Detour #133: Susten Pass, Switzerland
Photo Karina Peters / Unsplash
The first official Alpine Pass ever built also happens to be the best for drivers, as Simon Heptinstall can attest.
First, a bit of history. Like many Alpine routes, Switzerland’s Susten Pass was once a muddy medieval mule trail, a well-worn path used by farmers to transport their milk and cheese over the mountains for sale.
By the time of the great continental wars of the 18th and 19th centuries, routes like this began to be considered strategically important. So a paved path was made between Innertkirchen in the canton of Bern following the mules across the peaks into Wassen in Uri.
It allowed troops and supplies to be shuffled from the Hasli Valley in the Bernese Oberland with the Reuss Valley and Gotthard, like counters on a board game.
In the middle of the last century, however, Europe was a different sort of place. There were suddenly very different priorities – and top of the list for the Swiss government was tourism.
That’s why they decided, at great expense, to build the first Alpine mountain road pass. It needed to have gentle gradients for the limited motor vehicles of the time and it needed a proper tarmac surface that wouldn’t deter bump-averse visitors.
Susten was chosen as the pioneering pass. That’s the first great reason to tackle this detour. It’s as much a piece of motor transport history as the Appian Way or Route 66. That’s why the Swiss Government deem it a ‘Road of National Historic Importance’.
Photo Patrick Robert Doyle / Unsplash
The 27-mile route is not particularly steep and, at (7428ft/2264m) it’s not even in Europe’s top 50 highest mountain passes, so you may be thinking it’s an unspectacular way to celebrate a stepping stone of civil engineering. Like sitting through a impenetrable Shakespeare play because someone says you should. But hold on, there’s another, even better reason to change down a gear or two and drive up Susten. This is one of the truly great driving roads.
In fact several experts pick Susten as THE best mountain pass for drivers. Some European driving websites pick Susten as the best driving road in all the Alps – and that’s really saying something.
You soon see that it wasn’t some utility project by a cash-strapped council workforce. Susten was a showcase for Switzerland’s best engineers and architects. They really went to town and includes dozens of elegant bridges and tunnels.
The curves hug neatly round the curves of the mountain, the slopes are gradual and consistent, and of course the views are stupendous. When it was opened in 1945 Susten was widely acclaimed as Europe’s most beautiful road. Tourists travelled from all over the continent to see such a wonder of road building.
Photo Patrick Robert Doyle / Unsplash
It is less well known today but for modern demanding drivers, it still works brilliantly. The smooth surface and soft slopes mean you can really enjoy taking all those corners. As mountain passes go, it feels pretty safe. The outside edges have sturdy guardrails with concentre stanchions.
And the Pass is beautifully varied. The changes keep you interested as it progresses through sweeping valley roads into a sequence of hairpins to rise up the mountain, then evolves into curves and straights through dark pine forests punctuated by stone bridges over mountain torrents.
Those lay-bys built into the design 70 years ago are still handy, even if bellows film cameras have been replaced by smartphones. The one with a wide panorama across the Steinen Glacier is a particular highlight.
In the 21st century, Susten has become a bit of a strategic backwater though. It’s definitely a road for sightseers but isn’t particularly useful for anyone. It doesn’t really go anywhere. That means it’s a low priority for snow clearing.
So Susten is closed daily from 6pm to 8am and often shut between the beginning of November right through to June. That creates a limited six-month daytime window into which are crammed all the summer tourists, bikers and coach tours.
Experts on the Pass advise starting before 10am and avoiding weekends. The less there is on the road, the better the drive. Early June drivers may find they are following clear tarmac between tall walls of snow either side. That early in the season you may find the surrounding snowy peaks, rivers and waterfalls are at their most spectacular.
At the summit of the pass there’s a short tunnel. Out the other side is a big car park and a seasonal hotel with a decent restaurant.
The energetic stop here and, eager to emulate those medieval cheese-carrying mules, go hiking on mountain paths. The less enthusiastic slump into outside tables under sun shades on the terrace, enjoying world class views while tucking into the local speciality ‘Susten raclette’ – a sort of gooey melted cheese with potatoes and onion. Like the Susten Pass, it’s much better than it sounds.
Photo Yves Moret / Unsplash