Vorder Schwarzesee (Sparenmoos)

Vorder Schwarzesee (Sparenmoos)
	Height	Climbing height - length
	1621m (1778m)	674m - 8 km (831m - 10.8 km) (Zweisimmen Dorf) 691m - 8.2 km (848m - 11 km) (Zweisimmen east) 763m - 9.1 km (920m - 11.9 km ) (Garstatt)
	Difficulty	Beauty
	3 (5)	4 (5)
How to get there	This is a climb that is often overlooked and it does indeed go to a pass, even if there is no official pass name here. The start most mentioned elsewhere is in Garstatt (858m) by the alternative road to the Jaunpass/Col de Bellegarde/Bruchbergpass (1508m) (very much recommended). This climb is steady and hard toward the last 1/3 of the climb to Sparenmoos. This last part is also climbed if one start in Zweisimmen (I took the normal road up at the end of Zweisimmen (930m)), but there is a road that could be used through Zweisimmen that meets the other as they go above Zweisimmen. This road was newly asphalted when I was there in 2011 through the wooded steeper part. It is quite lovely when you get up a bit on this road. After the steep part to the pass at the gravel road turn-off for Vorder Schwarzesee (1621m), you do well to continue the climb to the end of the asphalt at Nüjeberg/Schiltenegg (1778m). This last part is varying and you get good views up above Sparenmoos.
Other comments	There is one or two restaurants up here around Sparenmoos. There were at least two local cyclists on the road when I was there (one managed to go up on a road bike with his child in a carry-on behind the bicycle and I met him at the steepest place fighting his way up and had to give him thumbs up for that!). I believe it is quite popular with mountain bikers as they could continue at the end of the asphalt road to visit other nice places up here. See also: Hornberg/Uf de Chesslesattel (1814m), Gestelenpass/Meieberg (1853m) and Mittelberg/Grubenbergpass (1634m).
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