Ascending the Mangart mountain up to the saddle with a road bike.
Length : cca 11km
Elevation gain: cca 1100m
Avg gradient : 8.8%
Max gradient: indicated as 22%, but I would estimate it never exceeds 17%.
22:10 offroad gang passes by
26:25 entering the pitch black, longest tunnel of Mangart. If you're without a good light, make sure to keep your balance, focus on the white light, the exit, and try to keep cool.
30:50 offroad gang with a broken down vehicle (spoiler alert, it's not a toyota)
33:50 don't forget to turn around every once in a while and enjoy the view, as it gets just incredible the higher you climb
38:05 are those amazing views or what!
44:00 look at that view! And try not to get too close to the edge
47:45 another amazing view
49:30 if you make a left turn here and climb another 300m of steep uphill, you can get rewarded by amazing pancakes in the mountain hut. Take chocolate ones!
55:12 this is the landslide which is the reason for road closure. Each year the road gets narrower. I estimate that in the next two years, it will only be gravel remaining, unless they fix it. When you're passing that part, be vary of any rocks, and try to move FAST.
Going all the way to the saddle, it takes 11km from start to finish. Starting here on the Predil bridge, it's 9km with around 9% avg gradient up to the ramp which stops you from going further. Jumping the ramp allows you another 2km of ascent up to the saddle, average gradient around 7%. The barrier is there to prevent cars, as the road is basically falling apart at one point with the landslide going over it (annotated below). Maybe 6-7 years ago, it was fully intact, now every year it's just thinner and thinner, with the current road width being less than a meter. I suspect that around 2024-2025 the road will be fully broken, and you'll have to go over gravel.
The ascent itself is just stunningly beautiful, there are deep long falls without any barriers so take caution as you ascend. There are 5 tunnels in total, which are very cold and dripping cold water, so enjoy that refreshment. All are dark, with the second one taking approximately 1 minute to go through, and is pitch black. I recommend having a pretty strong light on your bicycle for that one, as regular light just gets swallowed up by the darkness. You can also commando it, like I do...
On the upper loop (also known as the saddle), the temperature is pretty fresh, and it can be very windy or foggy, so make sure you're at least carrying a windbreaker. I think that out of maybe 15 times I went up Mangart, about 50% of the time it was at least drizzling, if not raining. If there's an indication of rain, I suggest you go back, as it gets freezing and you'll have shaky hands and jaw while descending, going super slow, as there are corners where you could literally fall in the ravine.
Wiki: Mangart Saddle or the Mangart Pass (Slovene: Mangartsko sedlo or Mangrtsko sedlo) is a mountain saddle in the Julian Alps in northwestern Slovenia. It has an elevation of 2,072 metres (6,798 ft). It is the most common starting point for the ascent of Mt. Mangart (2,679 m or 8,789 ft). The Mangart Road (Mangartska cesta) that leads over Mangart Saddle, with its elevation of 2,055 m (6,742 ft), has a number of turns and is the highest-lying road in Slovenia. It was built in 1938. The Mangart Pass offers a picturesque view towards the Log Koritnica Valley in Slovenia to the south and the Lakes of Fusine in Italy to the north. The Mangart Saddle Lodge (koča na Mangrtskem sedlu) lies under the saddle. The saddle was the scenery of the film Let's Go Our Own Way.[1] Mangart Saddle is also known as the finding place of manganese nodules from the Early Jurassic period.[2]
9 авг 2023
