The Swiss passes — the Gotthard, the Furka, the San Bernardino, the Grimsel — put tyres through a hard test: long climbs, braking on the way down, grit, big temperature swings. A little preparation saves a lot of trouble.
Before you set off
- Pressure: check it cold, with the load you'll carry (luggage, passengers). Under-inflated tyres run hot and strain the sidewall on a long climb.
- Wear and condition: inspect the tread and the sidewalls. A sidewall that's already marked copes badly with the grit at the roadside up high.
- Season: outside summer, a pass can turn snowy fast. Winter tyres marked 3PMSF and chains in the car are a minimum when the weather turns.
On the way down
Use engine braking (a lower gear) rather than riding the brakes: you save the brakes and keep grip. Overheated tyres or tired brakes make the car harder to control in the hairpins.
If you get a flat at altitude
Get to a safe pull-in, never a blind bend. Note a marker (the name of the pass, a post, a kilometre). Access decides everything for a mobile visit: on a difficult high-altitude road we'll tell you honestly. Don't drive far on a flat — up here you'll wreck the wheel as well as the tyre.