Zwift Climbs Ranked by Difficulty

Zwift Climbs Ranked by Difficulty
Photo by Giorgio Trovato / Unsplash

There are a number of climbs in Zwift, but there is a distinct lack of information about them and how difficult each climb is within the app. So, I pulled all the info I could find on each climb available across all Zwift’s worlds and courses and ranked them here.

Zwift’s “Trainer Difficulty” Setting

First thing first, before you start tackling climbs in Zwift, dial in your trainer difficulty setting. The Trainer Difficulty slider is a little bit voodoo and a lot of try it until it feels right.

Officially, Zwift says the slider changes the gradient while riding. I think this is the entirely wrong way to think about the setting. The reality is, it changes your gearing. Here’s how that works.

If the slider is at 100%, you’re riding your actual gearing. So, if I have my crit bike on the trainer with it’s 11-23 cassette and 53/39 crankset, I’m going to have a hell of a time trying to do any steep climb in Zwift.

This is where the Trainer Difficulty slider comes in. At 100%, I’m going to have to struggle at 40 rpm up the Alpe Du Zwift, but if I bring the slider down, I can mimic smaller gear ratios. At somewhere around 50%, my 53/39 x 11-23 feels much more like my climbing bike which is geared at 50/34 x 11-34. And if I bring it down to 10-20% it feels like my gravel bike with its 32 x 11-42 gearing.

Conversly, if I put my gravel bike on the trainer, I up the Trainer Difficulty setting to 100% and feel exactly what the climb would be like on that bike.

Categorizing Zwift Climbs

The Zwift climbs below are ranked by Strava climb categorization. The system is similar to how the UCI categorizes climbs but with some modifications.

When a climb is categorized, for the Tour de France for example, there is a subjective component to the categorization. If a climb is at the end of the stage it could get a tougher category than if it was earlier in the stage. Strava’s method is objective, so if a climb is category 1 climb it will always be a category 1. You will see that a segment is categorized by the number on both the segment page and at the list of segments on your activity page.

To decide the category of a climb Strava multiplies the length of the climb (in meters) with the grade of the climb. If that number is greater than 8000 then it is a categorized climb.

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

This information is taken from Strava support.

List of Zwift Climbs Ranked by Difficulty

Name Climb Category Distance (km) Distance (mi) Climb (m) Climb (ft) Avg. Grade World
Ven-Top HC 20.87 12.97 1530 5020 7% France
Mont Ventoux KOM HC 19.05 11.84 1476 4843 8% France
Chalet Reynard KOM HC 13.05 8.11 1055 3461 8% France
Alpe du Zwift HC 12.22 7.59 1036 3399 8% Watopia
Innsbruck KOM 2 7.4 4.60 400 1312 5% Innsbruck
2 5.73 3.56 396 1299 7% Innsbruck
Epic KOM Reverse 2 6.19 3.85 365 1198 6% Watopia
Epic KOM Forward 2 9.41 5.85 364 1194 4% Watopia
Keith Hill KOM 3 4.21 2.62 221 725 5% London
Bologna TT Climb 3 2.06 1.28 198 650 10% Bologna
Box Hill KOM 4 3.01 1.87 136 446 4% London
Leith Hill KOM 4 1.95 1.21 134 440 7% London
Volcano KOM 4 3.75 2.33 120 394 3% Watopia
Fox Hill KOM 4 2.41 1.50 120 394 4% London
Petit KOM 4 2.67 1.66 105 344 4% France
NYC KOM Forward 4 1.36 0.85 88 289 6% New York
NYC KOM Reverse n/a 1.14 0.71 68 223 6% New York
Yorkshire KOM 4 1.2 0.75 66 217 5% Yorkshire / Harrogate
Hilly KOM n/a 0.9 0.56 58 190 6% Watopia
Titans Grove KOM n/a 2.61 1.62 57 187 2% Watopia
Yorkshire KOM Reverse 4 1.16 0.72 48 157 4% Yorkshire / Harrogate
Hilly KOM Reverse n/a 2.49 1.55 46 151 2% Watopia
Titans Grove Reverse n/a 0.91 0.57 39 128 4% Watopia
Libby Hill KOM n/a 0.63 0.39 39 128 6% Richmond
23rd Street Reverse n/a 1.1 0.68 39 128 4% Richmond
23rd Street KOM n/a 0.26 0.16 27 89 10% Richmond
Libby Hill Reverse n/a 0.69 0.43 26 85 4% Richmond
Aqueduc KOM Reverse n/a 0.4 0.25 9 30 2% France
Acqueduc KOM n/a 0.41 0.25 5 16 1% France