Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe
Distance: 7.93 km
Elevation Gain: 495 m
Elevation Loss: 110 m
Difficulty:
471 (Moderate)
FIETS Index: 3.43 FIETS
Avg Grade: 7.04 %
Max cat climb: 2
Min elevation: 1886 m
Max elevation: 2373 m
Ride Category:
Climb
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The Gletscherstraße, in Carinthia, Austria, is the dead-end spur of the Grossglockner High Alpine Road that climbs to the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe, a viewpoint above the Pasterze, the longest glacier in the Eastern Alps. The viewpoint is named after Emperor Franz Joseph, who walked up from Heiligenblut in 1856. Both of the Giro d’Italia’s Grossglockner finishes were on this road. In 1971 Pierfranco Vianelli won the stage that finished at the viewpoint itself.
The ride leaves the main road at the Guttal junction and climbs to the Glocknerhaus, the Alpine Club hut of 1876, where the 2011 Giro stage finished. That day Alberto Contador let José Rujano take the win, and Rujano’s victory stands. The Alpine Club’s road reached the hut in 1910, and the glacier road beyond it opened in 1932, three years before the full road over the Grossglockner. The ride climbs on to the car parks just below the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe, then finishes a short way back down the road.
