PART 1
http://www.elakiri.com/forum/showthread.php?t=268512
This is the original article, as written by Avi Abrams in November, 2006. All rights reserved, @ Ian Media.
1. Stelvio Pass Road - redefining switchbacks
Height - 2757 meters
Location - in the Italian Alps, near Bormio and Sulden, 75 km from Bolzano, close to Swiss border. (The road connects the Valtellina with the upper Adige valley and Merano)
Claim to fame - "the highest paved mountain pass in the Eastern Alps, and the second highest in the Alps, after the Col de l'Iseran (2770 m)"
This road might not be as risky as the deadly routes in Bolivia, but it is certainly breathtaking. The tour books advise that the toughest and most spectacular climbing is from the Prato side, Bormio side approach is more tame. With 48 hairpins, this road is regarded as one of the finest continuous hairpin routes in the Alps.
The road itself is a marvel of engineering skill; the exhilarating serpentine sections ask to be driven by experienced motorists for their own sakes. All in all, this could be the most magnificent road pass in Europe.
"On the southern side the road worms its way up the immensely deep Braulio ravine, clinging from side to side and tunneling frequently, between towering rock walls, to the more open basin at the 4th Cantoniera, where the Umbrail Pass comes in from the left. From the junction to the summit is little more than a mile, the road winding more gently up 900 ft. of shaly slope, but still relatively viewless.
From the summit, where the famous Ortler view is suddenly revealed, the Trafoi windings lead down in face of superb views of peaks and glaciers to Trafoi, just below the tree line. The rest of the road, falling along the Trafoibach to the Adige levels in the main valley, is a pleasant descent with fine views ahead of the Zillertal (Austrian) peaks in the main Alpine chain."
-- Hugh Merrick, "The Great Motor Highways of the Alps", 1958
This one is Grimsel Pass near Gletsch, Switzerland. Furka pass is also visible in the upper left of the picture.
Italian Alps are rife with exhilarating switchback roads. Here is one at Fraele, near Isolaccia in Lombardy.
The Italian side of the Splugen Pass, with breathtaking vertical grades at every turn.
Slovenian Mountain Roads are even narrower, and less maintained, but no less spectacular. Witness Mangrt Mountain Road, with Brian Wilson's friend trying to navigate through snow. The road is a dead end, but traveled for the sheer scenery
2. Fascinating Fjord Roads in Norway.
We all know that the steep walls of fjords command an awesome view, like the one below. But when living in small towns and villages in the fjord country, you will need to use a car to get some groceries. This would mean driving on vertigo-inducing roads, honing your driving skills to perfection.
3.Trollstigen - the Troll Ladder
The intense set of hairpin turns featured here belongs to the ancient Trollstigen road in the heart of Romsdal County of Norway, in the Rauma region. The road is very narrow with very few possibilities for cars to pass each other. There are frequent rockfalls in the area, so there have been some upgrades made to the road in 2005.
4.Another Fjord Jewel - Lysebotn Road
This is the Lysebotn Road in Lysefjord, Norway - complete with 27 switchbacks and a 1.1 kilometer long tunnel at the bottom, also with three switchbacks inside. Let one driver tell the story (courtesy Stefan Jonsson):
"The first half of this road was nothing too special, but then... then came the fun part! The last 30 km (18 miles) to Lysebotn were the most fun I have ever driven! This part of the road was a true roller-coaster! It was narrow but with a perfect surface, and you just sat there on the bike with a big smile on your face as you pushed on for some really active driving. Not a straight part of the road as far as you could see. It was up and down and left and right all the time! The road ends with a 27 hairpin serpentine road taking you from 1000 meters (3280 ft) above sea level down to Lysebotn and the Lysefjord. At the end of the serpentine road you go through a tunnel that screws itself 340 degrees through the mountain and as you come out of it (slightly dizzy) you have Lysebotn in front of you. If you ride a motorcycle in Norway, then this road is something you simply can not afford to miss!"
Amen to that, brother. This is the view 900 meters down, once you get on top:
5.The Pulpit Rock Hike - if you fall, it's 1000 meters down
After a steep hike up (300 meters elevation gain), which should take about 2 hours for an inexperienced hiker, you get to stand on the "world class" photography attraction, the pedestal of truly spiritual proportions.
his stupendous trail will exceed your expectations for truly great hiking, if you don't slip on any boulders in some foolish jump for a picture. The fall is exactly one kilometer, almost enough time to grow wings.
6.Crazy Routes in Andes, Albania & New Zealand
Necessity may dictate that you choose the "road less traveled", but for goodness sake, leave weaker-nerved passengers behind. They might experience life-changing (and underwear-changing) circumstances that they will never forget, or forgive.
One of the Chinese military roads to "boost the morale of their troops" -
7."Los Caracoles" Pass in Andes
Rodrigo L. van Lamoen tipped us about its existence and describes it in this way:
"It's a place in the mountain pass "Los Libertadores" that goes trough the Andes between Chile and Argentina. It's called "Los Caracoles" and is a series of very hard switchbacks on a very steep road, with no barriers and ice and snow present most of the year. Add the cargo trucks and double-decker tourist buses... and you get the idea. I've done that a couple times, once in a double-decker even, and it's quite an experience."
here is the view from the bus window:
8.Tirana to Elbasan Road in Albania
This is a hairy route, very high, badly maintained with high volume of heavy truck traffic - count on these Albanian drivers to be dare-devils, too. Whatever pictures we could get, look pretty serious:
The cool thing about this road is that it leads to various interesting "rabbit trails" with ancient ruins at the end:
some of the bridges there look pretty ancient too, and require some extra faith that they'll hold:
9.New Zealand Crazy Routes
The "Lord of the Rings" country contains the prettiest landscapes in the world and the hairiest roads to reach them. At least we got this impression after receiving a dozen tips from our readers to investigate and to cover some of this island's fearsome backroads. Here are a few examples:
It gets pretty interesting in foggy conditions (sheer drop less than a meter away) -
10.The Skippers Canyon Road near Queenstown:
Katie Laurence writes to us:
"This road is made from a very narrow cut in the middle of a sheer cliff face. The large tourist buses go along it, and it's so narrow that if two vehicles have to pass each other, one vehicle might have to reverse for anything up to 3 kilometres of winding narrow road to get to a place wide enough to pass. It is the SCARIEST road you could imagine..."
This road still looks much the same as 100 years ago:
Another interesting road near Queenstown: leading up to the Remarkables -
Among other cliff-side roads of New Zealand we have to mention the Paikakariki road on the North Island - rewarding with awesome coastal views, but demanding driver's full attention at the same time. Otherwise the careless stray glance toward a pretty landscape may become the last thing you'll gaze upon, period.
Milford Road in Upper Hollyford Valley (Fiordland National Park, South Island) is something else again, but not as dangerous to drive, barring avalanches:
http://www.elakiri.com/forum/showthread.php?t=268512
This is the original article, as written by Avi Abrams in November, 2006. All rights reserved, @ Ian Media.
1. Stelvio Pass Road - redefining switchbacks
Height - 2757 meters
Location - in the Italian Alps, near Bormio and Sulden, 75 km from Bolzano, close to Swiss border. (The road connects the Valtellina with the upper Adige valley and Merano)
Claim to fame - "the highest paved mountain pass in the Eastern Alps, and the second highest in the Alps, after the Col de l'Iseran (2770 m)"
This road might not be as risky as the deadly routes in Bolivia, but it is certainly breathtaking. The tour books advise that the toughest and most spectacular climbing is from the Prato side, Bormio side approach is more tame. With 48 hairpins, this road is regarded as one of the finest continuous hairpin routes in the Alps.
The road itself is a marvel of engineering skill; the exhilarating serpentine sections ask to be driven by experienced motorists for their own sakes. All in all, this could be the most magnificent road pass in Europe.
"On the southern side the road worms its way up the immensely deep Braulio ravine, clinging from side to side and tunneling frequently, between towering rock walls, to the more open basin at the 4th Cantoniera, where the Umbrail Pass comes in from the left. From the junction to the summit is little more than a mile, the road winding more gently up 900 ft. of shaly slope, but still relatively viewless.
From the summit, where the famous Ortler view is suddenly revealed, the Trafoi windings lead down in face of superb views of peaks and glaciers to Trafoi, just below the tree line. The rest of the road, falling along the Trafoibach to the Adige levels in the main valley, is a pleasant descent with fine views ahead of the Zillertal (Austrian) peaks in the main Alpine chain."
-- Hugh Merrick, "The Great Motor Highways of the Alps", 1958
This one is Grimsel Pass near Gletsch, Switzerland. Furka pass is also visible in the upper left of the picture.
Italian Alps are rife with exhilarating switchback roads. Here is one at Fraele, near Isolaccia in Lombardy.
The Italian side of the Splugen Pass, with breathtaking vertical grades at every turn.
Slovenian Mountain Roads are even narrower, and less maintained, but no less spectacular. Witness Mangrt Mountain Road, with Brian Wilson's friend trying to navigate through snow. The road is a dead end, but traveled for the sheer scenery
2. Fascinating Fjord Roads in Norway.
We all know that the steep walls of fjords command an awesome view, like the one below. But when living in small towns and villages in the fjord country, you will need to use a car to get some groceries. This would mean driving on vertigo-inducing roads, honing your driving skills to perfection.
3.Trollstigen - the Troll Ladder
The intense set of hairpin turns featured here belongs to the ancient Trollstigen road in the heart of Romsdal County of Norway, in the Rauma region. The road is very narrow with very few possibilities for cars to pass each other. There are frequent rockfalls in the area, so there have been some upgrades made to the road in 2005.
4.Another Fjord Jewel - Lysebotn Road
This is the Lysebotn Road in Lysefjord, Norway - complete with 27 switchbacks and a 1.1 kilometer long tunnel at the bottom, also with three switchbacks inside. Let one driver tell the story (courtesy Stefan Jonsson):
"The first half of this road was nothing too special, but then... then came the fun part! The last 30 km (18 miles) to Lysebotn were the most fun I have ever driven! This part of the road was a true roller-coaster! It was narrow but with a perfect surface, and you just sat there on the bike with a big smile on your face as you pushed on for some really active driving. Not a straight part of the road as far as you could see. It was up and down and left and right all the time! The road ends with a 27 hairpin serpentine road taking you from 1000 meters (3280 ft) above sea level down to Lysebotn and the Lysefjord. At the end of the serpentine road you go through a tunnel that screws itself 340 degrees through the mountain and as you come out of it (slightly dizzy) you have Lysebotn in front of you. If you ride a motorcycle in Norway, then this road is something you simply can not afford to miss!"
Amen to that, brother. This is the view 900 meters down, once you get on top:
5.The Pulpit Rock Hike - if you fall, it's 1000 meters down
After a steep hike up (300 meters elevation gain), which should take about 2 hours for an inexperienced hiker, you get to stand on the "world class" photography attraction, the pedestal of truly spiritual proportions.
his stupendous trail will exceed your expectations for truly great hiking, if you don't slip on any boulders in some foolish jump for a picture. The fall is exactly one kilometer, almost enough time to grow wings.
6.Crazy Routes in Andes, Albania & New Zealand
Necessity may dictate that you choose the "road less traveled", but for goodness sake, leave weaker-nerved passengers behind. They might experience life-changing (and underwear-changing) circumstances that they will never forget, or forgive.
One of the Chinese military roads to "boost the morale of their troops" -
7."Los Caracoles" Pass in Andes
Rodrigo L. van Lamoen tipped us about its existence and describes it in this way:
"It's a place in the mountain pass "Los Libertadores" that goes trough the Andes between Chile and Argentina. It's called "Los Caracoles" and is a series of very hard switchbacks on a very steep road, with no barriers and ice and snow present most of the year. Add the cargo trucks and double-decker tourist buses... and you get the idea. I've done that a couple times, once in a double-decker even, and it's quite an experience."
here is the view from the bus window:
8.Tirana to Elbasan Road in Albania
This is a hairy route, very high, badly maintained with high volume of heavy truck traffic - count on these Albanian drivers to be dare-devils, too. Whatever pictures we could get, look pretty serious:
The cool thing about this road is that it leads to various interesting "rabbit trails" with ancient ruins at the end:
some of the bridges there look pretty ancient too, and require some extra faith that they'll hold:
9.New Zealand Crazy Routes
The "Lord of the Rings" country contains the prettiest landscapes in the world and the hairiest roads to reach them. At least we got this impression after receiving a dozen tips from our readers to investigate and to cover some of this island's fearsome backroads. Here are a few examples:
It gets pretty interesting in foggy conditions (sheer drop less than a meter away) -
10.The Skippers Canyon Road near Queenstown:
Katie Laurence writes to us:
"This road is made from a very narrow cut in the middle of a sheer cliff face. The large tourist buses go along it, and it's so narrow that if two vehicles have to pass each other, one vehicle might have to reverse for anything up to 3 kilometres of winding narrow road to get to a place wide enough to pass. It is the SCARIEST road you could imagine..."
This road still looks much the same as 100 years ago:
Another interesting road near Queenstown: leading up to the Remarkables -
Among other cliff-side roads of New Zealand we have to mention the Paikakariki road on the North Island - rewarding with awesome coastal views, but demanding driver's full attention at the same time. Otherwise the careless stray glance toward a pretty landscape may become the last thing you'll gaze upon, period.
Milford Road in Upper Hollyford Valley (Fiordland National Park, South Island) is something else again, but not as dangerous to drive, barring avalanches:
