SLeaning too far out of the window is rarely a good idea. But here and now it can end particularly badly – especially if you take it literally. Because the off-road vehicle stands like a tightrope walker on the summit ridge of Monte Saccarello in the Ligurian Alps, where a steep slope leads down to Italy on the left and France begins on the right at the lower end of the almost vertical rock face. And here and there there are only a few centimeters between the tire and the abyss. That’s why you’d rather instinctively grab the door handle and, of course, the steering wheel than endanger the balance with curious looks. Welcome to the Alta Via del Sale, the High Salt Road, in the Ligurian Alps.
Built more than 150 years ago, primarily for the military, as a road on the border ridge between Italy and France and lined with numerous forts and fortifications, the jagged gravel road is now considered one of the most spectacular routes you can cycle in Europe. In theory a public – well – road, but in practice mostly nothing more than a bumpy slope, it meanders over long stretches beyond the tree line through the Maritime Alps, winding in endless serpentines down into the valley again and again, only around on the opposite side to climb the next ridge, and with its breathtaking route, the modest state of preservation and the rudimentary security ensures an adrenaline rush that starts as soon as the engine is started and continues long after the spark plugs have gone out again.
So it’s no wonder that in the time between the snowmelt and the first onset of winter, hundreds of slope pilots from all over Europe come here to experience an adventure with their Land Rovers and Land Cruisers, jacked-up VW buses, jeeps and Jimnys that you would otherwise rather in the Andes or in the Himalayas instead of almost on the doorstep in the European Alps.
Oncoming traffic remains unpredictable
Our car for this very special summit attempt is not one of the usual suspects. We cross the border in a Porsche Cayenne, with which the Stuttgart sports car brand 20 years ago seriously moved away from the racetrack for the first time, began to flirt with everyday life and literally conquered new terrain. Just like us here between Limone Piemonte and Monesi. Of course we would have preferred to drive the Cayenne to where the pepper grows to celebrate its milestone birthday. But why wander into the distance when the good, in this case rather wild and adventurous, is so close at hand? And a bit of pepper doesn’t hurt on the high salt road either.
Especially since the Cayenne has achieved quite a lot in its first 20 years. After all, right from the start and until the debut of its little brother Macan, it was the best-selling Porsche and a door opener for China, which is now Swabia’s largest market. It was the model for a whole army of particularly classy and sporty SUVs that brands like Bentley, Aston Martin or Lamborghini would never have dared to do without the Cayenne. And because Porsche obviously cannot do without motorsport, he even took part in the material-destroying “Transsyberia” in Mongolia as a rally driver. But of the more than one million Cayennes that have been built so far, probably not a single one has ended up here, so incredulous does the innkeeper of the “Rifugio la Terza” stroll around our rally pensioner from the Stuttgart classic collection, which is painted in the typical black and orange, before he joins the team the night camp at around 2200 meters.
Alta Via del Sale
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The most adventurous road in Europe
The heart of the High Salt Road measures a good 30 kilometers, lies between the Tenda Pass and Monesi, and because the border has been redrawn from time to time, you switch between France and Italy every few kilometers. This section alone is worth the longest journey, and the 20 euro toll is a joke for what’s on offer up here. But because you have to get back to the starting point somehow, and because the road belongs solely to hikers and mountain bikers on Tuesdays and Thursdays, it is best to follow the circle that the keepers of the salt road have marked on the map on their website, starting at the Tendapass and hitting it the arc over Casterino, Tenda, La Brigue and of course over the Rifigio with the incredulous hut landlord and the curious cows that push the cars at night.