My trip to the Stelvio Pass

Phil

wipEout bastard
Veteran
Some might remember the episode when Top Gear sets out to find the greatest road in the world (season 10, episode 1) and finds that stretch of road from Davos in Switzerland to the Stelvio Pass in Italy.

Well, since it's only a 200km trip from where I live and with the weather being perfect last weekend, I thought I'd find out for myself on how it stacks up against some of the other great passes here in Switzerland.

Here's how it turned out:

We set off at around 2.30 p.m. from Zurich on the autobahn towards the Alps and got off in Landquart where we then took the public road up to Davos (which is where the yearly world economics forum [WEF] take place). Davos is at 1560m the highest city in Europe and surrounded by national park as well as offering high quality skiing in winter. It is also where the first pass, the Flüelapass, starts that leads into the Engadin valley which is where we would be heading to find Stelvio but where other popular places like St. Moritz are located as well.

Picture from on top of the Flüelapass, roughly at 2380m height.

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After the Flüelapass we arrived in Susch and from there headed further south-east towards our next destination, the Ofenpass. The Ofenpass offers some nice driving as well and from there we took the Umbrailpass over the mountain and out of Switzerland and into Stelvio territory. After crossing the border into Italy, the summit of the Stelvio Pass is only another 3km up the hill.

And there we were - top of the Stelvio pass at 2753m (which is the alps second highest paved mountain pass), looking down at a stretch of road with countless hairpins (48 in total on that side right to the bottom):

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Then on the way down some more pictures:

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...Me posing :p

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Then once we hit the bottom, we turned around to make our way back up the pass again (since it was already after 6 p.m we slowly had to make our way back home) we took some more pictures:

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Oops - hit the picture limit - next few pictures will follow in the next post.
 
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After hitting the summit of Stelvio again, we took the road down the other side of the pass which turned out to be just as visually impressive and overall nicer stretch of roads (the east-side can be very tricky to drive, since the hairpins are so narrow that you can hardly get through in once - I especially had a bit problems with the ground clearance).

Here's a picture just after the summit looking west:

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...and then a bit down below the valley that heads down to Bormio (Italy):

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This stretch of road is stunning to drive. As seen on the pictures, the hairpins are nice and the further down the valley, you have some great tunnels (some through waterfalls) that are fantastic to drive through.

Then once in Bormio, we took the road up to Livigno. At this point it was already getting quite dark and after a quick stop at the petrol station, we eventually got onto the Berninapass which would take us back into Switzerland.

On the top of the Berninapass, we still had some blue sky looking west that lit up the nearby half-frozen lake quite nice.

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After the Berninapass, we arrived in Pontresina and took the road through St. Moritz down to Silvaplana and from there down the Julierpass which would then lead us back into civilisation/Zurich.

Overall, great great day. Not sure if I'd go as far to call it the best piece of road outthere, but Stelvio is definately up there and offers some amazing scenery and some very demanding roads. The 48 hairpins are fun to drive, though the first third from the summit down (East side) are too tight to really enjoy. I was quite worried about the ground clearance and hitting the road in the corners so had to take the outter path (which isn't a problem since you can't take them fast anyway). I did hear of stories of bigger sports cars needing to use the reverse gear to take some of the tighter hairpins. But once you get through them, the road to the bottom just gets better and better. The West-side of the pass (heading down to Bormio) is right up there and from a drivers point of view even better. Definately worth checking out.

:)
 
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Top Gear showed some guy in a Lambo doing the same thing but he crashed his spectacularly. Why didn't you crash yours? I bet you didn't gun it, you coward! :D
 
Top Gear showed some guy in a Lambo doing the same thing but he crashed his spectacularly. Why didn't you crash yours? I bet you didn't gun it, you coward! :D
Or maybe Lotuses handle better. :)
 
Thank you guys, I'm flattered :D

The next big trip is already planned up and will include a drive down to Saint-Tropez in the South of France where hopefully we'll encounter equally fantastic roads and scenery as the ones found here. I'm going to include the road featured in that particular Top Gear episode as well (the Col de Turini) which is part of the Monte Carlo rally route. Then the passes and roads around the Mont Blanc (highest peak in Europe) should be quite fascinating as well, hopefully. To be honest, contrary to my GF, I really could care less for St. Tropez, I'm just looking forward to the mountain roads, so she will have to endure a two day trip down there across countless passes until we reach the bottom at Monaco (instead of going the quickest route). :devilish:

Bludd said:
Top Gear showed some guy in a Lambo doing the same thing but he crashed his spectacularly. Why didn't you crash yours? I bet you didn't gun it, you coward!

Well, I could have ditched the paved road and opted for the directest route straight down the mountain pass for a thrill - but I wasn't too fond of the potential one-time-only experience and still intend to enjoy the roads and the car a little longer. :p

But I can assure you, lack of power wasn't a factor, considering it's up to Gallardo performance (300hp+/tonne) sans the weight. ;)

I did have a lucky encounter with an obviously suicidal biker who came around the corner on my side of the road though. To his luck, I took that particular corner quite slow and he was able to pull back onto his lane a meter (at max) infront of my car. Sadly, bikers like this one seem to be the norm on nice roads and it will not have been my last encounter with one. :rolleyes:

For the record, on this particlar weekend the local newspapers reported 17 (!) accidents which had bikers involved in that area alone. Do these people have nothing to live for?
 
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Wonderful car but unlikely you have anywhere close to full bhp at 2000+ meters unless you chose a super charger pulley for high altitude. The one area where turbos really shine is in high-altitude mountain pass runs.

As for bikers, newbies tend to overestimate their cornering skills and cross lanes. Very bad.
 
But I can assure you, lack of power wasn't a factor, considering it's up to Gallardo performance (300hp+/tonne) sans the weight. ;)
Yes, I know, but that isn't as fun as accusing you for either being a coward or having a rubbish car. :D
 
Wonderful car but unlikely you have anywhere close to full bhp at 2000+ meters unless you chose a super charger pulley for high altitude. The one area where turbos really shine is in high-altitude mountain pass runs.

Oh, no argument there. The drop in performance at the top of the pass is quite noticable indeed, despite the supercharger. I was equally amazed how much difference it makes.

As for bikers, newbies tend to overestimate their cornering skills and cross lanes. Very bad.

I'm not entirely convinced the issue is overestimation, as much as it seems to be insanity and the general illusion some bikers are under in believing they can get through any situation alive due to them sitting on such a narrow and agile vehicle. At least, as per my experience. Then again, the roads I usually find myself on tends to get the worse out of bikers and you do get a lot of performance for a bargain price. Unfortunately, sensible behaviour is not always a given - regardless if on bike or fast car.
 
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