Vršič Pass South (from Trenta)

The southern approach to Vršič Pass from Trenta village — climbing from the Soča headwaters at 750m to the 1,611m summit — is the harder and considerably less-cycled side of Slovenia's most celebrated pass. Where the northern Kranjska Gora ascent averages 6.3% on well-trafficked tarmac, the southern side averages 7.2% over 12km with ramps to 16% on the tighter hairpin bends above the treeline. The numbered hairpins count upward from the valley, and the views opening west toward the Soča basin and the Kanin ski area become increasingly dramatic as altitude is gained. The road is narrower than the northern side and carries a fraction of its motor traffic — a meaningful quality-of-ride advantage throughout the summer months. Reaching the summit from Trenta delivers the reward of standing at the Julian Alps watershed: the Soča drains west to the Adriatic from here; the Sava east toward the Black Sea. On clear days the view from the summit plateau is among the finest panoramas available to a road cyclist in the entire Alpine arc.