Ireland's steepest hill

andy69

Would that climb out of Doolin register on the steepest climbs list I wonder? Seem to remember signs on it warning it was 26% or something along those lines. Castle hill I think they call it. Short but very very steep!

smacl

Not the steepest, if we're throwing in the likes of the Nine stones up the the Mast of Mt Leinster, but a few favourites none the less;

Kilmashogue lane (a term _Daragh used last year in conjunction with the term repeats, much to my amazement)
Full wall
Dying cow
Balligisheen from Waterville
Ballaghbeama from Sneem
Coomanaspic
Corabutt gap
And yes, castle hill out of Doolin is well worth including, though not the overall steepest IMHO.

The Nutty M

smacl wrote: »

Not the steepest, if we're throwing in the likes of the Nine stones up the the Mast of Mt Leinster, but a few favourites none the less;

Kilmashogue lane (a term _Daragh used last year in conjunction with the term repeats, much to my amazement)
Full wall
Dying cow
Balligisheen from Waterville
Ballaghbeama from Sneem
Coomanaspic
Corabutt gap
And yes, castle hill out of Doolin is well worth including, though not the overall steepest IMHO.

Went through these two from the Sneem side with the Ras na Mban last year and they are vicious,Ballaghbeama is definitely harder than Minaun in Achill in my opinion.
Up around Lough Salt in Donegal there are a few short steep hills but nothing sustained.

ford2600

The Nutty M wrote: »

Went through these two from the Sneem side with the Ras na Mban last year and they are vicious,Ballaghbeama is definitely harder than Minaun in Achill in my opinion.
Up around Lough Salt in Donegal there are a few short steep hills but nothing sustained.

Short but nasty
http://app.strava.com/segments/1675852

Carpenter

Caroline_ie wrote: »

Kippure is hard but I think the max gradient is only 17% near the top around the last bend, the rest is a steady 11/12% ( I think ). Obviously, you would cycle up it after going up Sally Gap.

I was up there today and my Garmin 500 said 20% near the top if it is giving me a wrong reading :mad: its in the bin and there is no way its as hard as the 9 stones
I did Kippure in 20.44 into a head wind but the 9 stones was 37mins after saying that it was last year so I might go down and try it again:D any excuse I guess.

SomeFool

Temple Hill in Cork has to be up there, tougher than Patrick's hill for me!

ROK ON

This is steep
http://www.strava.com/segments/1163936
Mullaghanish - there is a 3km climb at 5% before you start the climb to the mast.

This is steeper:


http://www.strava.com/segments/935296
Misery, pure claustrophobic misery.

SomeFool

ROK ON wrote: »

This is steeper:


http://www.strava.com/segments/935296
Misery, pure claustrophobic misery.

Looks awesome! have to try it someday.

buffalo

g0g wrote: »

Cat 4 on Strava

Strava might be confused by the -26.7% blip, followed by 42.4%. I'm trying to imagine what sort of road would be 42.4%, and I'm crying on the inside.

siochain

As mentioned Achaill has some of the toughest climbs but so rewarding as the scenery is unreal if its a clear day.

MajesticDonkey

buffalo wrote: »

I'm trying to imagine what sort of road would be 42.4%, and I'm crying on the inside.

I don't think there would be too many 42% roads in the world. That's nearly 45 degrees (on a graph).

ford2600

MajesticDonkey wrote: »

I don't think there would be too many 42% roads in the world. That's nearly 45 degrees (on a graph).

Back to school for you....

PrzemoF

MajesticDonkey wrote: »

I don't think there would be too many 42% roads in the world. That's nearly 45 degrees (on a graph).

it's ~ 23 deg

45 deg = 100 %

Morrisseeee

ROK ON wrote:

This is steeper:


http://www.strava.com/segments/935296
Misery, pure claustrophobic misery.

SomeFool wrote: »

Looks awesome! have to try it someday.

This would be it




Ireland's longest steepest climb is this tho..........2.6km @ 13.4% great-granny ring needed :pac:
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SpaceTime

CDfm wrote: »

patricks hill in cork is fairly steep

There are quite a few pretty steep hills around Cork City and Cobh, if you're talking about urban hills.

stooge

Mill Hill in Castlewellan Co. Down is a fairly tough climb. probably not the steepest though

MajesticDonkey

ford2600 wrote: »

Back to school for you....

Back to bed you mean

AlanD

Kilbane climb (Co. Clare) from the West is a pretty serious climb that shoots to over 20% in places.

http://app.strava.com/activities/67344703#1294463122

Felloffmebike

On the Skellig Ring in Kerry - after St Finians Bay take the left turn for Portmagee and up the hairpin bends. Or start in Portmagee, its pretty much straight up from that side. Sign at the bottom pointing to "Ireland's most spectacular cliffs" let's you know what's in store. View at the top is spectacular. Have to confess I failed last time I tried it.

MajesticDonkey

Dunno if this has been posted here before...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ag1LJillBCzKdE02cWVwY2R6UFVvRUZZRVBjVlRPb2c#gid=0

Zen0

MajesticDonkey wrote: »

Dunno if this has been posted here before...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ag1LJillBCzKdE02cWVwY2R6UFVvRUZZRVBjVlRPb2c#gid=0

Holy cow! Number 1 looks seriously hard. What's the surface like?

MajesticDonkey

Zen0 wrote: »

Holy cow! Number 1 looks seriously hard. What's the surface like?

No idea! That list was compiled by boardsie seve65.

Morrisseeee

Zen0 wrote: »

Holy cow! Number 1 looks seriously hard. What's the surface like?

Surface is beautiful.................cause you'll be going at << 10km/h
Seriously though, it's ok, some guy actually has a youtube video of his descent (@90km/h or something) !!

Zen0

"...........cause you'll be going at << 10km/h "

My normal uphill speed then

Morrisseeee

Zen0 wrote: »

"...........cause you'll be going at << 10km/h "

My normal uphill speed then

No, it'd be the square root of that

Here's an interesting view of it..........

DrChristianTroy

Morrisseeee wrote: »

Surface is beautiful.................cause you'll be going at << 10km/h
Seriously though, it's ok, some guy actually has a youtube video of his descent (@90km/h or something) !!

Just watched that vid....mental stuff!

Felloffmebike

Wow, mine is only number 29 and I couldn't get up that one. I'll put it down to age and carefully avoid numbers 1-28...

magicbastarder

DrChristianTroy wrote: »

Just watched that vid....mental stuff!

i forwarded that video to a few people i know; most of them non-cyclists. the general reaction was that the cyclist was being an asshole, in relation to the fact that he was passing ramblers at high speed and in close proximity.

Slogger Jogger

MajesticDonkey wrote: »

Dunno if this has been posted here before...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ag1LJillBCzKdE02cWVwY2R6UFVvRUZZRVBjVlRPb2c#gid=0

Rode a nice segment this morning near Aughrim Co. Wicklow.
http://www.strava.com/segments/5134975
9.2% avg grade over nearly 2k, on a road less travelled (off the Aughrim Aughavannagh road).

Could be added to the spreadsheet if that is the best home for boards strava segments? I don't have update access by the looks of it.

jinkypolly

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Rode a nice segment this morning near Aughrim Co. Wicklow.
http://www.strava.com/segments/5134975
9.2% avg grade over nearly 2k, on a road less travelled (off the Aughrim Aughavannagh road).

Could be added to the spreadsheet if that is the best home for boards strava segments? I don't have update access by the looks of it.

It wouldn't qualify, a climb needs to have over 200m of ascent to make the list.

Sir Osis of Liver.

Seskin,Carrick on Suir takes some beating.

ford2600

Sir Osis of Liver. wrote: »

Seskin,Carrick on Suir takes some beating.

Not even a mile long, height gain of 130odd meters.
No where near as tough as those listed

ROK ON

http://www.strava.com/segments/2680537

I was out for a drive today and decided to head to Barley Lake - I had never been there. The car (small 1.2L Skoda) could not get up the first 0.3km.

Strava says that it is crica 20% plus for this section of the segment - but the road really cooks up. Car simply would not go forward even in fiirst gear - huge amount of backwheel spin.
The same car has been up and over Priests Leap and the Glengariff forest road climb - so it shouldnt have been a problem. On that basis I think that this must be among the steepest climbs in Ireland.

Hmmzis

ROK ON wrote: »

http://www.strava.com/segments/2680537

I was out for a drive today and decided to head to Barley Lake - I had never been there. The car (small 1.2L Skoda) could not get up the first 0.3km.

Strava says that it is crica 20% plus for this section of the segment - but the road really cooks up. Car simply would not go forward even in fiirst gear - huge amount of backwheel spin.
The same car has been up and over Priests Leap and the Glengariff forest road climb - so it shouldnt have been a problem. On that basis I think that this must be among the steepest climbs in Ireland.

You sure it was back wheel spin? What model of Skoda is it? I've never hear of a RWD drive model from them especially with a 1.2L engine. I like RWD and if they have one that I just don't know of I'd love to get my hands on one .

Wishbone Ash

MajesticDonkey wrote: »

Dunno if this has been posted here before...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ag1LJillBCzKdE02cWVwY2R6UFVvRUZZRVBjVlRPb2c#gid=0

I'm surprised the Gap of Mamore is only ranked 10th and with a gradient of 11.7%. When the Ras went through in 2012, An Post declared it as averaging 21%. It's bloody savage and by far the most physically difficult thing I've ever done. It hits you like a punch in the face and continually punches you on the way up. I think my Garmin registered above 30% in places. It's the only climb where my nose bled as I neared the summit.

Even a certain Mr Sherlock described it well (especially in the last two words):

The next few minutes were mostly a blur with the odd self questioning - “why am I doing this?” - usually, this is a good sign – it means I'm pushing hard. The climb was very very steep – the hardest I've seen in Ireland by a long way and my 39x25 was two high a gearing for me to ride the hill the way I wanted. In general, especially more recently, I like to spin while climbing. About 80-90 RPM while seated and around 80 while standing. I basically had to stand almost all the climb, using all my mountain biking smooth pedalling skills to not spin out the rear wheel on the slippery tarmac while only pedaling at about 50rpm. After a lot of pain, I looked down at the Garmin to see I covered 1.55km – only 350 meters to go, but those 350 meters were like a wall. Already far into oxygen dept and a huge headwind I hit the final section which averaged out at a 19% gradient – I wish I had lower gears. I kept pushing and the crowd cheered me on as I made the final push. I crossed the line, placed my bike carefully at the side of the road (making sure not to damage the super expensive borrowed wheels) and promptly collapsed.

flatface

MajesticDonkey wrote: »

Dunno if this has been posted here before...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ag1LJillBCzKdE02cWVwY2R6UFVvRUZZRVBjVlRPb2c#gid=0

Great bucket list!
Did 3 today: three rock, cruagh and kippure. For some reason I found they got harder rather than easier.

Hermy

SixPot wrote: »

Don't know if Valentia's been mentioned yet but this snap from the Classic Car forum looks worthy of inclusion.:eek:

Felloffmebike

Yes it's there Hermy. No. 29 I think. It's not actually on Valentia, it is the road from Portmagee (where you cross the bridge on to Valentia) towards Skellig and St. Finian's Bay. I think what you see in the photo is taken part of the way down the descent into St. Finian's Bay which is down a series of hairpin bends. By the time you reach the point where this photo is taken you are coughing up your lungs having climbed up from Portmagee. And that's just in the car... I tried to climb up the hairpins and failed miserably. And to think there are 28 harder climbs than this..

ROK ON

^
Coomanaspig

Hermy

Gradients aren't always apparent in photos but that one certainly leaves nothing to the imagination!

mcgratheoin

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

the Gap of Mamore is only ranked 10th and with a gradient of 11.7%.

I assume everyone realises that those rankings are subjective and not fully complete. For example the road up to the mast at Mt Leinster can only be reached by one of 3 decent climbs so it should really be considered as a component of each of those rather than on it's own.


In terms of the toughest climbs, then zanibike has a mathematically derived difficulty rating for climbs that is not reliant on subjective weightings. In terms of the steepest climbs, then you need to be very specific about what is being asked, and a cutoff interval needs to be defined - i.e. the steepest average gradient over a 1km interval - then Mamore Gap might be higher up there, but probably won't be close to some of the climbs around Glengarriff.

Morrisseeee

Speaking of Glengariff, it reminds me of all those fcekers of gradients out around Allihies yesterday......../shivers

Here's 2 beauties/killers and they're parallel to each other, so you may as well do them both.........muhahaha!

BallyduffGlen
1.4km @ 11%, from looking at guys attempts, all of them report this bit @ over 20% and one reports 27.2% !



Gortnapeaky(Steeeeep)
1.7km @ 11.4% - if you take the BM (benchmarks) from the old maps on OSI.ie
The big issue with this climb is the start, the first 300m @ 18% are a killer but.......you still have 1.4km left to do !

seve65

AlanD wrote: »

Kilbane climb (Co. Clare) from the West is a pretty serious climb that shoots to over 20% in places.

http://app.strava.com/activities/67344703#1294463122

Added that one. :-)

All just a bit of fun.

cantalach

There's a little boreen named Bóthar na gCloch that cuts across the Dingle Peninsula and one particular stretch must surely be in the top-5. It averages 20% but touches 30% here 'n' there. Oh and none of that nice smooth tarmac like you have on Patrick's Hill or Temple Hill either. This is a proper Kerry mountain road.

Starts here: http://goo.gl/maps/DuIBH

Strava segment here: http://www.strava.com/segments/639593

on_the_nickel

Would submit Black Mountain in the Cooley Mountains for the list. Not especially steep, though the first 800m average at 12.8% and it ramps up again at the top towards the RTE mast. I've only ever done it on overcast days, but I'm sure the view over Carlingford is stunning if the weather is right.

4.8km at an average 7.7% to climb 374m.

http://app.strava.com/segments/1000934

geros29

Not much mention of priests leap? Surely up there as toughest climb...

shamrock55

Any mention of the goats path from the kilcrohane side thats pretty damb steep

shamrock55

Morrisseeee wrote: »

This would be it




Ireland's longest steepest climb is this tho..........2.6km @ 13.4% great-granny ring needed :pac:
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If that pic is the road up to barley lake that road is a b***h to drive up never mind cycle:eek:

Wishbone Ash

geros29 wrote: »

Not much mention of priests leap? Surely up there as toughest climb...

It's in the spreadsheet at no. 3.

Carpenter

We could bring this up a notch and ask what ring these climbs were done in :D (Or maybe not:P)