The 6th hardest climb in the world.

El Sifón

World #6, Colombia #1

Climb 50 miles at a 4.6% grade, to an altitude of 13,282’

Bright and early at 5:30 in the morning, we started from a restaurant in Guayabal, about 5 miles before the start of the climb. The center is our tour guide leader Juan from Colombia Cycling. We had the pleasure of riding and exploring Colombian culture with Colombia Cycling for 8 days leading up to El Sifón.

The climb begins in Armero among the memorials of the Armero Tragedy.  On November 13, 1985, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted, triggering a lahar—a massive mudflow of volcanic ash, mud, and water—that buried the town of Armero. Despite warnings from scientists, the eruption caught residents largely unprepared, resulting in the deaths of over 23,000 people. This disaster was one of the deadliest volcanic events in history, and because of worldwide television coverage, has become a global symbol of the consequences of ignoring geological warnings.

Less than 1,200 ft above sea level, expect hot and humid temperatures at the start. We wondered how far up these horsemen were going to go!

Diego provided the best support for me, handing us food and filled water bottles every 15 minutes. The roads were quiet and had various pull-out spots.

The first town you come across is Libano. At this point you’ve ridden 20 miles and climbed almost 5,000 feet - almost halfway done! There were a few stores in town, but we didn’t stop thanks to Diego’s support!

The next town was a small town named Murillo. We were very ready for a second round of coffee and eating off the bike. A few stores were open - we chowed down various baked goods as Juan brewed us some coffee. We climbed almost 10,000 feet at this point.

Wildlife crossing! Not a ton of cars on the road, and I can’t blame this one for going off trail.

Striking views of the volcano along the climb. At 5321 meters (17,457 feet), Nevado del Ruiz is the 9th highest point in Colombia. Colombians treasure these plants called “frailejones” that are great at absorbing moisture from air and redirecting it to the soil. When you start seeing them, you know you’re getting close to the top!

Near the top is a beautiful lagoon.

Instead of a lion like in the Tour de France, we were given a plush black cat to symbolize the cutie cat of the founders of Colombia Cycling. To this day, we were not sure what the consolation prize would be if we didn’t make it.