Tour Divide Elevation Data and Climbs

When compiling my first Tour Divide stats recap, I realized there was much more to include than would reasonably fit in a single article. I’ve chosen to break up my Tour Divide stats, and here, I’ll focus on every rider’s favorite thing (after thunderstorms and peanut butter mud), elevation, and climbing.

There’s no shortage of elevation change on the Tour Divide, and even the “easy” days fail to offer much respite.

I’ve tried to provide information that’s not only interesting but will hopefully also be helpful to future Tour Divide racers. Obviously, every rider and every year is different, but much of this should remain relatively the same as the course will (maybe?) not shift too dramatically.

If there’s anything that can be added to this data to make it more useful (or something you’re wondering about before you set off on your Tour Divide adventure), please get in touch or leave a comment at the end of this post.

Notes on My Ride

Here are the notes to remember when reviewing the data from my Tour Divide ride. I’ve added more detailed notes for each day further down.

For more stats on my Tour Divide ride, check out this post. For more on what exactly the Tour Divide is (you may be lost being here if you don’t already know), check out this post.

Totals & Averages

• Total Elevation Gain: 174,561 ft / 53,206 m

• Average Daily Elevation Gain: 9,187 ft / 2,800 m (for a time of 19 days, 17 hours, 18 minutes)
• Average Daily Max Elevation: 8,477 ft / 2,584 m
• Average Daily Minimum Elevation: 5,333 ft / 1,625 m
• Average Feet/Mile: 67.29
• Average Meters/Kilometer: 12.75

• Median Daily Maximum Elevation: 7,916 ft / 2,413 m
• Median Daily Minimum Elevation: 5,460 ft / 1,664 m
• Median Elevation Gain: 9,633 ft / 2,936 m
• Median Feet/Mile: 72.65
• Median Meters/Kilometer: 13.77

Most & Least Elevation Change

• Least Elevation Gain in a Day: Day 8 with 4,324 ft / 1318 m of elevation gain from a campsite near Pileup Canyon just outside Lima, Montana, to Warm River Campground in Idaho.

• Most Elevation Gain in a Day: Days 19+20 with 14,062 ft / 4287 m from the Toaster House in Pie Town, New Mexico, to the race’s finish line at the Antelope Wells Border Crossing at the New Mexico-Mexico border.

However, the above stretch was done as a final push to the end and required that I not sleep for the entire time. Since I know the above is a bit outside what could be considered a single day of riding, here are the same stats but only counting days where I slept some.

• Most Elevation Gain in a Day: Day 7 with 11,591 ft / 3,533 m from Butte, Montana, to just outside Lima, Montana. This was followed very closely by Day 9, where I had 11,581 ft / 3,530 m of climbing (just 10 ft / 3 m less) from Warm River Campground, just west of the Idaho-Wyoming border, to the Strawberry Safety Shelter located over Union Pass.

But since the above numbers depend on the miles I traveled each day and the hours I was riding my bike, here are the days with the least and the most elevation gain per mile/kilometer.

• Least Elevation Change per Mile/Kilometer: Same as the least elevation gain above, Day 8 with 4,324 ft / 1318 m of elevation gain from a campsite near Pileup Canyon just outside Lima, Montana, to Warm River Campground in Idaho. The average elevation gain this day was 28.37 ft per mile / 5.38 m per kilometer.

• Most Elevation Change per Mile/Kilometer: On Day 6, I gained an average of 95.46 ft per mile / 18.09 m per kilometer from the Llama Ranch to Butte, Montana. On this day, I covered 118.12 mi / 190.06 km and gained 11,276 ft / 3438 m in total elevation.

Daily Elevation Breakdown

Elevation Profiles

Wrap Up

No matter how you cut it, the Tour Divide is an incredibly challenging undertaking. Don’t fool yourself by thinking some days will be easier than others just because there’s less climbing or fewer passes. The wind, the rain, the mud, your bike, your joints, or your nutrition always lurks around the corner, waiting to ruin your day on the Tour Divide.

That said, elevation change can bring shifting weather conditions, increased demand on your body, or increased speed—something that can often be fun, but sometimes not so much if you’re working on two hours of sleep and navigating a chunky downhill next to a huge dropoff.

Best to know what you’re getting yourself into, right? Not right? Whatever, it’s going to suck regardless (but also be awesome).

Is there any data I missed? Is there anything that would be helpful to include? Comment below and let me know; I will respond and add it here. Alternatively, if you hiked the Hayduke, share your data, and maybe we can get enough to put together some interesting comparisons.