We almost didn’t reach the Nufenen in summer 2022 – Uli from moppetfoto.de and I were snowed in on the Furka and there was also a landslide in Oberwald that displaced the road. But: Perseverance wins the day.
This story about the Nufenen Pass appeared in the “Passportrait” series in MOTORRAD, Europe’s largest motorbike magazine, issue 23.2023 (November). The Passportrait is a collaboration between Uli from www.moppetfoto.de and myself.
Before you read, please note: this post was translated with the help of Deepl.
If you find any errors – please have fun first and then give me a hint.
Anyone standing on one of the ramps of the Nufenen has already experienced a number of Swiss highlights – be it the journey over the Grimsel, Furka or Gotthard, the journey through the Rhône Valley or a visit to the Mediterranean Val Bedretto. The next highlight is the Nufenen itself – the highest Alpine crossing in Switzerland.
The road to the Nufenen starts in Ulrichen. A typical Valais village with sun-blackened, lovingly decorated wooden houses, some of which stand on stilts covered with stone slabs to protect them from rodents. After crossing the Rhône, the Nufenen road leads into the Aeginen valley. Clearly laid out, it swings upwards and offers wonderful views over the Valais. A little later, the gradient decreases, the forest thins out and the road runs below steep rock faces.
Lots of fun in the bends of the Nufenen
These are as rugged as they are smooth, overhanging in places, overgrown with trees in the most surreal places and playing with green, brown and orange – a stony spectacle. Waterfalls have carved scars into the slopes, the valley floor strewn with boulders explains the power of erosion at first glance. The road meanders past, seemingly disappearing into the distance. Cattle feast on the lush vegetation, paying little attention to travellers – you can expect to see their droppings on the asphalt.
A handful of kilometres later, the road changes sides of the valley, climbs more steeply and offers a view of the characteristic Nufenen pyramid. Vertical layers of rock rise sharply into the air, their flanks supporting the dam wall of Lake Griessen. In the shadow of four wind turbines, a series of hairpin bends is reached – while the Aeginen valley has impressed with its unspoilt nature up to this point, modern power station buildings and crackling high-voltage power lines now come to the fore.
Full of energy – the Nufenen
The head of the valley rises up like a wall. The road hugs the steep slope in wide concrete loops that are barely visible from below. The road surface is basically good, the carriageway wide enough even for two oncoming buses, and without any insidiousness.
However, there is a slight impression of carelessness. Whereas on the Susten Pass, for example, every stone was placed with millimetre precision and the road there is supported by beautiful stone walls, here there is no information on the number of hairpin bends, field names or current altitude. Instead of hewn boundary stones, bent crash barriers protect against the depths, cracked concrete walls keep the mountain in check.
As the altitude increases, the view of the Valais and Bernese Alps with their glaciated four-thousand-metre peaks makes up for this. Even if the road would encourage you to drive fast, it is always worth pausing in a parking bay to take in the impressive mountain scenery.
Magical view of the 4000 metre peaks in the distance
You are standing at the foot of a mighty pile of rubble, which spreads out over the last hairpin bends like a huge stone arena. The plateau of the pass is reached as you pass the 14th hairpin bend. It has none of the hustle and bustle of other passes: a restaurant, a small souvenir shop and an unpaved car park – that’s all it offers. The magnificent panorama up here would probably be unbearable.
As you cross into Ticino, the road surface changes from tarmac to concrete slabs. Passing two small lakes, the road descends into the Italian-speaking canton. Its namesake river, the Ticino, has its source nearby and runs parallel to the Rhône, albeit in the opposite direction.
The eastern ramp is very different from the one in the west. Its gradient appears less steep, its hairpin bends more visible. The rhythm of driving over the edges of the concrete slabs accompanies the journey, while numerous watercourses falling over the rocks provide background noise.
Travelling on concrete – typical Nufenen
While the dam and wind farm on the Valais side bear witness to human energy needs, on the Ticino side these are steel frameworks for high-voltage power lines. They cut through the landscape in two rows, disturbing the amazement of the never-ending greenery that spreads out from around 2000 metres above sea level, below a sea of rocks.
This greenery has been overgrowing boulders that have fallen from the mountains for ages, creating a hilly landscape criss-crossed by meltwater streams.
There are still eight hairpin bends to negotiate before the road leads rather uneventfully through Val Bedretto – its course determined by the Ticino riverbed filled with coarse scree. The valley is sparsely populated, and on the slopes above the villages there are protective structures in the way of the winter avalanche threat. The riding and scenic highlights of the Nufenen are now far behind.
At Airolo, another Swiss pass takes over the scenery: the Gotthard road with its delicate bends supported against the mountain.
The Nufenen is a pass of cultural and linguistic contrasts – scenically attractive, but at the same time repulsive due to the power station buildings in the pass area. Its height makes it unique in Switzerland.
Passportrait Nufenen: Thank-Yous, High-Fives & Links
- SW-Motech
On this tour I was accompanied by the spacious Pro Rearbag from SW-Motech. This allowed me to transport a complete second rider’s kit on my Harley, including photographic equipment and food – great! - Country Road Alpnach
For the technical support and supervision of my Road King - Hotel Tiefenbach
For the accommodation during the production of this portrait, the catering and the flexibility during the capricious weather conditions
Perfectly matching:
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Dream Roads: The Susten Pass (2224 m)
Unimaginable?
Dream Roads: The Furka Pass (2429 m)
Dream Roads: The Grimsel Pass (2164 m)
