Grosse Scheidegg

by Lorenzo Piccoli


On July 12 I took the train at 6:00 and went to Interlaken (566 m). I rode up and down along the lake until I reached Brienz (also 566 m) and then gently up to Meiringen (595 m), where the actual climb begins. The road goes up nicely through the pines at first; and then brutally next to the Reichenbach falls where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle found inspiration and a death place for his hero Sherlock Holmes in the battle against Professor Moriarty. The climb then slows down for three or four kilometres, before getting pace again for a long final stretch, which I did not expect, with a steady percentage of 10 or more. The mountain pass is at 1,962 m and lies just in front of the legendary Eiger – to which I had paid an indirect tribute back in 2015. This is the Grosse Scheidegg, one of the hardest and most beautiful climbs in Switzerland.

From the top to Interlaken it is all goes down: Grindelwald (1,034 m) and Gündlischwand (660 m). I considered riding all the way back to Bern (540 m, about 50 km), but there was a strong wind and I did not have the legs.