Stelvio Pass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Stelvio Pass (Italian: Passo dello Stelvio; German: Stilfser Joch), located in Italy, at 2757 m (9045 ft.) is the highest paved mountain pass in the Eastern Alps, and the second highest in the Alps, slightly below the Col de l'Iseran (2770 m, 9088 ft.).[citation needed] In the list of highest paved roads in the Alps, Stelvio Pass ranks fourth.
[edit] Location
It is located in the Italian Alps north of Bormio in the province of Sondrio and south of Stilfs in the province of Bolzano-Bozen, some 75 km (47 mi.) from Bolzano, close to the Swiss border, as the Umbrail Pass joins the Stelvio's southern ramp nearby. The "Three languages peak" (Dreisprachenspitze) above the pass is so named because this is where the Italian, German and Romansh languages meet.
The road connects the Valtellina with the upper Adige valley (Vinschgau) and Merano. The most important mountain range next to the Stelvio Pass is the Ortler Alps. Adjacent to the pass road there is a large summer skiing area. Important mountains nearby include Ortler, Monte Livrio, Monte Scorluzzo and Monte Zebrù.
[edit] History
The original road was built in 1820-25 by the Austrian Empire to connect the former Austrian province of Lombardia with the rest of Austria, covering a climb of 1871 m. The engineer and project manager was Carlo Donegani (1775 - 1845, Brescia). Since then, the route has changed very little. Its sixty hairpin turns, 48 of them on the northern side numbered with stones, are a challenge to motorists. Even Stirling Moss went off the road here during a vintage car event in the 1990s, with an onboard video of his incident being shown on satellite TV.
Before the end of World War I, it formed the border between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Italian Kingdom. Even the Swiss had had an outpost and a hotel (which was destroyed) on the Dreisprachenspitze. During World War I, fierce battles were fought in the ice and snow of the area, with gun fire even crossing the Swiss area at times. The three nations made an agreement not to fire over Swiss territory, which jutted out in between Austria (to the south) and Italy (to the north). Instead they could fire down the pass, as Swiss territory was up and around the peak. After 1919, with the expansion of Italy, the pass lost its strategic importance.
The Stelvio Pass retains an importance for sport when it is open from June to September. Countless cyclists and motorcyclists struggle to get to the highest stretch of road in the Eastern Alps. The Giro d'Italia often crosses the Stelvio Pass (it was crossed by the Giro for the first time in 1953, when Coppi beat Koblet).
Bormio regularly hosts World Cup ski racing; its Pista Stelvio is among the most challenging men's downhill courses on the circuit.
In a 2007 episode of the BBC television programme Top Gear, presenter Jeremy Clarkson named it the best driver's road in the world, after driving it in a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera with colleagues James May, in an Aston Martin V8 Vantage N24 track car, and Richard Hammond, in a Porsche GT3 RS. EON Productions scouted the pass in 2007 as a possible car-chase location for shooting of the second Bond film to star Daniel Craig as 007.[citation needed]
In 2008, Moto Guzzi started selling a Stelvio model, named after the famous mountain pass.
