Australia’s BEST CLIMBS
LEE TURNER: THE INFAMOUS WTF CORNER & CLIMB
Anyone who has completed the Peaks Challenge event knows about the infamous WTF Corner and the climb that proceeds’ it. If you look at the segment on Strava it doesn’t look that daunting. In fact, you could argue it looks quite easy and straight forward.
The climb starts on the corner of the Omeo Highway and the Bogong High Plains Road in Victoria’s high country. This is around 400km, or a comfortable 4 to 5hr drive, from Melbourne.
According to Strava it’s 25.11km @ a mere 3.8%. Easy right? The challenge is when you get to WTF Corner you already have 200kms in your tired and screaming legs. I always say when you hit the corner it’s like being smashed in the face with a baseball bat. Nothing can prepare you for what is to come.
The start of the climb is pure torture because the first 500 metres is around 10%. The fun doesn’t stop there because the next 9kms has an average gradient of 8-9%, OUCH! I let out a couple of “Bangs” to fire myself up and try and kick on, but most of the time I’m stuffed and fire blanks.
It’s just so hard to train for it. You’d have to ride 200kms first and then find some horrible climb to replicate it, you just can’t. When I do try and train for it I make myself as fatigued as possible around the Dandies (just 100-150kms at first) then I will
