My Adventure Maps
HC through Cat 4

Climb Finder

Find and categorize every climb hiding inside a GPX, TCX or FIT file, from a short Cat 4 kicker to a genuine HC. See each one highlighted on a map.

Drop your GPX, TCX or FIT file here

or click to browse

or
Smoothed, false-flat aware
Direct, in your browser
Free, no account

Good to know

Why a false flat shouldn't split a climb in two

Raw elevation from a watch or barometer wobbles up and down constantly, so before anything else the profile gets smoothed with a short moving average, just enough to filter out that noise without flattening real hills. The tool then looks for sustained ascents: once it's climbing, a brief flat section or a small dip doesn't end the climb, since real climbs have those too. It only actually closes once the route has gone a few hundred metres without gaining any new height, which is what an actual summit looks like rather than a pause partway up.

Each climb that clears a minimum length and average steepness gets scored with the same length x gradient calculation commonly used to describe HC and Cat 1 through 4 climbs in road cycling, and listed from most to least significant. Click any of them to see exactly where it sits on the map.

How it works

  1. Upload your activity. Drop in a GPX, TCX or FIT file with elevation data.
  2. Every real climb, found. Length, grade and a rough HC/Cat rating for each one.
  3. Pick one to inspect. See it highlighted on the map, or download just that stretch.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How does it decide what counts as a climb?

Elevation is smoothed first to filter out GPS and barometric noise, then the tool looks for sustained ascents of at least 300m that average 3% or steeper. A brief flat or slightly-downhill stretch inside a climb doesn't split it in two: it only closes once the route has failed to gain any new height for longer than that, which is what a real climb's summit looks like.

How are climbs categorized into HC, Cat 1, 2, 3 and 4?

By the length in kilometres multiplied by the average gradient in percent, the widely used approximation of how road cycling grades climbs: roughly 64+ for HC, 32+ for Cat 1, 16+ for Cat 2, 8+ for Cat 3, and anything smaller as Cat 4. It's not the official formula race organizers use, which also weighs altitude and where the climb sits in the route, but it's a solid stand-in for comparing climbs against each other.

My file has no elevation data, or it looks wrong -- what do I do?

Run it through the Elevation Fix tool first, which replaces missing or noisy GPS/barometric elevation with accurate ground elevation looked up for your exact coordinates, then bring the corrected file back here.

Why didn't it find a hill I know is in the route?

Anything under 300m long or averaging less than 3% is left out on purpose, otherwise every short rise in an otherwise flat route would count as a "climb". A short, sharp punch of a hill can also come out slightly shorter and less steep than it felt, since smoothing rounds off its edges a little to filter out noise.

Is my route data uploaded anywhere?

No. Reading the file and finding the climbs both happen entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere, and no account is involved.

Does it work on GPX, TCX and FIT files?

Yes. Upload any of the three; elevation data is all it needs, regardless of format.

Does it work for short, punchy hills, not just long mountain climbs?

Yes, as long as a rise is at least 300m long and averages 3% or steeper. Anything shorter than that is filtered out on purpose, otherwise every small bump in an otherwise flat route would count as a "climb."

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