Flexenpass mountain pass map, Austria

by Sidney van den Boogaard

Short, but unforgettable. The Flexen Pass covers just 11.6 kilometres, from Stuben am Arlberg via Alpe Rauz and Zürs to Lech, yet parts of it cling to the mountainside. On the climb to the summit you drive through avalanche galleries hewn into the cliff, the valley floor dropping away far below. The top sits at 1,773 metres, and soon Zürs and Lech appear ahead. For both villages this is the only road in, which is why it has been kept open through the winter since 1936. For anyone who likes their drives short and their memories long, perfect next to the skis in the hallway.

This work is part of the Mountain Passes collection: Europe's finest mountain roads, each drawn from the real road and finished in the same calm, graphic style. Along the bottom you'll find the summit height, the length, the number of hairpins and when the pass is open, with the elevation profile from valley to valley above.

The road is drawn from OpenStreetMap data (© OpenStreetMap contributors) and the profile from Copernicus elevation data (EU-DEM). A great gift for anyone who would rather drive a mountain road than the motorway.