Fuorn Pass

Fuorn Pass cycling climb profile

The Fuorn Pass cycling climb is a long category 1 ascent in CH, measuring 27 km from a start elevation of 944 m to a summit elevation of 2,154 m. On paper, the average gradient of 4.48% looks manageable, but that number should not lead you into treating this as a tempo cruise. The profile gains 1,210 m net, and the maximum gradient reaches 10.75%, which means the climb has enough variation to punish anyone who rides the early kilometres too casually.

The key feature is duration. At 27 km, Fuorn Pass is long enough that pacing matters more than aggression. A rider who responds to every steeper pitch at above-threshold effort will be paying for those choices well before the summit. The average gradient suggests plenty of riding can be done seated and controlled, but the double-digit maximum tells you there are sections where cadence can stall if the gearing is too ambitious.

How the gradient unfolds

With the available profile data, the cleanest way to read Fuorn Pass is as a sustained elevation-gain problem rather than a single wall. The climb starts at 944 m and finishes at 2,154 m, so the task is not just to survive a steep ramp, but to keep producing steady power as the road accumulates more than a thousand metres of vertical gain.

The 4.48% average points to a climb that often allows rhythm. That is useful, because rhythm is the best way to avoid burning matches across 27 km. But the 10.75% maximum gradient changes the gearing requirement. Even if the bulk of the climb is moderate, the steepest pitches are steep enough that riders need a bailout gear they can actually use late in the effort, not just a gear that feels acceptable in the first third.

Pacing and gearing notes

Treat Fuorn Pass as a controlled endurance climb with selective pressure points. The right approach is to keep the early effort below the level you could sustain on a shorter climb, then let the gradient dictate where power rises naturally. If you ride by /glossary/ftp, this is not the place to sit on the edge of threshold from the bottom unless you are specifically targeting a hard test.

Practical setup:

• Use gearing that covers the 10.75% maximum gradient without forcing low-cadence grinding.
• Keep the first part conservative, because the 27 km length makes early overpacing expensive.
• Stay seated where possible and reserve standing efforts for the steepest ramps or cadence resets.
• Fuel like it is a long climb, not a short effort with a steep finish.

The main mistake is reading the 4.48% average in isolation. Fuorn Pass is not brutally steep overall, but it is long, gains substantial elevation, and includes ramps that can disrupt pacing. Ride it patiently, keep torque under control, and arrive at the upper slopes with enough margin to handle the steepest sections rather than merely survive them.