The Stelvio, above the clouds

This was the day I had looked forward to most: the Stelvio Pass. At 2,758 m it is the highest paved pass in Italy, with 48 hairpins on the east side and 40 on the west. The plan was to climb from Prato in the east and descend to Bormio in the west, riding both sides.

Past Merano, the pass road starts at Prato, and every hairpin has a numbered sign: 48, 47, 46… The smaller the numbers, the colder the air.

km 107Stelvio Pass 2,758 m

We reached the top at 1:40 in the afternoon. Motorcycles from all over Europe lined the road, and the walls of the kiosks were covered in stickers. After a pizza lunch we walked up the hill beside the pass.

From the top of the hill a sea of cloud spread out at our feet. The eastern valley we had climbed was buried beneath it, and beyond rose a line of glaciated peaks. The wind was cold enough to numb my fingers.

Then I looked over the other side and caught my breath. The western road down to Bormio was folded back and forth across the whole mountainside. A view I had only ever seen in photographs was right in front of me.

On the way down my friend rode ahead. Through tunnel after tunnel and gallery after gallery, his bike kept slipping in and out of view at each bend. Following the back of a man who had ridden 27,000 km made me strangely proud.

From Bormio we crossed one more pass, the Foscagno at 2,291 m. There is a customs post at the top, and beyond it lies the duty-free town of Livigno. In the evening light, the yellow centre line ran straight down into the valley.

km 150Passo di Foscagno 2,291 m

We reached Livigno just before six: a mountain town of wooden buildings at 1,816 m. This would be our last night together.