The Big One – Kitzbüheler Horn
Last year I chickened out, this time I pulled through on one of the toughest climbs in Austria.
At a Glance
WHERE
Kitzbühler Horn / Kitzbühel / Austria
WHEN
August / 2026
What
Cycling Climb
12 Months Earlier
Someone gave me a scratch off map of the supposedly biggest alpine climbs for road cycling. Always fun to chase a complete set, even if it appears to be a long way. So when we travel I let the map loosely guide my route and climb selection. On family vacation in Tyrol there wasn’t much on the map, besides one big one – the Kitzbüheler Horn.
I had my sights on this climb since we came here last year. And then bailed, not having confidence in my fitness after focusing on running and having failed to change the cassette on my bike. 36/28 was not the right equipment to tackle this beast.
Climbfinder has it as 10.1 km and 1,256 m elevation for a nice 12.5% average. It’s straight up from the start and hardly ever relents even a bit.
To minimize the amount of time I steal from family time I took the car until close to the climb. Parked about 5km from the start of the climb to allow for some leg warming (and charge the ID.7 while I was at it). Because the weather forecast was again in the mid 30s C I started very early, also to avoid traffic.
The climb starts straight up with a 9% ramp, a proper wake up punch in the teeth. There is a short flat section in km 2 before the road tilts upwards again, mercilessly. I spent the first half of the year focusing solely on marathon running and only got back on the bike a few weeks ago. And since riding around my home is so extremely boring that I’d rather sit on the trainer even in nice weather and watch YouTube, I wasn’t entirely confident in my climbing fitness.
The plan was to take it easy, but at double-digit gradients that doesn’t exist, you can only hang on and manage your effort as best as possible. At km3 – 4 I wasn’t sure whether I would make it, but then slowly found some (jerky slow) rhythm and carried on. While it was difficult to appreciate, the views were exceptional and became ever more astonishing with each switch back.
When the road flattened to humane 8% it felt like a proper recovery section.
About 3/4 up the climb you get to the Alpenhaus, a sort of mountain side cafe, from there you sneak under a barrier to quickly finish off the remaining 3km. Which are constantly above 12% and offer plenty of sections with 18% or more. Needless to say the final stretch was awful, long and terrible. Eventually though you make it all the way up and greet the waiters at the top shuffling deck chairs, preparing the gift shop and sorting their terrace tables long before the masses arrive via cable car.
There is a small walk on foot to get to the top top. And when you sit there, sweat dripping from the padding inside your helmet, sun shining into your face and the world lying at your feet, you quickly remember why this is all worth it.
View from the top sitting on a bench next to the iconic transmission tower
Riding for the Beauty of it
For the longest time I was an ambitious and aggressive bike rider. On a climb I would try and get that fucker ahead of me. On a downhill I would try and show everyone what an amazing descender I was, making sure that onlookers immediately acknowledged my immense gonads and that I was most likely the guy who taught Matej Mohoric to ride a bike down a mountain. This time though, Father Time caught up with me.
This was the first time that I did not suddenly and unpreparedly pump out significant watts on my first day out in a year. I was a weak biker for the first time in my life. No unexpected season power PRs, instead a steady and respectable but eventually boring and slow power numbers.
Instead I really enjoyed the coffee the nice waiter offered me even though the cafe was still closed. I had a zen moment just sitting atop the Horn. I did not engage in racing a bro who dive-bombed me in a switchback, nearly sending both of us off the road. Never thought I’d ever get this mellow, but here we are.
Strava or it didn’t happen
The Kitzbühler Horn is a very challenging climb with breathtaking vistas and near perfect conditions. But it also continues the story of the Vanilla Alps. A bit too polished, a bit too accessible, a bit too clean.
Kitzbühel, 2026