Zwift Climbing Difficulty

There are a number of climbs in Zwift, but I couldn’t find an ordered list of climbs ranked by climbing category. So I pulled all the info I could find together into this page.

Zwift’s “Trainer Difficulty” Setting

Before going further I should state that this is not about how to change the Trainer Difficulty setting. When using a smart trainer, Zwift gives the rider the ability to make the virtual hills and mountains seem more or less realistic to the actual grade. I personally like to set this setting to maximum, but you may not.

If you are at all interested in knowing more about this, check out the following links:

• Zwift official docs for Adjusting Your Trainer Difficulty
• A useful thread from the Zwift Forums on Understanding the Trainer Difficulty Slider
• Zwift Insider’s guide to Using the Trainer Difficulty Setting

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Zwift Hills / Mountains By Map and Climb Category

I have taken the climb category information from Veloviewer and Strava for each climb. I have listed all the active KOM / QOM leaderboard climbs that I am currently aware of. If I have missed any, please do leave a comment and let me know.

I have also listed any “unofficial” (non KOM / QOM) climbs that are significantly challenging.

For quick reference climb categories are determined by the length of the climb in metres, multiplied by the grade of the climb. This gives:

• Cat 4 climb: 8000
• Cat 3 climb: 16000
• Cat 2 climb: 32000
• Cat 1 climb: 64000
• HC (Hors Categorie) climb: 80000

This information is taken from Strava support

Here we go, from hardest to “easiest” climb, on each map that Zwift has to offer:

Watopia (KOM / QOM)

Rank	Name	Category	Distance	Climb	Avg. Gradient
1	Alpe du Zwift	HC	12.22km	1036m	8.2%
2	Epic KOM Reverse	2	6.19km	365m	6%
3	Epic KOM Forward	2	9.41km	364m	4%
4	Volcano KOM	4	3.75km	120m	3%
5	Hilly KOM	n/a	0.9km	58m	6%
6	Titans Grove Reverse	n/a	0.91km	39m	4%
7	Titans Grove KOM	n/a	2.61km	57m	2%
8	Hilly KOM Reverse	n/a	2.49km	46m	2%

Watopia Honourable Mentions

These are good climbs without a KOM / QOM leaderboard.

Rank	Name	Category	Distance	Climb	Avg. Gradient
1	Radio Tower	4	1.1km	150m	13.7%

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Climb Portal

Rank	Name	Category	Distance	Climb	Avg. Gradient
1	Col du Tourmalet	HC (Hors Categorie)	17.12km	1217m	7%
2	Puy de Dome	HC (Hors Categorie)	12.99km	914m	7%
3	Col d’Aspin	Cat 1	13.54km	812m	5.8%
4	Bealach na Ba	Cat 2	8.99km	633m	6.8%
5	Col du Platzerwasel	Cat 2	7.85km	597m	7.3%
6	La Laguna Negra	Cat 2	9.06km	510m	5.6%
7	Coll d’Ordino	Cat 2	10.32km	505m	4.4%
8	Col des Aravis	Cat 3	5.20km	280m	5.1%
9	Crow Road	Cat 3	6.96km	251m	3.5%
10	Cote de Domancy	Cat 3	2.97km	241m	7.9%
11	Cote de Pike	Cat 3	2.18km	216m	9.1%
12	Cote de Trbiac	Cat 3	4.59km	207m	4.3%

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France

Rank	Name	Category	Distance	Climb	Avg. Gradient
1	Mont Ventoux KOM	HC	19.05km	1476m	8%
2	Ven-Top	HC	20.87km	1530m	7%
3	Chalet Reynard KOM	HC	13.05km	1055m	8%
4	Petit KOM	4	2.67km	105m	4%
5	Aqueduc KOM Reverse	n/a	0.4km	9m	2%
6	Acqueduc KOM	n/a	0.41km	5m	1%

Somewhat unusually, there are three Strava segments for different parts of the same climb on Zwift France map. All of the top three are on the same climb.

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Innsbruck

Rank	Name	Category	Distance	Climb	Avg. Gradient
1	Innsbruck KOM Reverse	2	5.73km	396m	7%
2	Innsbruck KOM	2	7.4km	400m	5%

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London

Rank	Name	Category	Distance	Climb	Avg. Gradient
1	Keith Hill KOM	3	4.21km	221m	5%
2	Leith Hill KOM	4	1.95km	134m	7%
3	Box Hill KOM	4	3.01km	136m	4%
4	Fox Hill KOM	4	2.41km	120m	4%

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Makuri Islands

Rank	Name	Category	Distance	Climb	Avg. Gradient
1	Temple KOM from Fishing Village Side	4	2.5km	94m	3.6%
2	Temple KOM from Castle Side	n/a	1.88km	67m	3.5%
3	Castle KOM	n/a	2.67km	56m	2.1%
4	Rooftop KOM	n/a	1.87km	51m	2.7%

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New York

Rank	Name	Category	Distance	Climb	Avg. Gradient
1	NYC KOM Forward	4	1.36km	88m	6%
2	NYC KOM Reverse	n/a	1.14km	68m	6%

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Richmond

Rank	Name	Category	Distance	Climb	Avg. Gradient
1	23rd Street KOM	n/a	0.26km	27m	10%
2	Libby Hill KOM	n/a	0.63km	39m	6%
3	23rd Street Reverse	n/a	1.1km	39m	4%
4	Libby Hill Reverse	n/a	0.69km	26m	4%

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Scotland

Rank	Name	Category	Distance	Climb	Avg. Gradient
1	Sgurr Summit North	n/a	1.56km	59m	3.7%
2	Sgurr Summit South	n/a	0.99km	34m	3.3%
3	Clyde Kicker	n/a	0.3km	11m	3.6%

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Yorkshire / Harrogate

Rank	Name	Category	Distance	Climb	Avg. Gradient
1	Yorkshire KOM	4	1.2km	66m	5%
2	Yorkshire KOM Reverse	4	1.16km	48m	4%

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Other

The following are harder climbs that do not have an official Zwift KOM marker.

Bologna

Bologna is a timed lap. The climb is part of the wider fun, but is not a distinct KOM in Zwift.

Rank	Name	Category	Distance	Climb	Avg. Gradient
1	Bologna TT Climb	3	2.06km	198m	10%