 TOP
10+
September 4 - 17, 2010
14 Riding Days
This trip is for people who want a rider's ride to the highest of the
high. A lot of tour companies refer to their tour as the "High Alps"
or the "Extreme Challenge" or some such name but they never
really get to the high stuff. This tour does. The whole point of this
tour is to ride the TOP10 highest passes in the Alps. I'm sorry to say
that in order to get to those passes we'll have to ride dozens of other
great passes of all types, big, small, wide, narrow, many in the middle
of nowhere, to get from one side of the Alps to the other and complete
the tour. It is a technically, physically, and mentally challenging tour
loaded with as much fun, adventure and riding enjoyment as one person
can handle. It is the "High Alps Extreme Touring Ultimate Challenge
Tour" or "TOP 10+" for short.
The TOP 10 passes are spread throughout the Alps. Four are in the central
and southern Alps of France. One straddles the French and Italian borders.
Another sits on the Swiss Italian border. Three are in the Tyrol section
of northwest Italy and one sits on the spine of the Austria Alps southeast
of Salzburg. That's a lot of ground to cover. It could be done in a lot
less than 14 days but why rush. The TOP 10 are surrounded on all sides
by great riding. What I have done is to modify the Italian tour, usually
run in September, so that we get in all the TOP 10 passes, with 3 - 4
days at the end to appreciate the Dolomites and mountain lakes of Italy.
The tour has two 2-night stopovers and one 3-night stop designed to allow
tour members to take advantage of the riding nearby, rest a little or
sight see. Many of the passes we will ride are well above the tree line,
which gives you a wide open, panoramic view of the mountains and valleys.
However, there are still great views to be had from high on top of a wooded
pass looking down into valleys or lakes. I've never specifically checked
it out but it appears that the tree line stops around 1,600 to 1,700 meters.
Either way the view is beautiful.
The French peaks are generally more barren and bleak but beautiful at
the same time. The Swiss and Austrian mountains are the picture perfect
vistas that you expect. The Italian mountains are rugged and fun to ride
while the Dolomites are more up-close and personal. You literally get
it all with this tour, a great variety of roads, food, culture and mountains.
It truly is the High Alps Extreme Touring Ultimate Challenge Tour.
Please check out the Photo
Album for a glimpse of what the view will be like. Note that tabs
1 and 2 show pictures from both tours while tabs 3 and 4 show scenes from
the Swiss and Italian tours respectively.
WHERE WE GO
The 14-day total tour includes 12 nights away from our base in Thun.
Of those 12 nights 7 are in Italy (I), 3 are in France (F) and 2 are in
Switzerland (S). The schedule of overnight stays is as follows:
- Saturday - Thun (S)
- Sunday - La Thuile (I)
- Monday - St. Veran (F)
- Tuesday - St. Veran (F)
- Wednesday - Chamonix (F)
- Thursday - Andermatt (S)
- Friday - Mals (I)
- Saturday - Mals (I)
- Sunday - Corvara (I)
- Monday - Corvara (I)
- Tuesday - Corvar (I)
- Wednesday - Riva del Garda
(I)
- Thursday - Klontal (S)
- Friday - Thun (S)
- Saturday - Fly Home
A basic list of the passes that we might go over each day would
be:
- Saturday - Free Day - The bike
is yours all day. There's lots of great riding nearby.
- Sunday - Saanenmoser, Col du
Pillon, Col del la Croix, Col du Grand St. Bernard, Colle San Carlo
- Monday - Col du Petit St. Bernard,
Col de l'Iseran, Col du Mt. Cenis, Col de Finestre, Sestriere, Col de
Montgenevre, Col d'Izoard
- Tuesday - (The Real High Stuff)
Col Agnel, Col di Sampeyre, Col de Lombarde, la Bonnette, Col du Restefond,
Col de Vars
- Wednesday - Col d'Izoard, Col
du Galibier, Col du Telegraphe, Col de la Madeleine, Cormet de Roseland,
Col du Pre, Col des Saises
- Thursday - Col de Montets,
Col de la Forclaz, Nufenen Pass, St. Gotthard Pass
- Friday - Oberalp, Splugen,
Maloja, Bernina, Forcola di Livigno, Ofen
- Saturday - Umbrail, Gavia,
Mortirolo, Forcola di Livigno, di Eira, di Foscagno, Stelvio
- Sunday - Reschen, Pillerhoe,
Timmelsjoch, Jaufen, Penserjoch, di Gardena
- Monday - Furkel Sattel, Staller
Sattel, Grossglockner Hoch Tor, Iselsberg, Drei Zinnen, Tre Croce, Valparola
- Tuesday - Wurtzjoch, di Campolongo,
di Falzarego, di Giau, di Fedaia, di Sella, di Gardena
- Wednesday - Pordoi, di Costalunga,
di Lavaze, Manghen, Berdala
- Thursday - Croce Domini, dell
Aprica, Bernina, Julier, Lenzerheide
- Friday - Pragel, Glaubenberg,
Brunig
MOTO-CHARLIE reserves the right to alter the exact route at his discretion.
BRIEF TOUR DESCRIPTION
This tour focuses on the 10 highest passes in the Alps. The TOP 10 were
determined from John Hermann's book "Motorcycle Journeys Through
The Alps And Corsica - Third Edition". All these passes are paved
(with a couple of minor exceptions) and all go from one place to another,
as opposed to dead-ending in some valley. As such they are the highest
paved roads you can ride in the Alps. Our mission on this tour is to find
them, wherever they are, which in this case is spread throughout France,
Switzerland, Italy and Austria. The highest pass in Austria is within
looping distance from our Dolomite base used on the Italian tour. Seeing
as we'll be in the Dolomites after completing the TOP 10 passes we might
as well take advantage of that and finish the tour by riding the remainder
of the route I normally take on the Italian tour. So, we can enjoy the
Dolomites and then head down to Riva for one night before making our way
back to our home base in Thun. Riva is at the northern tip of Lago di
Garda famous for its windsurfing and water sports. It is a fun town to
hang out in and the roads around and above the lake are a great hoot to
ride. This will truly be the tour of a lifetime.
Most people like to arrive a day ahead of time on Friday. The motorcycle
is usually available to pick up on Friday afternoon. If the entire group
arrives on Friday we usually plan two group rides on Saturday, one in
the morning and one in the afternoon. You are welcome to come on both,
one, or none of the Saturday rides. I'll be more than glad to help you
plan whatever alternate Saturday activity might be of interest to you.
-
Saturday - Pick up the motorcycle. There are many wonderful
sites to see in the immediate area, either by motorcycle or public
transportation. Go visit the neat town of Interlaken located between
the Thun See ("see" is the german word for lake) and the
Brienzer See or take in Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald and gaze upon
the Eiger. Or just hang out in Thun or Steffisburg. You're welcome
to just relax in the morning, post jet lag, and partake in a short
group ride in the afternoon to get used to the bike and the roads.
In the evening please feel to join the other tour members for a group
dinner or head off on your own for a quiet, private meal. It's all
your choice.
-
Sunday - Today we don't waste any time heading south for the
high stuff. It's not long before we are riding in the French speaking
part of Switzerland. Here, as in France, the passes are referred to
as Col's. We cross over three small Col's that flirt just above and
below the tree line as we make our way to Martigny, the last major
Swiss city we bypass on our way to the biggest pass of the day, the
Col du Grand St. Bernard. We should arrive in the Martigny area just
after noon. From there it's due south over the Grand St. Bernard into
Italy. This is a major Alpine pass at 2,469 meters, the 12th highest
in the Alps. While we don't get to see the real dogs you can feast
your eyes on all kinds of stuffed ones at the various souvenir kiosks.
The top of the pass is also the border between Switzerland and Italy
so you can either have hot chocolate or espresso depending on which
side you chose to stop. From here it's downhill towards Aosta before
heading west towards Morgex and then south for our last pass of the
day, Colle San Carlo. This is a tight twisty pass not well known but
it can still be busy with locals, especially on a Sunday, who appreciate
the roads and the scenery for hiking, picnicking, bicycling etc. Tomorrow,
on Monday, it will be practically deserted. The pass ends in the town
of La Thuile where we will spend the night. It sounds French but we're
still in Italy.
-
Monday - Yesterday was a warm up for some serious pass riding
today, up to seven passes, maybe more. We continue to head south on
the road out of La Thuile, which leads to the Petite St. Bernard,
"only" 2,188 meters high, well above tree line. Like the
Grand St. Bernard there is a border here from France into Italy. What's
different is that both countries, unlike Switzerland, are part of
the Euro zone so there is no border or customs station, just keep
on riding. At the bottom, near the town of Borg St. Maurice we continue
south on the road to the Col de l'Iseran, #2 on the TOP 10 list at
2,769 meters. The mountains begin to look more barren, the services
get more spread out, and the scenery is spectacular. Once over the
l'Iseran we've got five more passes including Sestriere in Italy,
the area where the Alpine events took place in the recent winter Olympics
(Iseran was also an Olympic site a number of years ago). We end our
long day of riding in the village of St. Veran, where we will stay
for two nights. If we are riding the highest passes in the Alps then
we should also stay at the highest village in the Alps and that's
St. Veran. Once in the village we stay at the highest hotel in the
village. Gotta love that altitude.
-
Tuesday - Last night, before going to bed, we sacrificed our
cappuccino cups and prayed for good weather and no snow because today
we tackle the real, real high stuff, including the #1, #4 and #5 highest
passes in the Alps. We'll see all kinds of riding from tight gnarly
switchbacks to sweepers and varied road conditions from good to rough
tar and probably some loose road repair gravel thrown in for good
measure. All the major passes are above 2,000 meters and well above
the tree line. We head out from our hotel and within an hour we are
riding up #4, the Col Agnel at 2,744 meters, which straddles the French/Italian
border. We then head southeast through Italy over some great high
valley roads before we begin to curve southwest in preparation for
routing ourselves in a big loop back north again. After two or three
neat high passes we start up the road to la Bonette, #1 highest pass
in the Alps at 2,862 meters. It's really a loop road built off the
Col du Restefond road, the main drag in these parts and itself the
#5 highest pass at 2,678 meters. It's almost like they built the la
Bonette loop so they could lay claim to the highest pass in the Alps.
We obviously stop for photo ops, perhaps a group picture, etc. before
finishing the Restefond road and one other pass on our way back to
St Veran for a well deserved rest and dinner.
-
Wednesday - Now that we've accomplished our mission in Southern
France it's time to head north. Our destination tonight is Chamonix,
the internationally recognized ski town of France. To get there we've
got a variety of riding including up to seven passes. By noon, after
a couple of high passes, we should be up and over the Col du Galibier
at 2,645 meters #6 on the list. From here we enter the area around
Mt. Blanc, coincidentally the highest mountain in the Alps. The last
few passes on the way to Chamonix include some great back country
roads with very pretty Alpine scenery looking down on houses and farms
as we descend towards our night's stay.
-
Thursday - One of the reasons we stay in Chamonix is so that
we can do something a little touristy, if you want to and that is
to ride the Aiguille du Midi cablecar, which carries you to 3,842
meters. It is the closest you can get to the Mt Blanc summit (at 4,810
meters) without climbing it and is considered one of the most spectacular
cablecar rides in the Alps, if not the world. The round trip takes
a half a day. If it's cloudy at the top or the weather doesn't cooperate
there is always riding and plenty of it. There are three nice, fairly
low passes with good road surface and plenty of sweepers as we work
our way back towards Switzerland. There are some nice trips up dead
end valley roads with great views of Mt. Blanc. Once into Switzerland
we head northeast towards some of the best riding the country has
to offer. Given the fact that most people think of Switzerland and
the Alps as one it's a bit surprising to find that there are no TOP
10 passes in Switzerland. The closest the Swiss come is #11, the Nufenen
at 2,478 meters. Of course we charge over this pass and do so as part
of this afternoon's ride along with the St Gotthard pass before ending
the day at the Swiss motorcycle heartland - Andermatt.
-
Friday - There are no TOP 10 passes today (because Switzerland
doesn't have any) but there is great riding on the high passes that
Swizerland offers. Almost all of today's passes will be above the
tree line. We head northeast out of Andermatt over the Oberalp pass,
famous to bikers for its smooth tar, wide road and unbeatable sweepers
(not to mention the view). A couple of hours later, after riding a
major Swiss valley road we prepare to ride the Splugen pass, a fantastic
pass that crosses over into Italy. The layered switchbacks on this
pass will be recognizable to any fan of the James Bond "Goldfinger"
movie. At the bottom we head back to Switzerland as we pass by (and
or stop in) St. Moritz on our way to Italy again, Switzerland again
- six passes in total, then finally Italy for a two night stay in
the neat town of Mals.
-
Saturday - Here again, we have sacrificed our cappuccino cups
to the weather gods the night before because today we take on three
of Italy's highest, including #3, #7 and #10 on the list. We start
the day by heading back briefly into Switzerland so we can get the
bottom of the Umbrail pass road. The road up has a section that runs
several kms of hard packed gravel, but it's fairly wide and no problem
on a motorcycle. The road turns to tar again before the top. This
pass is #10 at 2,501 meters and brings us out three kms below Passo
di Stelvio, which will be our last pass of the day. Before we go there
we head south to Bormio and then east to Passo di Gavia, # 7 on the
list at 2,621 meters. The up side is wide enough but bumpy, the downside
is tight and narrow and bumpy. It's tar now but it was dirt for many
years. This pass has spectacular views, a sense of remoteness, and
excellent espresso at the top. At the bottom we head south west over
several lower and higher passes heading back up through Bormio, up
past the Umbrail turnoff and twisting right to the top of the Stelvio
pass, perhaps the most famous and photographed pass in the Alps. This
pass is considered by many riders to be the "must ride"
pass of the Alps. At 2,758 meters it is #3 on the list. With close
to 40 switchbacks on both sides, year round skiing at the top, and
the carnival like atmosphere at the pass itself there is nothing else
like it in the Alps. From here we work our way down towards Mals,
through some orchards and vineyards and back to our hotel.
-
Sunday - Today's route indicates six passes including a TOP
10 pass plus several beautiful high valley roads that cling to the
top edge of the valley sides as we look way down onto towns, farms,
highways, rivers, etc. We head north out of Mals over the Reschen
pass and cross into Austria towards the town of Landeck. We peel off
before the town and head northeast over the Pillerhoe, a great shortcut
that rides high over the valley at 1,558 meters and brings us down
near Imst Austria, where we head southeast towards the Timmeljoch
pass, our key TOP 10 target today at #9 and 2,509 meters. The Austrian
approach is a long, wide, easy riding well-surfaced valley road that
gains altitude slowly without advertising it. Several kms from the
top the Austrian side finishes with a series of good quality switchbacks
and sweepers that clearly gain altitude and then you're there at the
top. There's a toll to be paid before we can proceed down the Italian
side, which seem like a completely different road than what we just
road up. It alternates between tight and bumpy, smooth and sweeping
with switchbacks, stunning Alpine views and rapid elevation changes.
It's a great ride down. The riding from here to our hotel is some
of my favorite. The scenery's not bad either. We go over the Jaufen
and Penserjoch passes before veering off onto little traveled high
valley roads that give us our first splendid view of the Dolomites
as we head towards Val di Gardena. Just great, great riding. We end
up in the heart of the Dolomites in Corvara, where we will stay for
three nights.
-
Monday - Here again, we have sacrificed our cappuccino cups
to the weather gods the night before because today we take on the
Grossglockner High Alps Road and Austria's highest pass. Over my years
of travel in the Alps this road has had the most unpredictable weather.
Pack accordingly. We head north out of Corvara, take a nice small
back road short cut pass that sets us up to enter Austria over the
Staller Sattel. The Italian side going up is so narrow that traffic
is controlled by traffic lights that allow traffic to go up or down
on the half hour. Once at the top we enter Austria where the road
immediately becomes open, wide and flowing - go figure. At the bottom
of the pass road we head north on a main valley road through a major
tunnel so that we can then loop east to the start of the Grossglockner
road, which heads south back towards Italy. It is a toll road and
runs approx. 30 miles as it goes up and over the spine of the Austrian
Alps. It is a spectacular high Alpine road and one of the most visited
tourist attractions in Austria, frequently ranking in the top 3 tourist
Austrian tourist destinations. It is also a major motorcycle Mecca.
You can play back and forth along it all day once you pay your toll.
It's got great road surface, unbelievable views, a dead end road with
Austria's largest glacier and at the very top the Hoch Tor, at 2,575
meters Austria's highest pass and #8 on the TOP 10 list. Once down
at the bottom we cross over another small Austrian pass before working
our way back into Italy. If time and weather permit we will ascend
Drie Zinnen, a dead-end road that tops out at 2,320 meters in the
Italian Dolomites and offers incomparable views of the Dolomite peaks.
Another hour +(-) and two more great passes later and we are back
at our hotel.
-
Tuesday - If you're keeping track you'll know that we have
now completed the TOP 10 highest passes in the Alps. Time to decompress
and there is no better riding to do so then in Italy. Today we'll
do up to 7+ passes including the Wurtzjoch, a marvelous one lane pass
with great Dolomite Massifs, Passo di Giau, one of my favorites where
we occasionally come across factory test riders from Ducati, Aprilia
or BMW, and Passo di Fedaia, where a local Refugio serves delicious
tiramisu. All in all a fantastic day of Dolomite riding.
-
Wednesday - We head south over five more passes including
a narrow un-crowded gem Passo Manghen. We then ride some more of my
favorite high valley and low pass roads on our way to Lago di Garda.
As we do so we frequently look down onto vineyards and orchids, pass
through narrow Italian villages and view castles all around. It's
great riding all the way to tonight's hotel in Riva del Garda. Riva
is a great example of an Italian lakes region town. There's a lot
to do including shops, cafes, people watching, water sports and more.
You can kick back for the balance of the day and enjoy the town or
join me for a ride along the shore and up into the adjacent hillside.
Don't worry; we'll be back in time for dinner.
-
Thursday - Today we start on the road back to Switzerland,
but not before a leisurely farewell to Riva and some neat Italian
riding, capped off with Passo Croce Domini, a pass that only a biker
would love with some parts so tight and twisty that it makes sense
to blow your horn when going around corners to let people know you're
coming. A couple of hours later we'll be heading up and over the Bernina
pass in Switzerland, the exact opposite of the Domini with rugged
vistas, high speed sweepers and well tarred, open sight switchbacks.
The Alps have it all. After two more classic Swiss passes we travel
through Heide land and spend our final night on the road at Klontal
See. It's a simple hotel at the end of an Alpine lake surrounded by
mountains with no one else in sight. It's the only spot I go to on
every tour.
-
Friday - On our final day of riding we'll do at least three
passes with a little bit of every kind of riding included to wind
up the tour. Single lane and tight, smooth tar and great lake views
and high speed sweepers. We'll stop by a lakeside restaurant for a
final salute to our tour and then we head back to Thun surrounded
by great Swiss mountain scenery. We should get back in time to return
the motorcycles to the rental shop. Here again as on the first night
please feel to join the other tour members for a group dinner or head
off on your own for a quiet, private meal. It's all your choice.
KEY DATES
-
The tour dates are shown at the top of this page. Naturally,
you are welcome to come sooner. I generally arrive on Friday. If you
would like to come sooner, or stay longer, hotel and motorcycle arrangements
can readily made to suit your schedule.
-
When to book your reservation obviously depends on your schedule.
As a rule I suggest at least 3 months in advance of the tour date
in order to ensure that you get the motorcycle that you want and to
secure a place on the tour. There is a limit of 10 motorcycles or
15 people, whichever comes first, per tour. There are approximately
12 different BMW models, 20 Honda models, and 5 Aprilia models to
choose from. In the case of certain BMW's there are several bikes
of the same models available. In the case of the Honda's and Aprilia's,
one of each. If having a specific bike is a high priority for you
then please book early.
-
The final cut-off date is technically 30 days before the tour
starts. At this point there is enough lead-time for any adjustments
or cancellations as they relate to our motorcycle supplier and related
hotels. If someone contacts me to sign up with less than 30 days to
go every effort will be made to accommodate you. The issue will usually
be the motorcycle availability.
TOUR COST - 11 Days
The cost for this tour at the current exchange rates will be:
- Single rider in a single room
- $5,180
- Single rider sharing a double
room - $5,068
- Passenger sharing a double room
- $2,758
- Couple riding together sharing
a double room - $7,826
These cost numbers should cover your direct travel costs including motorcycle
rental, all hotels and meals, gas and my fee. For a more complete discussion
of the cost of this tour please click here.
HOW TO BOOK THIS TOUR
Please refer to the "Contact Me" section for my telephone or
e-mail address. There is also an e-mail link to me at the bottom of this
page. I am not a paperwork intensive person. So, the process of making
a reservation and getting what I need for my records is pretty simple
once you contact me.
Feel free to contact me to ask any questions about my tours in particular,
or the Alps in general. If I can be of help in any way I'll be glad to
do so.
This tour is the real deal, the "High Alps Extreme Touring Ultimate
Challenge Tour." The description above pretty much says it all. All
the riding you can get, all the altitude you can handle, all the food
and culture that four different Alpine countries can offer, all the fun
and adventure that you will remember for a lifetime. You can gorge yourself
on a frenzy of pass blasting, conspicuous croissant consumption and espresso
overload but it is the riding that you will remember. That's what this
tour is all about.
back to the top
|
