Hochtor (tunnel)
	Height	Climbing height
	2504m (road height 2505m)	1915m (Krössenbach); 242m (Fuscher Lacke) 1614m (Winklern)
	Difficulty	Beauty
	4 (5) South; 4-5 (5) North	5 (5)
How to get there	This fantastic and beautiful road was built in the 1930ies with the expressed purpose of being a beautiful tourist road and they indeed succeded in this. The approach from the south starts at Winklern (890m) not far from Lienz and the Lienzer Dolomiten. The real climbing only starts at Pockhorn (1113m), from where it is somewhat steep. It passes by the idyllic Heiligenblut (1291m) village. Soon thereafter at Guttal (1859m) a scenic cul-de-sac road goes to Franz-Josephs-Höhe (2370m), but the main road goes straight to the pass, which is actually a tunnel (Hochtortunnel). From the north you start in the area of Zell am See and at Fusch (811m) the real climb begins. It is quite steep on this side and is one of the hardest passes in the Alps with this height. The scenery is splendid all the time and the road is fine and wide. Just before Fuscher Törl (2428m) a cobbledstoned cul-de-sac road goes to Edelweißspitze (2572m) from where the views should be the best in the area. At the first pass Fuscher Törl (2428m) the road goes down to Fuscher Lacke (2262m) before it starts climbing again first through a the short Mittertörl tunnel and then up to the Hochtortunnel.
Other comments	The Hochtortunnel is lit, but watch out for ice. The steepest part of the climb is from the toll station on the north side and up to Fuscher Törl. No toll for cyclists (which is also true for the Franz Josephs strasse). There is water to be found one the way to the pass on both sides (at least on the north side I know for sure). There are probably a lot of cars (and cyclists) on fine days on this road and maybe you should try and avoid the most obviously busy hours. There are a café and restaurants at Fusch as well as cafés around the pass heights. [AT-SA-2504;o753]