Highwood Pass

[Brent.ff]

Might want to get a fat bike! Guess this'll be a little bit.

We're aiming for the weekend of the 10th

[Penguin_Racecar]

Who wants to go do hill repeats in preparation?

[lilmira]

Yeah it's a bit early for that. I'm going up as soon as it's good to go. I'm trying to do it may be a couple times before it's open to traffic.

[Brent.ff]

That is just fresh snow, they got 40 cm on Wednesday up there! Gonna need some warming as only 3 weekends left after this one

[msommers]

:eek: :eek:

[lilmira]

With winter coming tomorrow at higher elevation, I guess this weekend is out. Which leaves us just two weekends to ride on before Jun15. We shall see.

[Penguin_Racecar]

Lots of decent hills south of the city if you're itching to climb:

https://www.strava.com/segments/890380

https://www.strava.com/segments/4946339

https://www.strava.com/segments/1411398

[buh_buh]

COP Switchbacks are my favorite for hill repeats. Can really only do 5 or 6 of them though before calling it quits. Anyone know where we have some 10%+ grade climbs around the city?

[lilmira]

There are a few pathways that get that steep but they are not long, like in Bowmont and Valley Ridge. I don't know of any roads that steep and long in town.

Highwood is just a bit special with the presence of wildlife, scenery and no traffic.

Anyone did Hwy66 recently?

I'd like to ride those roads in the south but I'm too lazy to drive across town. Driving to Bar-U Ranch last weekend felt like eternity lol.

[Penguin_Racecar]

Originally posted by lilmira

I'd like to ride those roads in the south but I'm too lazy to drive across town. Driving to Bar-U Ranch last weekend felt like eternity lol.

Honestly - the roads south of the city are totally worth it.

As for >10% hills, there are only a few around:

Bowmont Wall
https://www.strava.com/segments/2004077

Which is right near Everesting Segment - This one is less steep but makes for a nice repeat hill
https://www.strava.com/segments/14146172

Second steepest (probably) - Fish Creek Fry Up 25% Bridge to Bollard:
https://www.strava.com/segments/2480503

Probably steepest - Mur de Alley:
https://www.strava.com/segments/1509670

If you're looking for shorter hills to put down more power you can just go one gear harder than normally comfortable :D

Another one I've used in the past for repeats is Wild Rose Drive Climb:
https://www.strava.com/segments/1013303

It's usually nice and quiet so you don't have to worry about catching cars on the descent.

[buh_buh]

This is my favorite, but looking for something longer.

https://www.strava.com/segments/646750

[Penguin_Racecar]

You can climb Old Banff Coach Road, but it's got flat sections in it:

https://www.strava.com/segments/1148708

Should take a solid 10+ minutes depending on bike/fitness.

Further out of town is Elbow Falls:

https://www.strava.com/segments/702986
3.4KM @ 6%. It's a solid grunt with a couple 10% sections.
I think it's clear of snow now (maybe not after today?)

If you own a gravel capable bike you can go climb Whiteman's Gap:
https://www.strava.com/segments/1030908
2.8km @ 9% average. You gain about 300m of elevation in 2.7km though :D

[Penguin_Racecar]

Speaking of long climbs - road trip?

https://www.strava.com/segments/1800629

[lilmira]

I saw people riding on Hwy66 recently. Condition now is probably questionable.

That road to Revy looks challenging. Holy batman holding 300W for an hour. :eek: May as well do Golden on the way there too.

[Brent.ff]

Camped at interlakes and got a fair amount of m and km in. Talked to guys at the gate and they said there was an Avvy up top. Email from friend says snow at Elbow Lake

https://www.strava.com/activities/1010252876

[buh_buh]

A guy I work with rode up this past weekend and said they got to about 2km from the summit before there was snow. The pics he showed me saw were similar to the one you posted Brent.ff. From the gate he said they got around 32km in, and IIRC the sign near the gate says 35km. I'm going to give it a go this weekend.

[lilmira]

I saw a pic supposedly taken in the weekend with a huge block of snow/ice on the road. It makes sense to be leftover from avalanche. There is some rain in the forecast but the week appears to be warm especially tomorrow and wed. The week after is looking kinda ugly again. Let's do the sun dance.

[ExtraSlow]

From my time out that way, it looks like every single slide path on every single mountain slid this season. So I'm sure there is debris left on the road.

[Brent.ff]

Originally posted by buh_buh
A guy I work with rode up this past weekend and said they got to about 2km from the summit before there was snow. The pics he showed me saw were similar to the one you posted Brent.ff. From the gate he said they got around 32km in, and IIRC the sign near the gate says 35km. I'm going to give it a go this weekend.


He musta come in from south side. That is a ~77 k round trip. North side is only ~15k to the top

[Brent.ff]

Double

[buh_buh]

Originally posted by Brent.ff



He musta come in from south side. That is a ~77 k round trip. North side is only ~15k to the top Yep he did.

[lilmira]

looks like someone made it to the top from the north side today lol

https://www.strava.com/activities/1013369251#24865743758

[Brent.ff]

Looks like he's probably the only guy on strava to have gotten up this year. Next weekend definitely looks doable then. That is quite the avvy

[buh_buh]

Definitely headed up this weekend. Saturday or Sunday is still undecided though.

[lilmira]

Tomorrow should be a better day but I have to do the Wheels for Wells so sunday for me.

At least 3 people have made it up now.

[Brent.ff]

Lotsa people have done it, any beyonders.. hoping for this weekend but think she's gonna be a wet, cold one

[lilmira]

Yeah, this weekend is not looking stellar. Worst case, I'm going to take a morning off during the week to do it.

[buh_buh]

Did it both days last weekend. Saturday was warm, still snow at the very top. Probably only about a 100m stretch though. Sunday wasn't as warm, but the snow is almost all gone so you should be able to get all the way over the top by this weekend. There was an avalanche on the North side though, so if you're planning on going up that way, you have to walk over or around it.

[Brent.ff]

https://www.strava.com/activities/1026115961/shareable_images/map_based?hl=en-US&v=1496884059

Not the highwood but about as much fun as I've had on a descent. This road is closed till the 19th so if you're in the Jasper area..

[Brent.ff]

Sounds like i'm doing it from the south tomorrow, and north on sunday

here comes a sore bum

[Penguin_Racecar]

Originally posted by Brent.ff
Sounds like i'm doing it from the south tomorrow, and north on sunday

here comes a sore bum

Just man up and do the south approach and the north approach on the same day.

[lilmira]

I'm heading up from the north side on sun. I'm starting from the gas station at fortress, meeting up with a buddy at the gate at around 930. We'll probably go down the south side for a bit and turn around. Hopefully the avalanche debris is all melted or clear enough for us to ride through.

[Brent.ff]

Just man up and do the south approach and the north approach on the same day.


Heh, can't find a partner to do it with!

[lilmira]

so cold up there this morning, my legs were shaking on the way down.

[Brent.ff]

so cold up there this morning, my legs were shaking on the way down.

It was probably 15 degrees warmer up there today (at noon) then yesterday! most of that snow at the top happened overnight

[msommers]

At least it wasn't as bad as the Jasper Gran Fondo saturday morning. Nearly got hypothermia on that stupid ride! They really need to stop doing this event in June and change it to July/August.

When does the road open for Highwood?

[lilmira]

It's open on Jun15.

It's my third year going up before the road's open. This year was the coldest by far. Degree in temperature wise wasn't that much different. I'm not sure if it's the moisture up there. It was just bone chilling at one point. Going up was fine, I actually had to open my zip for ventilation. The descent was an ice cold bath. My buddy had to ride his brakes coming down cause he didn't want to go any faster. Saw one guy going up in regular t-shirt and shorts. I can't imagine his ride down with sweat soaked cotton clothes.

Scenery was fantastic, best by far in my experience with the snow covering.

[buh_buh]

Just man up and do the south approach and the north approach on the same day.

I talked about doing this with a few friends this year, doing the full 100km but we were all on some sort of time crunch so couldn't do it. Ended up doing south side twice last weekend on Saturday and Sunday. But I think next year we're thinking of making a gran fondo out of it and doing the 80km to Nakiska village from the South side, maybe grabbing a quick bite to eat then going back for 160km.