Mottarone

Did you ride this climb/route? share your story, information or comments.

The Mottarone is a mountain, 1491 meters high that is situated between Lago dOrta en Lago Maggiore in the Piemonte region. In Baveno turn into the Centro Storico, the old historical centre, from the SS33, the road thats on the western bank of the lake. After leaving Baveno the climb is tough. At least 8-9% while climbing through the little village Loita. The next village is Campino, where you get a chance to rest a little, because the road does not climb here. In these moments you get a chance to appreciate the Isole Boromee, that are clearly visible in Lago Maggiore. You can also envy (or not) the tourists who climb Mottarone in a cable car. Much easier, but much more expensive too, and no reward after a tough climb by yourself! The road in this first part is surrounded by woods and some little waterfalls accompany you in your climb. A beautifull sight. After Campino theres a fairly easy climb through the villages of Someraro and Levo untill you reach the village of Gignese. Here things really get bad! The roadsigns lead you to a narrow and very steep climb which lasts long enough to get your heartrate to the max and the contents of your drinking bottles to an absolute minimum. this part must be above 12%, maybe even reach more than 15%. Very appropriate there is, nearing the end of this steep climb, a graveyard on the rightside of the road. The road gets worse there. You reach a toll booth, but cyclists can cary on without paying. After the toll booth theres a little descend which is nice for muscle relaxation, but unfortionately what you descend you got to go up again. Looking up you can see what is ahead, and thats still a long way. After reaching the Fontana Vitaliana theres a little text written on the road, which says -2 km. Now thats good news because the muscles start protesting. When you have gooten this far really weird things happen to your cycle computer: it takes ages for a 6 to become a 7... At this point in the climb, with still 1,5 km to go the view is spectacular and you might even get the energy to initiate a sprint to the top. On the top of Mottarone, well you dont actually reach the top because that is still a 5 minute footclimb away. The descent is great with spectacular views. You can see the lakes, the Po region and even on a clear day like this Monte Rosa and the Appinins are visible. The descent into Omegna can be a bit dangerous.

Find more climbs and routes near Mottarone