[rschlegel]

Fantastic! Keep them coming when you can. How was the snow to ride in? I rode all winter but only snowed on me a couple times and was dry and did not stick to the road. It was cold enough that it was just blowing around.

[elsueco]

About that snow, Mammut, you do realize it's July, right?

[steves]

Crazy Norwegian rides south in summer, to ride through snow

[Slofuze]

Awesome

[mammut89]

I wasnt sure if I was going to make it to the top to be honest, switchbacks in snow is not so fun. But I went slow and held a steady speed and it didnt spin or anything thankfully. The irony is that up north in Norway its about 90F these days..... which is unusual.

anyway: yesterday I went over 3 passes. Oberpass, Umbrailpass and Stelvio pass.

Here is Stelvio:

[elsueco]

Yeah, that's kinda nice...

[Taybiker]

Some lovely views your finding

[JIB]

Need more pics

[mammut89]

Hey guys. im back home in Oslo without any incidents. Everything was as good or better than expected. Its going to take at least 10 more trips to see and do "everything". That only means its going to be as exciting next time.

Here is a list of some of the passes I can remember the names of, listed from highest altitude in meters ( multiply it with 3 for feet roughly calculated).

Stelvio pass 2757
Umbrail pass 2501
timmelsjoch pass 2474
Great St. Bernard pass 2469
Livigno pass 2315
Julier pass 2284
Susten pass 2262
Little St. Bernard pass 2188
Grimsel pass 2165
Ofen pass 2149


When I reached Mont Blanc France I went through a tunnel that was a bit strange. And comming from Norway Ive seen my share of tunnels. There were lcd screens every few hundred meters that said keep a minimum distance of 150 meters from the car in front. Respect the speed limit which was 70 km/h , there was a fire station in the middle of the tunnel and so on. Also a fairly steep price of 40 bucks toll to even enter it. Going up the hill to reach the tunnel people were going very slow and I didnt care I just overtook all of them including a 18wheeler.

I didnt think much about it but later on someone asked me if I knew the history of the tunnel which I did not.

The tunnel is 11Km long and constructed in the 50s to make the connection between France and Italy. In 1999 there was a tragic incident where a 18wheeler caught fire. trapping lots of people and killing 39.

Pierlucio Tinazzi an Italian security guard who perished while rescuing survivors of the 1999 Mont Blanc tunnel fire. Part of his job involved riding back and forth through the tunnel on his motorcycle to keep traffic flowing, dispatching tow trucks and providing motorist assistance as needed. Pierlucio had turned down a promotion to work the control booth at the main Italian office because he preferred to ride over sitting in an office.

On the day of the accident Tinazzi had been taking a rest break, and was getting ready to make a run back through the tunnel when the fire alarms went off. He had a two-way comm system in his helmet that kept him in contact with the Italian tunnel office. As soon as he was notified of the developing emergency in the tunnel, he grabbed breathing equipment and drove his BMW K75 back into the tunnel.

Tinazzi's heroism and bravery saved at least 10 people from certain death.
On his 5th run into the tunnel he never came out again..

The Itaiian goverment postumously awarded him the Gold Medal of Civil Valor.

A commemorative plaque at the Italian entrance honours him.





Next time im going there im going slow too and stopping for a picture at the Italian side.

Anyway, over to more joyful things.


On the way down on the autobahn doing a steady speed of 200km/h over good periods the kat gets thirsty for both fuel and oil. Had to stop and top off a little in the heat. Rear tire was megahot and starting to bubble.



Going up La Thuile Italia , great weather, fresh black asphalt and very few cars. Just the way I like it.



Grimselpass, this is where the snow was starting to appear but I tried to ignore it.... lol



Timmelsjoch
MOA_8342.jpg



Last but not least , all good things must come to an end. Into the arse end of the ferry we go...

[Slofuze]

Now THAT'S what I call an adventure!!!

[Taybiker]

A good trip and good to hear you made it back safely

[mammut89]

Thanks guys

[elsueco]

That "ferry" makes the ones we have over here look like prison ships! I had thought they were nice, but I'll look at them differently from now on.

Looks like a great trip; wish I could have done it with you. Thanks for the photos, they're the next best thing.

[TRPUT]

Spectacular stuff! Makes our mountains look like speed bumps. It also goes to show you don't need expensive, high-tech hardware to have a fantastic riding adventure.

[KATANA-BRASIL]

Congrat's for the adventure and thanks to share for me its different because I never saw snow in my life so I like to see the way that you guy rides in this wheather