The Furka Pass, on the tail of James Bond

“Bond, James Bond,” Sean Connery uttered in the way only he could to the disgruntled Tilly Masterson as she inspected her shredded tyres by the roadside. It was a classic 007 car chase moment and pure 60’s gold, as was the film its self; Gold Finger.

Huge vistas, narrow knifes edge like roads, sheer drops, and powder coated peaks surrounded Bond as he made his way over this most epic of mountain passes, the Furka Pass.

To most of us the name of that scrawny and high strip of hardcore probably never registered, if we’d ever seen the movie that is. The Furka Pass also registers only lightly on the “to do” list when most cyclist think of the great Euro climbs, yet this mother of a Swiss cowbell clanger is surely one of the most spectacular and one of the highest and toughest passes in the whole of Europe.

In cycling terms a mountain pass usually has to earn its spurs in the grand tours in order to become a place of pilgrimage; although in reality there are so many more epic and wonderful passes tucked away in the mountains of Europe than could possibly ever even get the role of an extra in a crowd scene at one of the big three tours.

Logistics and economics play a huge part in route planning for the grand tours, and ultimately stage routes end up (in most cases) somewhere when a tidy some has been wrapped and bundled to see the great race, which is why the ski resort mountain finishes are big draws to the race promoters – they bring a huge amount of recognition and potential tourism to the towns and regions, hence these climbs are the ones we always hear about.

The Furka on the other hand does hold great repute, all be it in a slightly modest way. In the past it has made fleeting cameo roles in the Giro, and more often in the Tour de Suisse, and anybody that has found themselves batting mid race over this 2,419 meter high Swiss beast will testify to its ferocity and beauty.

Sitting deep in the mid-south of the Swiss Alps is where you’ll find the Furka, towering at the end of the valley above Andermatt and overlooking the mighty Rhone Glacier on the other side. It is effectively the mountain gateway to the Valais region of the country.

This is a wild and comparatively remote part of the Swiss Alps, and it has drama in shovel loads. I’d been over the Furka many years before, but ended up crossing it twice within a week during last autumn, once in either direction, both of which are equally challenging yet quite contrasting too.

Wet windswept and moody was the best way to describe the pass on the morning that the Dolomites Swiss Alps Haute Route sportive faced its soggy feet. The approach was vile, and the mist eerily shrouded the church spires beneath the climb. 

It was already well into the second half of a very tough and unseasonably cold and wet week, and that early morning lashing was to end the dream of finishing the ride intact for many riders; it was enough to crack even the most hardened morale.

Not wishing to hang around and the leaders had disappeared into the shroud of mist and rain, and were never to be greeted by the unveiling of the Furka, that was a prize reserved for the late starters.

As the climb ground in so the mist and rain began to crack and rise. The sun slashed a slight breathing hole on the clouds over Andermatt and the climb rippled and glistened, illuminating the Furka in the most inspiring of lights. In all of my years of clambering over mountain passed I’d never seen anything quite like it – the perfect storm?!

No matter how wiped and frozen the riders felt this was one very special day, almost miraculous in its turnaround. Over the summit and the sun glistened on the frosted wildflowers and the white peaks of the surrounding mountains cracked through the clouds with an armoury of deep blue sky following behind.

Twisting sharply the road dives into the valley bellow, with the huge and crawling Rhone Glacier to one side and the nailed snake of the Grimsal Pass hanging like a trophy waiting to be claimed on the steep sided valley ahead.

From the Andermatt side the pass climbs 12.9km from 1,525 meters to 2,418 meters, a punishing 894 meters of elevation gain, with gradients topping 17% on some segments and an overall grade of 6.9%, which given the summit altitude make this an absolute bucket list climb.