Back in Andermatt we had a quick lunch before heading to another new-for-me pass, Susten. The main road north out of Andermatt is busy but super-curvy, and a fun little ride on our way to the pass. The ramp up Susten was uique, for the most part a straight-ish road clinging to the mountainside. It had some bends, but not really any of the hairpins or full-on turns of most other passes. This was a road that you could make some serious time on if you were so inclined.

Of course just when the road starts to get really interesting and the scenery extraordinary we get to the barrier. There was a small cafe at that spot, and a dozen or so other bikers hanging around - along with a pair of moto cops. We let them get a good head start before we headed back down the pass.


Not wanting to call it a day yet we decided to tackle one more new pass, Klausen. None of us had read up on the pass, but it looked twisty on the GPS and, most importantly, it was open. After joining the main road there was about a 1/2 hour ride north to Klausen, most of which I spent with those 2 motorcycle cops on my 6. Does not make for quick progress.

The turnoff for Klausen goes through the small town of Altdorf, where the road begins a series of hairpins through residential and commercial areas. There were tons of scooters in the town hauling ass up and down the hairpins which was fun to watch. After what seemed like a few miles the congestion started to fade and we began what I assume was the pass proper.

The west side of Klausen Pass was super narrow in places, definitely not enough room for 2 cars to pass. Hairpins, blind corners, tiny bridges, drop-offs, you name it this pass had it. It was pretty slow going up as the road was so twisted and narrow you couldn't really commit to anything - especially with the blind corners.

After a few miles of serious twisty climbing the road transformed into a hug-the-cliff narrow strip of tarmac with a HUGE dropoff on the other side of a flimsy pipe-rail. This was like nothing we had seen before - the sheer dropoff combined with the tiny road was pretty unsettling (at least to us newbies, some other groups of bikes had no such misgivings as they flew by).


After the crazy 'ledge' section of the pass there were some traditional twisties and hairpins before you got to the summit. I scored some pass stickers at the little shop while I waited for the rest of the guys to arrive. It was proper cold at the top, and it was getting late, so we didn't hang around too long. Not wanting the adventure to be over we chose to see what the east ramp of the pass was like before doubling back and doing the crazy west side again.

The east side could not have been more different. Where the west had the ledge section, and crazy blind turns and narrow segments that were somwhat reminiscint of the best passes Italy had to offer (I'm thinking of you, Passo Gavia!), the east ramp was a perfect ribbon of flowing tarmac. Great hairpins, perfect pavement, clear sightlines, stunning views, you name it. We rode all the way to the bottom and couldn't wait to turn around and run back up.


As usual we regrouped at the top before continuing. Peter went ahead and Dave and I hung back for a while chatting. We figured we would catch up to Peter shortly as he'd likely be stopping for photos along the way. As it would turn out he didn't stop at all and got pretty far ahead on the pass - which would lead to a heart-stopping incident for Dave and I on the descent.


We were surprised we hadn't caught up to Peter yet, and as we were just clearing the narrow 'ledge' section we came across a group of bikes and cars pulled over on the side of one of the big dropoffs. As we rode by our thoughts turned to the worst, and going around the curve just passed them we saw guys climbing over the pipe-rail. Oh shit.

We immediately stopped in the road and looked over the rail. Fortunately it wasn't Peter, but sadly there was another bike and rider down the hill who had gone over (or under) the rail and off the road. The rider was on the ground not far from the road, and his bike was a ways further down the slope. Thankfully the rider was moving - not getting up, but alive. This was a section that was just a few yards from the huge-dropoff ledge area. If anyone had gone off on that section you wouldn't even be able to see them, let alone climb down and help.

There were obviously enough people around lending assistance so we didn't linger too long.


I spent the remainder of the ride down the pass in a very different mindset. We caught up to Peter further down the pass, and watched as an ambulance made it's way up to attend to the fallen rider. There were several cars going up as well, pushing their limits making a run to the top. One GTI in particular came at me around a blind corner hauling ass, his outside suspension fully compressed and tires howling.

The ride back to Andermatt was mostly uneventful until we got close to town - the St. Gotthard tunnel was closed, so they were diverting all traffic over the tiny twisting road into town. We sat for a while, filtered past some folks, sat again, etc. Got back into town just as darkness fell.

Overall this was a great day of riding, and Klausenpass especially was a fantastic find. It was sobering to come across the rider down, but still it was an amazing end to the day.

Tomorrow will be mostly just an Autobahn blast back to Landshut to return the bikes.