Chall Pass

Overview

Chall Pass is a Category 2 climb in Switzerland, running 8.3 km from a valley floor at 360 m up to a summit at 772 m. Over that distance it delivers 412 m of net elevation gain at an average gradient of 4.96%. On paper that reads as a steady, mid-tempo effort, the kind of ascent you can settle into and hold to the top.

The profile is not that clean. Against 412 m of net gain, the climb records 503 m of total ascent — a 91 m mismatch. That extra vertical means the road gives back elevation partway up and forces you to reclaim it, so the pass rolls rather than climbs in one continuous line. Every metre you descend is a metre you climb twice, and that undulation makes the true effort meaningfully harder than the average gradient suggests.

How the Gradient Unfolds

The 4.96% average is a blend of flat, downhill, and genuinely steep road, not a number you feel anywhere for long. With a maximum gradient of 18.48%, the hardest ramps are more than triple the average, and they sit inside the rolling middle where a false-flat suddenly kicks up.

• Flatter recovery sections and short descents where the road hands back elevation
• Repeated short climbs that re-take the same metres, punishing any rider who stops pedalling
• A steepest ramp near 18.48% that spikes your effort well above tempo

Pacing Notes

On a rolling climb like this, chasing even speed is a trap — you overspend on every ramp and coast the recovery sections, spiking your effort into the red repeatedly. Aim for even effort instead, capping your power on the steep pitches and accepting a slower crawl over the 18.48% sections rather than forcing the pace.

Anchor that ceiling to your sustainable power output and keep the steep ramps just below it, letting the flatter and downhill stretches be genuine recovery. If you do not know your number, run the FTP estimator before you go so you climb to data, not to feel.

Gearing

The 18.48% maximum is what dictates your setup, not the 4.96% average. At that pitch, cadence collapses fast on standard gearing, so run a compact or sub-compact chainset paired with a wide-range cassette — a 34×32 or 34×34 gives you a bailout gear to spin the steepest ramps instead of grinding them. Confirm your chainring and cassette combination before the ride; discovering you are over-geared halfway up a rolling Category 2 pass is a slow, expensive lesson.

Summary

• Length: 8.3 km
• Average gradient: 4.96%
• Maximum gradient: 18.48%
• Net elevation gain: 412 m
• Total ascent: 503 m
• Category: 2

Chall Pass rewards riders who respect its undulation. Treat the 503 m of total ascent as the real climb, cap your effort on the ramps, and gear low enough to keep spinning — do that and the summit at 772 m comes without blowing up.