Passo Pordoi, at 2,239 metres, is the highest point of the Great Dolomites Road, which runs from Bolzano to Cortina d'Ampezzo through the heart of the Dolomites. The pass sits between the Sella group, a massive fortress of rock with sheer walls, and the Marmolada, the highest mountain in the Dolomites, with its glacier. From the top, a cable car climbs to the Sass Pordoi, nearly three thousand metres high, with a view over the whole range.
The Great Dolomites Road was completed in 1909, when this region was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it was built to open the valleys to tourists. The Pordoi is a legend of the Giro d'Italia, and a monument at the top honours Fausto Coppi, the great Italian cyclist whose name the race still gives to its highest summit each year. A German war cemetery, just below the pass, holds the remains of thousands of soldiers killed in the First and Second World Wars.
The road climbs from Canazei in the Val di Fassa through dozens of hairpins, then drops to Arabba in the Livinallongo valley. It is one of the four passes of the Sella Ronda, the circuit around the Sella group that is a classic for both riders and skiers.
The valleys are home to the Ladin people, who speak a language descended from Latin and have their own culture and traditions. The food is a mix of Italian, Austrian and Ladin influences: canederli, speck, polenta and apple strudel.
The Pordoi is normally kept open through the winter, though storms can shut it for a day or two. Summer weekends are crowded with cars, coaches and hundreds of cyclists grinding up the hairpins, so be patient on the overtakes. Canazei and Arabba are the fuel stops at either end, and the huts at the top serve a fine plate of polenta with mushrooms when the wind gets up.