Brasstown Bald Profile and Times?

joemw said:

I'm trying to get an idea on the metrics for the final climb up Brasstown Bald. All I've found on the net so far is that it's "very hard." Something a bit more specific would be nice. How fast the top GC guys go up would be interesting to know as well. More specifically, I've been wondering if it's comparable to a climb out my way; the Palm Springs Tram Road which is 3.5 miles with a gain of just under 2200'.

Here's the profile from the Tour de Georgia. cyclingnews.comgeorgia06Open ↗. From the base, it looks to go from about 2000' to the summit (4784'😉 in a bit under 10ml. That's 2784' climbing in 10ml, which equates to average of 5.3%...but that includes the small downhill section before it kicks up again. That final section looks like about 3ml climbing from ~2700' to the summit...if my very rough estimates are right, that would make the final section average 13.9%! These are just estimates based on this profile...I'm sure that with GoogleEarth, you could do something more accurate.

GoogleEarth might be useful in checking alititude.

joemw said:

I'm trying to get an idea on the metrics for the final climb up Brasstown Bald. All I've found on the net so far is that it's "very hard." Something a bit more specific would be nice. How fast the top GC guys go up would be interesting to know as well. More specifically, I've been wondering if it's comparable to a climb out my way; the Palm Springs Tram Road which is 3.5 miles with a gain of just under 2200'.

ps. based on your stats, Palm Springs Tram Road would be 3.5ml @ average 11.9%...so not quite as steep...but steep enough 😄

It hurts more than you think... hahaha

you will be doing good if you can do 10mph in a car.