Susten · Grimsel · Furka Triple Crown

3 passes in 223 km, topping out at 2250 m

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Why this ride

Cold alpine dawn, three big passes, no wasted kilometres. A 223 km loop that starts and ends near Altdorf, about 4 h 17 of riding. The climbs: Sustenpass west, Grimselpass and Furkapass glacier road. It tops out at about 2,450 m. Susten Pass, Grimsel Pass and Furka Pass are subject to seasonal closure - check it is open before you set off. The passes are the reason to go.

Roadbook

1. Altdorf fuel gate fuel

   Altdorf is the capital of the canton of Uri, a small town at the head of Lake Lucerne's southern arm where the Reuss river leaves the mountains and the Gotthard route begins. It is a practical, low-key place, flat and sheltered, with a pretty centre and a roar of traffic nearby from the motorway, and it is the sort of town where riders refill the tank, buy a coffee and look up at the wall of peaks above.

   The centre of attention is Wilhelm Tell. The legend says that Tell, a crossbowman from Uri, was forced by the tyrannical Austrian bailiff Gessler to shoot an apple from his son's head, and that he later killed Gessler and helped spark the Swiss rebellion. In the main square stands a statue of Tell and his son, put up in the 1890s, and the story is told with pride. Historians doubt that Tell ever existed, but locals tend to treat that as irrelevant.

   The roads from here are some of the best in Switzerland. South, the Gotthard route climbs through the Reuss valley, with its old stone bridges and the Devil's Bridge legend. East, the Klausen pass links to Glarus, and the Susten pass heads west toward Meiringen, with its sweeping bends and glacier views, closed in winter. Altdorf is also the gateway to the Axenstrasse, a lake-side road cut through rock, with tunnels, balconies and glimpses of the water far below. These are famous riding routes, and they get busy on sunny weekends.

   Fuel is straightforward here, with several stations, and the town has plenty of cafes and bakeries. Altdorf lies at only 458 metres, so it warms up early, though the mountain passes above are still snowed up in spring. Give yourself time for breakfast before the big climbs. Note that the Gotthard road tunnel can have long queues, so plan around the holiday traffic.

2. Sustenpass west ramp pass · 2224 m

   The west ramp of the Sustenpass starts in the Haslital near Innertkirchen and climbs through the Gadmertal, a deep, quiet, wooded valley that most day-trippers never see. Fuel is down in the valley at Innertkirchen or Meiringen, and the nearest big town is Altdorf, well over twenty kilometres away, so fill up before you go.

   The Susten is one of the finest-engineered mountain roads in Switzerland. Built in the late 1930s and early 1940s, partly as a defence project during the war and partly to link the Bernese Oberland with Uri, it climbs steadily on a constant gradient, with wide, flowing bends that are easy to read and a surface that is generally in very good shape. Rock walls rise on one side, and on the other the valley drops away in a drift of glacier-polished slabs and thin waterfalls. Tunnels and galleries protect the road from avalanches, and they can be dark and damp, so lift your visor and let your eyes adjust.

   On the way up you pass the Stein glacier, a tongue of ice that once reached almost to the road and has been retreating for decades. A lake of milky meltwater has formed below the ice, and there is a hotel and a car park at the foot of the walk. Sustenhorn and Gwächtenhorn raise their white heads above the pass, and in early summer the snow banks beside the road can stand taller than a rider. The pass closes in winter, usually from late autumn until late spring, so check the opening notices before planning a trip.

   Combine it with its neighbours, Grimsel and Furka, and you have the classic Swiss triple, a tour of high passes that one day can barely hold. The best time is early in the morning, when the air is cold and clean and the tourist coaches have not yet begun. At the summit, the thin air makes tea taste better than it has any right to. Watch for cattle on the road, and for cyclists on the long climb.

3. Innertkirchen reset food

   Innertkirchen sits at 625 metres where the Haslital opens out, and in practice it is a junction. Two famous passes start here, the Grimsel climbing southeast toward the Rhône glacier and the Susten rising east toward the Reuss valley, and the roads divide at the edge of the village. The Aare river runs through, fresh from the glaciers, and just downstream the Aare Gorge cuts a narrow slot of polished limestone that can be walked on timber galleries. The valley is also the heart of the Oberhasli hydropower scheme, with turbines and tunnels bored deep inside the mountains, which explains the large grey buildings you pass.

   Four kilometres down the valley is Meiringen, the bigger place and the one with more services. The town says it invented the meringue, a claim that is hard to prove but cheerfully repeated in every bakery window. It also has a more literary link. Arthur Conan Doyle sent Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty over the nearby Reichenbach Falls in 1893, and there is a small Holmes museum in town and a funicular to the falls. For fuel, groceries and a proper meal, Meiringen is the answer, and a stop here before the passes is sound planning.

   The riding from Innertkirchen is as good as Swiss riding gets. Susten has long, perfectly graded curves up to a summit near 2,224 metres, with views of glaciers, while Grimsel goes up to around 2,164 metres past big reservoirs and rock walls before reaching the Furka and Nufenen roads beyond. Surfaces are good, but traffic can be heavy on summer weekends, and weather turns quickly, with cold rain or fog at the top while the valley basks. The passes close in winter, typically from around late October or November until late spring or early June, with dates depending on snow, so check before you plan a trip.

   Morning is the best time to leave, when the air is cold and the tarmac empty. Pack a warm layer, because even in July the summits can be close to freezing, and keep a hand on the fuel gauge, since there are no stations on the passes themselves.

4. Grimselpass high point pass · 2164 m

   At the top of the Grimsel the world feels stripped to essentials: grey granite, a patch of black water, a pale sky and the wind. The pass reaches 2,164 metres on the border between the cantons of Bern and Valais, and the high point itself is a modest saddle with a small lake, the Totesee, and a handful of buildings. The bigger picture, with its glaciers and peaks, is spread out around you in every direction.

   What is surprising is how much history is packed into this bare place. The route has been used since at least the Middle Ages, and for centuries it was a trade path between the Bernese Oberland and the Valais, with mule trains carrying cheese, wine and salt. Armies crossed it too, and in 1799 French and Austrian forces fought around the pass during the Napoleonic wars, which is the source of the name of the small lake, according to local tradition. Today the traffic is bikes, cars and cyclists, and the air smells of cold stone and diesel.

   Looking south, the road begins its descent toward Gletsch in a series of tight hairpins, and at the bottom the Rhône glacier gleams in the distance. Looking north, the road runs along the Grimselsee and down the Haslital, a steep glacial valley with waterfalls and old wooden villages. The sensation of being on the roof of the region is strong, and the sound of running water follows you down either side.

   For a rider coming from the Innertkirchen direction, this is the high point of the day. There is nothing for fuel here, so fill up at Innertkirchen or Meiringen if you are coming from the north, and at Oberwald or Brig from the south. Bring warm gloves, since even a summer morning can be close to freezing at this altitude, and check the pass is open before you start. Spring snow can linger into June, and the first autumn storms can shut the pass in October.

5. Furkapass glacier road pass · 2429 m

   Furka is the pass everybody has seen without knowing it: the Goldfinger car chase of 1964 was filmed on these hairpins, and the hotel at the Rhône glacier still trades on the association. At 2,429 metres it is the highest pass of the classic Swiss trio, linking Uri to the canton of Valais through the Urseren valley and down to Gletsch.

   The road itself is a joy. On the Uri side it runs up from Realp in a sequence of tight bends and long straights, with views back along the Urseren valley, while the Valais side drops away in generous hairpins towards Gletsch. The gradients are steady, the surface decent and the barriers sturdy, though a stretch or two is patched and rough after the winter. At the summit, the old Hotel Belvédère sits above the Rhône glacier, whose ice grotto has been cut into the glacier each summer for visitors. A century ago the ice nearly reached the hotel terrace, and a line of photographs shows how far it has retreated. Visitors now see a tongue covered by protective blankets in summer to slow the melting.

   The Furka also has a famous railway. The old Furka mountain line, a cogwheel steam railway, used to cross under the pass in a high tunnel before a long base tunnel was opened in the early 1980s and left the summit section unused. Volunteers restored it, and in summer steam trains again climb the route between Realp and Oberwald, a nostalgic sight you may catch from the road. The Swiss love a good railway, and the Furka line is a firm favourite.

   The pass closes in the snow season, typically from about late October to early June, and it can close temporarily after a summer storm. It is also exposed to wind and cloud, so even on a fine day, bring a windproof layer. Go early, and you will have the hairpins almost to yourself.

6. Realp fuel and descent check fuel

   Realp is a village that most people drive through on the way to somewhere more famous, and that is reason enough to stop. It lies at about 1,540 metres in the Urseren valley, a high, treeless trough between the Furka and the Oberalp passes, with the Reuss river wandering through meadows. The surrounding mountains are bare and wide, and the valley has the open, windswept feeling of high Alpine country.

   The village is the home of the Furka steam railway, a volunteer operation that has restored the old Furka line, abandoned in the early 1980s when a new tunnel replaced the mountain route. The volunteers rebuilt the track, locomotives and stations by hand over several decades, and in summer the steam trains run between Realp and Oberwald, climbing over the pass. The workshops at Realp are a fine place for anyone who loves old machinery, and the smell of coal smoke and hot oil is unforgettable.

   For fuel the sensible plan is Andermatt, a few kilometres east, which has stations and shops and is much bigger than Realp. Andermatt has also grown in recent years with new hotels and apartments, but the old centre remains a pleasant spot for lunch, with a church and a garrison history that stretches back to the nineteenth century. For a bigger town with every service, Altdorf is a good half hour to the north.

   A descent check is good advice here. Coming down from the Furka or the Gotthard, the brakes get hard work, and a stop here lets you cool them and look over the bike. The road down toward Andermatt and the Schöllenen gorge is steep and busy, with trucks and tourists, and the wind in the valley can be fierce. In summer the afternoons bring storms that build over the ridges and break quickly, so keep an eye on the clouds. In winter the valley is deeply snowed in, and the Furka is closed.

7. Back to Altdorf finish

   Back to Altdorf closes the day.

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