Passo Manghen - Borgo Valsugana

My friend and I were camping on Lake Caldonazzo and on august 17 we decided to ride a giant tour. First we did the Panarotta, then the passo Vezena and then we went up and down to Borgo Valsugna were we started the climb to passo del Manghen with allready 2600 altitudemeters in our pocket. The climb was marvelous but extremely tough. It starts gently but by the time you are more then tired it really kills you. I climbed a lot of mountains but this one is a real killer.

My personal climb rating:

I spent six weeks during Summer 09 cycling most of the major climbs in French Alps, Italian Alps and Dolomites. Manghen is the King it is brutal. I was aware that it never features in top climbs so I did it again(from both sides) just to make sure! The Borgo approach is the harder side. It consists of a series of steep ramps punctuated by drags which get progressively tougher then at the 16 iv mark it attacks you with an aggressive frenzy of ramps and steep switchbacks that wring every drop of life out of your legs, heart, lungs and spirit. Then the descent into Molina is treacherous. Manghen continues to get my vote as the toughest climb ever

My personal climb rating:

I have to rate this climb as a 5. I climbed it 3 years ago with a friend, when we re-traced the GF campagnolo route. We started in Cavalese that was almost our fatal error. Anyway we arrived in Strigo at the start of the climb with 3 passes under our belt and a very hot day in the saddle. At about half way when the light began to rapidy fade and our food ran out we realised that this was not a good situation. I remember stunning views, I remember a neverending ascent but most of all I remember grovelling in the last KM in the pitch dark, but we did it! We then had to be rescued from the summit and driven back to Cavalese for the best beer and pizza I ever had

My personal climb rating:

Hello. In June 2006 I visited a campingsite at the lake "lago Caldonazzo". From there I took a trip to Passo Manghen. I started the climb from the side of Borgo Valsugna. As you can see on the profile, the start is quit easy, but half way up their is parts with 15 %. The last 6-7 km. was tough with tournales an with an average over 9 %. From the top there is a splended wiew. Under my way up I had to pass a couple of cows. Be carefull on the downride, there is a lot of them walking freely around.