White Down Lane, Dorking
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We're back with ten more of the UK's steepest climbs (pic: Jake_Oulsnam, via Flickr Creative Commons)
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The White Down climb is one of the steepest in Surrey (pic: sarflondondunc, via Flickr Creative Commons)
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Bwlch-y-Groes is known in English as Hellfire Pass - with good reason (pic: SimonPix, via Flickr Creative Commons)
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Bealach na Ba is said to be the UK's toughest climb (pic: Englishpointers, via Flickr Creative Commons)
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The Rake hosts one of the longest-running hill climbs in the country (pic: Martin Hefner, Flickr Creative Commons)
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Long Mynd is a painful climb of Asterton Bank (pic: John Spooner, Flickr Creative Commons)
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Carlton Bank in Teesside offers stunning views and brutal pitches (pic: Natural England, via Flickr Creative Commons)
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Devil's Staircase in Powys is an aptly hellish climb (pic: John Spooner, via Flickr Creative Commons)
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Bushcombe Lane kicks up several times with fierce gradients (pic: Tejvan Pettinger, via Flickr Creative Commons)
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The Struggle is the toughest of three routes up the Kirkstone Pass (pic: Mark Kent, via Flickr Creative Commons)
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The Lecht is a stunning Scottish ascent to the ski station of the same name (pic: Dolk, via Flickr Creative Commons)
White Down Lane, Dorking
One of the steepest climbs in the Surrey Hills, White Down Lane may lag behind Box Hill when it comes to popularity, but it presents a significantly tougher challenge.
An average gradient of six per cent for the whole climb, which covers just shy of two kilometres, may be quite modest, but with sections touching 20 per cent, the wooded climb is particularly brutal with several nasty pitches on the way up.
One particularly steep hairpin is sure to hurt the legs but, if you’re a gluten for punishment, there’s no shortage of other steep climbs to link together in the area, including another of our favourites – Barhatch Lane.
Vital statistics
Length: 1.9km
Elevation: 112m
Average gradient: Six per cent
Maximum gradient: 20 per cent
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