that climb at Portmagee. It's a right little stinker.

+1 for that. its my most difficult yet.

03-09-2008 11:29pm

Thanks for that cantalach.I'll give it a lash next time I'm out that way.

Signal_ rabbit · 04-09-2008 2:04pm

TinyExplosions wrote: »

Anyone else find it worrying that they are looking at this list thinking "I've got to try that"??

I was just thinking the same, with I know it's gonna hurt but it's got to be done!

Izoard · 04-09-2008 2:35pm

Anyone tackled the climb to Kippure?

Surely competing with Mt.Leinster for Ireland's answer to Mt.Ventoux, complete with TV transmitter.

Highlights:

* 3.4km on a dodgy road (not including the climb to the base, which will involve any of the Sally Gap approaches)
* Last 1km at a crazy %
* Summitting at 760m, which must be a candidated for highest paved road in Ireland?.

TinyExplosions · 04-09-2008 2:36pm

Izoard wrote: »

Anyone tackled the climb to Kippure?

A few here have... Emty, Blorg and Raam for sure

Raam · 04-09-2008 2:38pm

Izoard wrote: »

Anyone tackled the climb to Kippure?

Surely competing with Mt.Leinster for Ireland's answer to Mt.Ventoux, complete with TV transmitter.

Highlights:

* 3.4km on a dodgy road (not including the climb to the base, which will involve any of the Sally Gap approaches)
* Last 1km at a crazy %
* Summitting at 760m, which must be a candidated for highest paved road in Ireland?.

I did it with Blorg one day. The road surface isn't great.

CheGuedara · 08-09-2008 4:03pm

Hi there,
I'm new to Boards.ie but just said I'd contribute my bit!

I'm from Kerry so the Connor Pass gets posted as a reg' training run, and it does put the mountain into the legs but I've gotta say the Mahon Falls climb on the Sean Kelly tour is pretty stiff work.

We've a hill called Maum near Castleisland thats near enough to Seskin too but definitely they're some of the toughest I've done. Any thoughts that we'd all the tough climbs are now safely put away....

Anyone do the climb through the Glean of Aherlow (it's on the the Trip to Tipp 200km route)? That's gotta be up there in the tough climb list.

TinyExplosions · 08-09-2008 4:31pm

Izoard wrote: »

Anyone tackled the climb to Kippure?

Me and Tom did it yesterday, and man it's a toughie alright!

csb1989 · 09-09-2008 12:10am

No Mayo men on here?! I recently cycled around Achill island, and I made a detour up to a radio tower ontop of a hill. It was a dead end road, but in 2.8km it gained 331m of altitude - average gradient of over 11%. To make things worse, there was a short downhill section in the middle, so the average gradient for the first 1.9km is almost 15%. And worse still, seeing as its at a high altitude right out in the Atlantic, you've got a gale force head/cross-wind to contend with. Definitly the hardest climb I've ever done. Never have I had to resort to zig-zagging or prolonged periods out of the saddle, but that day I was a master of both, as I hauled myself up 20% section after 20% section. Fantastic sense of achievement once you get to the top tho, especially with the amazing views (if you can stand up long enough to savour them!) Before having attempted this, I used to think my local climb near Castlebar (Windy Gap) was hard, but that only goes up to a maximum gradient of 15%, and is only 2km long, so if thats hard, the climb on Achill would have to be equated to trying to climb mt Everest with only one leg.. naked.. or something like that! :P

cantalach · 09-09-2008 12:17am

csb1989 wrote: »

No Mayo men on here?! I recently cycled around Achill island, and I made a detour up to a radio tower ontop of a hill. It was a dead end road, but in 2.8km it gained 331m of altitude - average gradient of over 11%. To make things worse, there was a short downhill section in the middle, so the average gradient for the first 1.9km is almost 15%. And worse still, seeing as its at a high altitude right out in the Atlantic, you've got a gale force head/cross-wind to contend with. Definitly the hardest climb I've ever done. Never have I had to resort to zig-zagging or prolonged periods out of the saddle, but that day I was a master of both, as I hauled myself up 20% section after 20% section. Fantastic sense of achievement once you get to the top tho, especially with the amazing views (if you can stand up long enough to savour them!) Before having attempted this, I used to think my local climb near Castlebar (Windy Gap) was hard, but that only goes up to a maximum gradient of 15%, and is only 2km long, so if thats hard, the climb on Achill would have to be equated to trying to climb mt Everest with only one leg.. naked.. or something like that! :P

Sounds great! Any chance you could pinpoint where it is, so that I can give it a go next time I'm up there?

Signal_ rabbit · 09-09-2008 10:35am

cantalach wrote: »

So all this talk on another thread about the Connor Pass vs Sally Gap got my wondering...what's the toughest climb in Ireland?

For me, it's the Priest's Leap which is located right here, roughly 8 km NE of Glengarriff as-the-crow-flies. Depending on where you regard as the start, it goes from roughly 50 m to 465 m over about 5 km. This works out at just over 8% which doesn't seem too bad. But what these comforting numbers disguise is that most of the elevation gain is in a series of savage steps. You even go downhill for a while halfway which is psychologically horrible. The steepness is all the more challenging because it's just a narrow boreen, with plenty of gravel, potholes and rivulets of water, all of which add up to minimal traction - particularly problematic as you're out of the saddle a lot of the time.

I drove this at the weekend to check it out and it scared the ****e out of me when in the car! The surface is very poor and me thinks i might get a few punctures. Very steep route, might have to dig the mountain bike out for this one.

cantalach · 09-09-2008 11:17am

Signal_ rabbit wrote: »

I drove this at the weekend to check it out and it scared the ****e out of me when in the car! The surface is very poor and me thinks i might get a few punctures. Very steep route, might have to dig the mountain bike out for this one.

Wimp!

You have a point though about the surfaces. The problem isn't so much puncturing though. In the few times I've been up it in a large group, with tyres in varying states of repair, not one of us punctured. The real issue with the poor surface is that because you have to stand on some of the really steep bits it's very easy to lose traction. Last time I was up there, I completely lost traction, had to put a foot down, and then had to walk 50-60 m until the gradient eased enough to be able to clip in and get going again.

BaBiT · 11-09-2008 1:05pm

Just wondering if anyone has ever tried/heard of the Goats Path climb in Kilcrohane, West Cork?...Back in the earlier incarnation of my cycling career, 1986 to be precise, I tried climbing this and had to give up and to this day its the only climb I've ever had to turn around on...I started cycling again in 2006 and have been considering taking a trip down there sometime to see if its as tough as I remember..

Toughest Climb in Ireland?

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