Beware the slope – the steepest road in the world

In some areas, the road up or down is particularly difficult for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers – on the steepest roads in the world.

• Two cities are battling for the world record

• Some streets are the scene of strange competitions

• Some may only be paid under certain circumstances

Between Hearts and Hawaii:
The world’s steepest street in a clickable gallery.

Starting with the world record holder in New Zealand:
10 roads with steep slopes

Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand

Dunedin was planned for London, as was customary with the development of New Zealand in the 19th century. The city area was covered with a network of streets – regardless of the terrain. Road builders and local residents had to empty it. If Baldwin Street was paved, the pavement might melt and run down the street on a hot New Zealand summer day. So I got one concrete surface.

In January 2000, German Thomas Hugenschmidt set a speed record of 117.3 km / h on his bicycle on an incline. At the steepest point, the road has a slope 35 percent, that is, it increases in height by 35 meters for every 100 meters in the horizontal direction. Here is a comparison with Germany’s steepest street, Street Rabbit track in Ranstadt-Dauernheim/Hessen.

Pen Llech Road in Harlech / Wales

In July 2019, this street was listed as the steepest in the world by the Guinness Book of Records, but that did not last: the steepest 37.45 percent Generously round up to 40 percent on a traffic light – specifically at inside curve. After protests from Dunedin, Guinness revised its measurement standards and marked the middle of the street.

The title returned to New Zealand just nine months later. Translated from Welsh, Ffordd Pen Llech means “the end of the rock.” standing on the rock Harlek Castle, a thirteenth century castle within sight of the Irish Sea. The record it keeps is permanent: its siege from 1461 to 1468 is the longest of any castle in Great Britain.

Vale Street in Bristol, England

Snow and frost are rare in Bristol. Some residents of Fall Street, England’s steepest street, tie their cars to a lamppost to help them close. 22 percent Don’t slip on the slope down the road. There are quite a few detours and in principle – and very carefully – just drive on the road. And those who drive uphill always do so in first gear and hope that “those at the top” will make way for them.

English clichés are known to be eccentric. In the Totterdown neighborhood of Bristol, this has been evident since 1995 in the Easter egg race, founded by an immigrant from the flat Netherlands. Participants gather at the top of the hill and lay eggs on Valley Street. The winner is the one whose egg makes the furthest – before it melts into individual parts.

Canton Street in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

This short 190-meter street in the second largest mountainous city in the US state of Pennsylvania, once claimed to be the world’s steepest street. However, since they only have a maximum slope 37 percent Reaching and demanding Guinness World Records minimum length of ten meters, the title went to Dunedin. The cobblestone pavement makes it particularly challenging for cyclists.

This can be clearly seen at the annual “Dirty Dozen” bike competition, which has been taking place over 13 steep hills in the greater Pittsburgh area since 1983. In a 2016 commercial shot on Canton Street, downhill biker Aaron Gwen, and freestyle skater, competed Benny Meyer, snowboarder Heikki Sorsa and racing driver Matthias Ekström in the Audi A4 quattro.

Streets of San Francisco/California

This is probably the most famous street in the city Lombard Street. In the section on Russian Hill, it was given eight hairpin turns to reduce incline by 27 percent. There are steeper streets in San Francisco. Between Hyde Street and Leavenworth Street I arrived Filbert Street Regression of 31.5%.

But this is at the top Bradford Street, which initially rises north of Tompkins Street “only” by 20 percent, then changes over a short lane 41 percent more than doubled. The scientists calculated that gravity alone would accelerate the one-ton car from zero to more than 60 miles per hour in 7.2 seconds. Therefore, the local law makes perfect sense that the wheels must be directed toward the curb when standing. Unlike that $62 fine Because.

Waipio Valley Road auf Big Island / Hawaii

As the steepest road in the USA, this connection is only 1.2 kilometers long between the Waipio viewpoint on the northern coast of the Big Islands and the Waipio Valley. The average gradation is 25 percent, and 45 percent has been set in some places. This is enough to destroy the brakes when driving down and disable the engines up. Therefore, only vehicles carrying . are allowed permanent four-wheel drive (AWD) Use the road. For those who try someone else and get caught, the fine has been increased fivefold from $50 to $250 in 2019.

Despite AWD, the ride remains a challenge: drivers have to deal with large gradient differences, hairpin bends and the expectation of decent pedestrians. Downhill on the one lane road, they also have to make way for oncoming people. Fog often drifts, and even black snow and ice showers can occur.

Surmano in Surmano / Lombardy

The 1.9km Muro di Sormano over the Italian part of Lake Maggiore is fairly short, but it is the most demanding section of the road on the annual course race. A tour of Lombardy. It increases on average by ‘only’ 15.8 percent, but in some places by 27 percent Pro rider Ercole Baldini once used the word “bestiality” for it. Since Muro wasn’t originally paved and several athletes had been dropped by fans, Giro organizers got him out of the way. After being paved and closed to motorized traffic, it has been “inside” again since 2012.

The surface design looks original: it’s part of it quotes from cyclists Painted to motivate troubled professionals. Each meter is indicated in height, along with best times and other graphic elements. Muro has been dubbed the “Open Air Museum of Historic Bicycles.”

Rabbit track in Ranstadt-Dauernheim / Hessen

Found this private radio station not in the Alps, but in Hessen Germany’s steepest street with 29%. The rabbit track and surrounding residential area were identified and developed in the 1960s. Marking the award as the municipality with Germany’s steepest street in 2017, the mayor pointed out some aspects of the record. The new fire engine was more expensive than the regular engine because it had to be more powerful in order to climb the steep Hasenweg road quickly in an emergency.

A maneuverable tractor with special snow chains was purchased for winter service, but it does not always appear in severe weather. Even the garbage disposal does not run the steepest part of the rabbit trail with their vehicles, so some residents are forced to move the garbage to the basement. However, they were reconciled with a great view of Wetterau and Vogelsberg.

Oberweißbacher Strasse in Diesbach / Thuringia

The municipality in the Thuringian region of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt has a certain degree of awareness for two reasons: a memorial plaque in a house on a local street Hugo Kummerling’s hometownWho invented the herbal liqueur of the same name. The 300-meter-long Oberweißbacher Straße is called the “Oberweißbacher Straße.”The steepest local roads in Germany”.

On the cyclists’ forum, it is also known as the “Thuringian monster”. Every year a street festival is held here with a very special celebration triathlon Entertaining shows for the audience and real challenges for the participants. It starts at the foot of the road with folding bikes, continues with scooter rides and ends with running.

Herrenstrasse in Sankt Andreasberg / Lower Saxony

Two steep streets connect the lower town and the upper town of the climatic health resort of Upper Harz. The wide street round 19 percent The mile is often in the Tour program of Lower Saxony, and some participants in this cycling race call him the “hangman”. The Herrenstrasse With its 22 percent gradient, it claims to be “the steepest inner city street in Harz”.

This competition was called in neighboring Bad Lauterberg on the plan. The street there with the beautiful name “Weinberg” has a 21 percent gradient. If you want to check if the difference is noticeable, you can easily do it in a day. For cyclists, for example, there are only about 40 minutes between Sankt Andreasberger Herrenstraße and the vineyard in Bad Lauterberg.