This climb is 5.5km from the steep little kick up after the bridge at Cornriggs, but the first 4.5 is just there to soften you up for the finale!
Kilhope Cross is not super steep, with just a short section above 10%, but you are pretty tired when you get there and it always seems like the hardest part of the route, particularly with the prevailing westerly wind. At the top there is an extra feed-station just for our intrepid Skyriders.
There is a Strava King of the Mountains segment based on the Skyrider route from Nenthead to Killhope Cross.
After the feed-station you tear down a 15% gradient for about 1km before turning right and rejoining the HH100 Classic route for the easy ascent of:
Black Hill; 609m, 1998ft; 3rd highest road in England
If you would like to know more about Britain’s highest Cols, tracks and dead ends click the following link for more information.