This Spanish climb is named after the lake located at its terminus. Laguna Negra (Black Lake) is located in the north of the province of Soria, 1,753 meters above sea level, and is said to be haunted. Its waters freeze each winter, which must make things difficult for the legendary Nessie-like creature living in its depths who is said to devour anything that falls to the bottom.

Climbed in the Vuelta for the first time in 2020, La Laguna Negra features as the finishing climb of stage 11 in the 2023 Vuelta a España. Its lower slopes aren’t remarkably steep, but the final 1.5km pitches up to ~11%, with the final 500 meters the steepest of the climb at ~16%.

Here’s an IRL segment close to Zwift’s (Zwift’s appears to carry on a bit further, all the way to the lake’s edge):