Nufenen Pass
From Ulrichen — Switzerland's second-highest paved pass at 2,469 m
Overview
The Nufenen — Passo della Novena in Italian — is the second-highest paved pass in Switzerland, cresting at 2,469 m on the border between the Valais and Ticino. Climbed from Ulrichen in the Goms, it is a quieter, wilder proposition than its famous neighbours on the Furka–Nufenen–Gotthard loop: smaller roads, little traffic, and almost no shade as it grinds up through remote alpine country. The reward is a hard, honest climb — 1,117 m of gain over 14.1 km at a sustained 7.9% — topped by a summit restaurant with grand views over the high peaks. Once you cross the col the road turns a little more worn, but it opens into a lovely gentle descent toward the Val Bedretto and Airolo, wide enough that you can always see what's coming.
Key info:
- Total distance: 14.1 km
- Area: Goms / Val Bedretto (Ulrichen–Airolo)
- Recommended for: Intermediate
- Appeal: Switzerland's second-highest paved pass — a quiet, wild, shadeless climb through remote alpine country to a 2,469 m summit with a restaurant and grand views, and a gentle open descent into Ticino
- Water & fuel: Very few options — the climb is remote and shadeless. Fill up before you start: a Volg supermarket sits right where you turn onto the Nufenen road in Ulrichen (or, if you've come over the Furka, the info centre just before the first railway crossing on the Furka descent). A restaurant at the summit is the next reliable stop
- Time of year: June–September
- Road: Quiet, smaller roads on the way up; a little more worn beyond the summit but a lovely gentle descent — wide and open, so you can easily see what's coming
Ascent
The climb begins in Ulrichen at around 1,360 m with a short flat spin out of the village before the first hairpins tip the road up. It settles quickly into its rhythm: after a brief false-flat around the 5 km mark the gradient locks into a relentless 8–10% wall that barely relents all the way to the col. There is no hiding from it — the road is quiet and remote, but also almost entirely shadeless, so on a hot day the exposure adds to the effort. The scenery is wild and grand throughout, with rivers plunging down the slopes and the bare high peaks drawing you upward. The final kilometres stack up through the last bends to the 2,469 m summit, where the Nufenen-Passhöhe restaurant and its terrace make a well-earned stop with views across the Valais and Ticino Alps. At 1,117 m of gain over 14.1 km at a sustained 7.9%, it is a firmly intermediate climb — one that Fabian Cancellara has called the hardest in the country.
Stats:
- Level: Intermediate
- Distance: 14.1 km
- Elevation gain: 1,117 m
- Maximum gradient: 12%
- Average gradient: 7.9%
- Estimated time (at level): 79 min
Descent
The south side drops into the Val Bedretto toward Airolo, and it's a very different character to the climb. From the col a series of about 9 hairpins threads down the steeper upper section — averaging around 7.4%, touching 10% on the sharper pitches — before the road straightens out and eases into a long, gentle run down the valley. The tarmac is a little more worn than the Valais side, but it's a lovely descent: wide and open, with clear sightlines so you can always see what's coming, and none of the switchback intensity of the Furka's Belvédère side. The upper hairpins earn it a solid intermediate rating; below them it's simply a fast, relaxed roll toward All'Acqua and Airolo.
Stats:
- Level: Intermediate
- Hairpins: 9
- Maximum gradient: 10%
- Average gradient: 7.4%
Climb Profile
A short flat spin out of Ulrichen, a brief easing around the 5 km mark, then a relentless 8–10% wall all the way to the 2,469 m col — 1,117 m of gain over 14.1 km at a sustained 7.9% average, ramping to 12%.
Summary
The Nufenen is the loop's quiet giant — less famous than the Furka or the Gotthard, but arguably the hardest climb of the three, and all the more rewarding for its solitude. The ascent from Ulrichen is a sustained intermediate test on empty, shadeless roads, and the open descent into the Val Bedretto is a gentle, confidence-building contrast to the Furka's hairpins. Carry water — there is almost nothing on the climb — and time your run so the summit restaurant is open for the views. Ride it as the middle act of the Furka–Nufenen–Gotthard loop, or as a standalone objective for its own wild, high-alpine reward.