Ride the Stelvio (Stilfser Joch) Pass twice in one day

Wapping

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The Stelvio Pass (Stilfser Joch in German) might not be everybody’s cup of tea but, for some at least, it is on their list of ‘must do’ places to see and ride. One thing for certain, it is iconic.

Whilst looking for something completely different, I chanced upon an article in the Motorrad magazine’s RiDE editions, which gives pretty good details of how to ride the pass twice in one day. It is all in German (of which I speak zero, beyond ordering a beer, a hotel room and counting to 10 *) but Safari offers an instant free translation, which is good enough for most purposes.

If nothing else it goes to show what is out there on the internet. Not least, it demonstrates what is possible with just a bit of surfing around, some instant translation and just a tiny bit of effort or imagination.

Here is what I found.

In one day twice about the furious sweeps of the Stelvio Pass. In between, an ensemble of six very different passes plus a spectacular cul-de-sac with an insider tip character. After this day, you just have to be happy.

Route: 290 km / Tour duration: about 8 hours (with breaks)

1. Start at the hotel in Trafoi. Then up on the yoke (2757 meters): Like a music production, long harmonious arches alternate with shrill hairpin sweeps. The further the east ramp asphalt meander rises into the sky, the faster the curves follow each other. Shortly before the pass height comes the final furious of a sweeping drum vortex. Then relax briefly at the top.

2. Runtersurfing over the western ramp and at the same time the southern flank of the Umbrail. Then over Bormio, San Antonio and Santa Caterina up to the Gavia (2618 meters). The road is rumbled, yet or precisely because of that an experience! Down the southern ramp and over Pezzo, Zoanno, Davena and Monno over the Passo del Mortirolo (1852 meters).

3. Course north to Vernuga. Keep south here again and then west via Lovero and Tirano. Drive almost north from Brusio and circle over Lake Poschiavo to the eastern ramp of the Bernina Pass (2330 meters). Enjoy and turn around the magnificent Alpine panorama.

4. Down the east ramp again. It was just a short detour, a "sniff up and down", because the pass is on the way. Continue over the Forcola di Livigno (2315 meters) and the Foscagno Pass (2291 meters). In Livigno, fuel, spirits, tobacco and cosmetics are cheap.

5. Now follows the insider tip: the cul-de-sac to the Passo di Fraele (1941) along the Cancano lakes. Every meter is worth it. Shortly before the end, the Rifugio Ristoro Val Fraele awaits as a reward. You have to go the same way back. No less spectacular. Now to the final again over the Stelvio and down to Trafoi.

The free PDF of the rout’s map downloads well. You’ll maybe spot that a part of the route links to another in same magazine’s collection.

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The free GPX file downloads well. I am reasonably confident it would run, straight off the bat, in a GPS devive or through one of the popular phone based app’s. That being said, always check things before you set sail. Here it is shown in Pocket Earth:

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The original magazine article is here:

https://www.motorradonline.de/reise...tilfser-joch-im-bannkreis-des-stilfser-jochs/

Scroll down a bit where, even if you are viewing it in German, it is easy to guess where you’ll tap to find the map PDF and the GPX file.

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All this was on an iPad. Tap around, you really cannot break it.

PS Websites have an annoying habit of closing and / or becoming corrupt through a lack of maintenance. If you want to keep something for possible use in the future, download it and save it today. I keep my copies of GPX files in Dropbox and PDF’s in iBooks.


* Oddly enough, I have picked up and now recognise some words, just through looking at German touring magazines’ blurb. It will though be useless when it comes to discussing German monetary policy or what colour to paint the sitting room’s walls.
 
Some snaps from early September 2012.

It was baking in the valley at the bottom but cold, not much above freezing, at the top.

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Had we been maybe a couple of days earlier, we might well have been riding up in a snow storm or found the road shut.
 
That, Wapping, is the best article/ride I have seen for that area… I now plan to go back and do it again… thanks for posting it. Can it be stickered so I can find it again. Looks like an awesome ride. :bow
 
Thank you. I plan on gathering things together at some point, just as I have done for other countries in the sub-sections and will try to remember to lob it in there.

One tip: If you highlight (click on) a webpage’s address it will highlight it. Now copy it, you’ll be able to save it somewhere.

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Did it in 2009 - on a CX500!


 
Just to expand on the same theme, as it might give bods some ideas on ways to find things just by surfing about.

I have found that many of the best tips and ideas come from German motorcycle centric webpages and magazines. Naturally enough, these are generally in German, it being what they speak. We do the same, as MCN and Bike magazines are published in English.

I use one simple method:

1. The names of countries and / or some places are different in German than they are in English. You can see an example in this thread, where the pass name is different in Italian (we generally use the Italian name) than it is in German. Another example would be Slovenia, which the Germans call, Slowenien.

2. For Slovenian ideas, I’d type into Google: Slowenien motorrad touren. That is probably dreadful German but Google doesn’t seem to mind.

3. Up should pop lots of websites. I then just tap around to see what’s on offer and where it might then lead me to.

4. Similarly, I have saved the home pages of most of the most popular German touring magazine websites, you can see them in in the post above, displayed on my iPad. I just tap on the shortcut, the page opens. I then type say, Slovenian into the site’s search function and see what pops up.

It really is that easy and gets to be quite fun after a while. Similarly, I subscribe to the magazines via Readly, so often come across other articles or ideas, some of which I share here if I think they might be of interest. In a sense, this thread developed just from that.

Tip two: Get used to highlighting, copying and pasting. It saves time and cuts down some typing errors. It is also really useful when copying things into Google Translate.

Here’s another example. This time it comes from the very good Kurvenkoenig website but the method described above was used to find it:

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https://kurvenkoenig.de/motorrad/graubuenden-engadin/stilfserjoch.html

With a bit more tapping around in the Kurvenkoenig webpage, it turns up the route on Kurviger, from where you can download it:

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And a similar but different idea from the same Kurvenkoenig:

https://kurvenkoenig.de/motorrad/trentino-gardasee/stilfserjoch.html
 
I did it twice in September 19, have to admit it was a chore second time round.

Always felt it an iconic pass to do but I was a bit sickened by it but would always do it again if I'm in that area, twice not so much.
 
Did it in 2009 - on a CX500!



My friend in this picture, along with his granddaughter, only has the use of his left arm, the right arm being useless.

He converts all his BMW bikes himself to ‘left hand drive’, the right hand controls (throttle, front brake etc) he disconnects and shifts. He rode to the top of the Stelvio -and a load of other passes - on his. He tells me that the biggest problem is counter steering with one arm, as the one handed action often shuts or opens the throttle, as you have no input or assistance from the other arm at all. I leave you to work out what that might mean on the Stelvio. His granddaughter was his pillion for the entire holiday, though Mick did ask me if I’d take her up on the back of my bike when we came to the Stelvio, just in case something went wrong or he struggled just a bit too much with one arm. Other than that he just got on with it, all holiday.

Here’s he (and she) at the top. A top man and a really good motorbike rider. If he can do it with one arm on a converted bike, bods on an über 1250 GS should find it a doddle. You can see them at the bottom, looking up to where we’ll be going ], in post #2.

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PS That’s one hell of a looking CX500 :beerjug:

PPS The story as to how he lost the use of his right arm, is something in itself. It happened when he was no spring chicken.
 
Was up there in 2015 with friends over from Blighty, both on Crosstourers at the time

We stayed in the hotel Madatsch in Trafoi, luckily our room had a view straight up the glacier
 

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To continue the theme from post #6 (but keep the pictures coming, please) here’s another webpage with route ideas and downloads. Tap around to get a feel on how to do it and convince yourselves that you really cannot break it.

https://www.vinschgau.net/de/prad-am-stilfserjoch/aktivurlaub/sport-freizeit/motorradfahren.html

And some more:

https://www.motorradundreisen.de/motorradtour/231_stilfser-joch-tour.html

https://www.moho.info/de/motorrad-region/suedtirol-dolomiten/mr/reschensee-stilfserjoch-vinschgau/

There’s a whole world of stuff (to use the popular vernacular) out there. Hopefully, Covid is vanishing into history, so fire up your home PC and get surfing.


PS Proof that you really don’t need 100 plus bhp, traction control, hill start assist, electronic suspension and the blaze of a thousand suns…..

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Ride the Stelvio? Great plan and routes BUT do it off season! High season is hell on wheels : buses, cars , bikes, push bikes etc.
 
Done it! 21st of September 2019, pics taken at 19:20, after [mention]Arsey [/mention]and I parted ways a day before in Vercors.
Took a day to ride from Western Switzerland to reach Stelvio Pass. On the way there I came over Umbrail Pass

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Stelvio Pass.

By the time I descended to the bottom, it was pitch black. Does take a while

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I was headed for Merano for the night.

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Had the biggest Pizza* and a Beer for under €10 that night. It was so big, it was overhanging the plate all the way round by a good inch.

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* yes that is a veggie pizza, so am I.

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The place is round the corner from the hotel/B&B, about 5 minute walk. I this pic the following morning. I believe it is also a hotel.

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Ride the Stelvio? Great plan and routes BUT do it off season! High season is hell on wheels : buses, cars , bikes, push bikes etc.

When you say off season I presume you mean September any later and it's a plough you'll be needing. Usually doesn't open til early May when they send up blowers to open it but even in May is risky, couple or so years back they had a summit finish in the Giro and it was horrific.


On that note of September, we then went onto Andermatt, it was lovely, we left the next morning, the very next day they had ten inches of snow.
 
Thank you. I plan on gathering things together at some point, just as I have done for other countries in the sub-sections and will try to remember to lob it in there.

One tip: If you highlight (click on) a webpage’s address it will highlight it. Now copy it, you’ll be able to save it somewhere.

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All done… thanks bud
 
A few pics…

I was there in 2017… can feel another big solo trip coming on in the coming years… would like to camp as I go!
 

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