Whereas rivers have been a feature of the previous stages, with first the Glenn Highway then latterly the Alaska Highway following water courses upstream or downstream, stage 500 is different because the nearest river, the Chisana River, flows about three miles away to the west at its nearest point. This stage is entirely about climbing back up into the hills on a road that snakes left and right with regular monotony with the ridge of the latest mountain range becoming ever more prominent on the left hand (east) side of the road.
The rollout is lumpy and downhill for four miles to the middle of nowhere which inconspicuously marks the start of a real slog of a climb: eight miles long and gaining four hundred feet of elevation: and the top of that climb isn’t even the highest point on the stage: for that you have to wait until there have been two more descents and two more climbs to seventeen miles: that’s where you can stick your flag in the ground at over two thousand two hundred feet.
Having scaled the highest peak, it’s not a good idea to get too complacent on the desecnt off the top because waiting at nineteen miles next to Island Lake is the steepest climb of the stage: it snakes its way around the southern edge of the mountain, hugging the bottom of the ridge as it does so, and although the climb starts to flatten out around twenty one miles, the descent to the finish is both short and not very steep. This one can be definitely be bookmarked as a difficult stage.
Distance: 22 miles / 35 kilometres
Distance: 22 miles / 35 kilometres
Ascent: 906 feet / 276 metres
RGT Magic Road: cw9alyfkLBdj
Max elevation: 2236 ft
Min elevation: 1818 ft
Total climbing: 906 ft
Total descent: -709 ft
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