Mont Tendre

The road from Montrichier up to the farm of Risel (1476m) and the chalet du Mont Tendre (1615m) is another one of those steep, nearly deserted and absolutely beautiful climbs towards the Jura summits. It constitutes the highest tarmac road of the Swiss Jura. For me it was the second time I climbed it up and therefore I decided to also visit the Risel farm and the goat cheese farm Pre-Anselme where Arthur produces delicious cheese from his 5 cute goats. Cows are everywhere as the pasture is rich and delicious.

“Mountain Higher” describes it as follows: Mont Tendre’s punishing first six kilometers make it one of the toughest climbs in the Swiss Jura (average gradient: 9.1%, max. gradient: 17% after 2km).

: Risel 1476m

: nice cock

: branch off to Pre-Anselm

: delicious goat cheese

: happy Jura cows

After the climb to Riesel where I had a first banana break I returned to the main road and climbed up to my main destination of the day, the chalet du Mont Tendre. The road winds steep through a dense forest and sometimes the slope hits 12% – 14%. There were no other cyclists, only a few cars and hikers.

At around noon I arrived at the chalet and had a typical swiss lunch with a BAVARIAN summit beer.

: Bavarian summit beer

: typical swiss alpine lunch

: Chalet du Mt. Tendre @ 1615m

: Mt. Tendre in the background

Before descending back down to the car I couldn’t resist checking out the small path leading from the chalet to the summit of Mt. Tendre (1679m), the highest Swiss Jura mountain. The view from the summit wasn’t excellent as it was somewhat hazy and clouds were hanging around. Luckily it didn’t rain so I could enjoy the silence up there for a little while before rollling down to Montricher.