AUSTRIA: High on the Alps

The Grossglockner High Alpine Road is 48 kilometres (30 miles) long through the Austrian Alps.

It connects the city of Bruck, in the northern end, with Heiligenblut, in the southern end.

Over that distance, there are 36 twists and turns that snake through the steep slopes and rough terrain of the mountains.

Because of the unpredictable and dangerous nature of the weather in the mountains, the Grossglockner High Alpine Road opens in May and closes in November.

Even when it is open between May and November, the weather can change quickly to create dangerous conditions.

In 1930 unemployment was high in Austria and the construction of the Alpine Road created up to 4,000 jobs.

Construction lasted five years later, and in 1935, the Grossglockner High Alpine Road was inaugurated. The very next day the first car race was held on the road.

The road climbs through 4 vegetation zones. It starts in the lush and fertile valley, goes higher to a subalpine level, continues above the tree line, and then up to the glaciers and the highest summits.

The Pasterze Glacier is the biggest glacier that is still in existence in the East Alps. It too is shrinking due to global warming. 

Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe has an altitude of 2,369 m (7,772 ft) above sea level.

Even at the end of May, the snow was really deep at the higher altitudes. 

The road tunnels through the mountains.

A side road, the Edelweiss Spitze, is a narrow, steep, twisty, road that scared the living daylights out of me, but took us up to a vantage point at 2571 metres (8,400ft).

From here you get a panoramic view of 30 mountains that are over three thousand metres (9,800 feet).

The Grossglockner, which, at 3798 metres (12,500 feet), is Austria’s highest mountain.

Today, the alpine road is still a haven for sports cars and motorcyclists.

There were also crazy bicycling enthusiasts who pedalled their way through the pass. Apparently, the road is one of the most popular cycling routes in Austria. I can not imagine peddling up these steep hills. We did see several people walking their bikes, but even that would be a killer.

I will say, we did see a couple of bicycles that were electric, but, it still would have been a lot of work to get up the hills. If only there was a way to harness the downhill power on the bikes.

Speaking of electric, we saw several electrical power stations for EVs. I cannot imagine how much energy it must take for the electric cars to get to the top. 

I am sure all the speed demons were not thrilled with John adhering to my “subtle requests” to drive carefully, not kill us and to remember that he was not driving a Porsche. 

And so we survived.