My 8th Hardest Climb… Mount Buller
Departure: Mansfield
Length: 48.0 km
Altitude: 1655m
Height Gain: 1214m
Average Gradient: 4.0%
Maximum gradient: 13%
Category: Category 1
Little more than a three-hour drive from Melbourne, Mount
Buller is one of the most scenic climbs in the Victorian Alps. Its 4%
average gradient mightn't sound like much on paper but it’s its final 16
kilometres that make this climb what it is. Heading west from Mansfield along
the C320, the road winds gently through rolling hills until it reaches the tollgate
at the tiny township of Mirimbah.
Beyond Mirimbah the road steeply rises, maintaining a
steady gradient of around 6% for the next 6 kilometres. Similarly to the Col d’Aubisque
and many of the other well-known climbs in the French Pyrenees, the road up
Mount Buller is signposted all the way to its summit.
Perhaps not quite as tough as its counterpart 50 kilometres
to the northeast, (you’ll read about this climb in my next blog), its beauty, its
intermittent steepness and its teasing approach to the top, would easily rank Buller’s
Tourist Road with many of the climbs in the three European grand tours.
For difficulty and character, I’d compare it with Hautacam
in the French Pyrenees; it’s just slightly less steep overall. Not forgetting
that the road up to the French ski-station is a Hors
Categorie climb.
..........Before dinner and an evening stroll I did
the climb up to the ski resort of Hautacam. Another peak situated close to the
foot of Argelès-Gazost, it’s a 17-kilometre ride averaging 6.8%. While veiled
in mist at the 1,635 metre summit, the conditions for climbing seemed perfect
from down below. The early part of the climb took me through three small
hamlets. As I passed through each one, I had the distinct feeling that I’d seen
them before. It was obviously on one of those intimate television coverages of
the Tour de France, where cameras probe deeper than a colonoscopy.
Nevertheless, seeing them first-hand felt a little bizarre, even surreal.
The gradient was relatively easy for most of the way, except for a
3-kilometre section averaging around 9%. I felt confident that nothing would
stop me in my tracks, even as the road became more slippery the higher I
travelled. Despite the thick veil of mist still hovering around the summit, I
passed plenty of riders coming down. I also passed Roz, who was on foot. She’d
parked the car about 2 kilometres from the top, deciding to walk up the rest of
the way. Of the riders I passed, not many bothered to respond to my
enthusiastic “Bonjour”, which was a little disheartening. After all, they were
descending while I was climbing. Admittedly, you can’t stop to get off your
bike to shake hands and hug every rider you pass, but there should be a little
camaraderie between cyclists. A simple nod of the head, as some riders do, is
enough to acknowledge that we all share the same roads, mountains and love of
movement on a bike.
But unlike the Alto de l’Angliru, the final kilometre up Hautacam seemed
relatively easy. In my mind, what distinguishes the Spanish mountain, and the
other great climbs, like Austria’s Grossglockner and the Cime de la Bonette,
are the killer gradients towards the top. Going above 16%—and 20% in the case
of Angliru—at the end of a long day’s climb is physical and mental torture,
only too well reinforced by David Millar’s dummy spit back in 2002.
Coming down was half pleasure, half pain. The road was still shrouded in
fog, and if anything it was getting colder. Suddenly I was forced to come to a
screeching halt at the sight of cattle, about 40 head, being herded across the
road. Like the motorist coming the other way, I had to wait until the very last
cow had meandered its way, ever so slowly, across to the other side, swatting
its tail and giving me a disdainful sideways glance. That’s the Pyrenees for
you, I thought. Just the same, despite sighting the odd kangaroo and the
occasional echidna excavating by the side of the road, I’m looking forward to
the day we get cows, sheep or goats up on Arthurs..........
Books by Mark
Krieger:
‘High Spain Drifter’ is available on Amazon , Barnes and Noble, Booktopia and other online bookstores.
‘Lycra, Lattes and the Long Way Round’ is available on Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books
Both books are also available at local bookshops on the Mornington Peninsula: @ Rosebud Bookbarn and @ La Brocante
‘High Spain Drifter’ is available on Amazon , Barnes and Noble, Booktopia and other online bookstores.
‘Lycra, Lattes and the Long Way Round’ is available on Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books
Both books are also available at local bookshops on the Mornington Peninsula: @ Rosebud Bookbarn and @ La Brocante
“It is by
riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have
to sweat up the hills and coast down them.”
Ernest Hemingway
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