Neither length nor altitude demand too much respect, but the up to 24 per cent steep ramps on the first seven kilometres, which destroy any rhythm, catapult the little road into the top class of mountain passes. However, this only applies to the old pass road, which runs a little to the south of the new one and, like it, starts in Blumau in the Eisack Valley. From there, follow the signs for "Breien" and an inconspicuous little road into the Tiersertal valley. At first, there is no sign of the signposted 20 per cent. Alongside the Brieserbach stream, the route climbs gently uphill in the forest - until after a bridge, the signposted ramp tests the cyclist's form.
However, our GPS only measures 13 per cent. At Breien (km 4.7) there is a sign saying "24 per cent" and ramp number two, but this also has less: 18 per cent. The longest and hardest ramp comes at the end, here the 24 per cent is correct. It releases the brave climber shortly before Tiers onto the new pass road (km 6.7), on which he can recover until St. Zyprian. Behind the village, there are several poisonous ramps before the few hairpin bends before the pass defuse the terrain.
The pass sign is just behind the Niger-Joch-Haus, the cyclist stops: The road continues uphill. Not steep, but still almost a hundred metres in altitude to the Tscheiner Hütte (1,774 m) - because the road does not lead directly down into the valley, but runs along the slope beneath the rock towers of the Rosengarten. A few metres down, 50 metres up - the next pass is in the bag: the Carezza Pass (1,745 m). From its flat ridge, the route descends unspectacularly for nine kilometres to the Fassa Valley 400 metres below.
You can find the entire passport profile as a PDF download below.
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