vertical gain
Height difference upward
Vertical gain is the total elevation climbed during a hike, run, or bike ride—the cumulative uphill distance regardless of any descents along the way.
A trail that goes up 500 feet, down 200, then up another 300 has 800 feet of vertical gain.
The metric matters to hikers and cyclists assessing difficulty: The route has 3,000 feet of vertical gain over six miles.
- elevationHeight above reference point
- ascentUpward movement
- climbAscend using effort
- uphill climbChallenging endeavor requiring persistence
- altitudeMeasured height above reference
sea level · rise · uphill · steep grade · summit · false summit · steep · height · gradient · slope · mountaineering · mountain climbing · scramble · pitch · hiking · meters · feet · topographic
vertical gainvertical drop
Height difference, straight down
descent · downhill · downgrade · declivity · losing altitude
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