A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge . Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migration throughout history. At lower elevations it may be called a hill pass . A mountain pass is typically formed between two volcanic peaks or created by erosion from water or wind.
33-719: Lewis Pass is the northernmost of the three main mountain passes through the Southern Alps in the South Island of New Zealand. With an elevation of 907 metres, it is slightly lower than Arthur's Pass and higher than Haast Pass . The pass is the saddle between the valleys of the Maruia River to the northwest in the West Coast Region and the Lewis River to the southeast in north Canterbury . The small spa of Maruia Springs
66-545: A gas station. It has a population of 400 to 600 (as of 2011 ). Older, obsolete theories suggested a connection of the name Brenner with the ancient tribe of the Breuni or the Gaulish chieftain Brennus , but since the pass name appears for the first time only in the 14th century, a more recent etymology is far more likely. Prenner was originally the name of a nearby farm, which itself
99-410: A height of 180 metres (590 feet) and span of 820 metres (2,690 feet), the bridge was celebrated as a masterpiece of engineering upon its completion in 1963. It is a site where bungee-jumping from the bridge has become a popular tourist attraction. The ever-increasing freight and leisure traffic, however, has been causing long traffic jams at busy times even without border enforcements. The Brenner Pass
132-585: A response to the European migrant crisis . In April 2016, Austria announced it would build a 370-meter long fence at the Pass but clarify that "it would be used only to "channel" people and was not a barrier. " The Europabrücke ( Europe Bridge ), located roughly halfway between Innsbruck and the Brenner Pass, is a large concrete bridge carrying the six-lane Brenner Autobahn over the valley of Sill River (Wipptal). At
165-538: A summit and the valley floor. Passes traditionally were places for trade routes, communications, cultural exchange, military expeditions etc. A typical example is the Brenner pass in the Alps . Some mountain passes above the tree line have problems with snow drift in the winter. This might be alleviated by building the road a few meters above the ground, which will make snow blow off the road. There are many words for pass in
198-491: Is a mountain pass over the Alps which forms the border between Italy and Austria . It is one of the principal passes of the Eastern Alpine range and has the lowest altitude among Alpine passes of the area. Dairy cattle graze in alpine pastures throughout the summer in valleys beneath the pass and on the mountain slopes. At lower altitudes, farmers log pine trees, plant crops and harvest hay for winter fodder. Many of
231-658: Is close to the saddle, on the West Coast side. Lewis Pass is named after Henry Lewis who, together with Christopher Maling, was the first European to discover the pass, in April 1860 while working as a surveyor of the Nelson Provincial Survey Department. Before this time the pass was used by the Ngāi Tahu Māori of Canterbury to transport pounamu (greenstone) from the west coast. State Highway 7 traverses
264-502: Is frequently the only flat ground in the area, and may be a high vantage point. In some cases this makes it a preferred site for buildings. If a national border follows the ridge of a mountain range, a pass over the mountains is typically on the border, and there may be a border control or customs station, and possibly a military post. For instance, Argentina and Chile share the world's third-longest international border , 5,300 kilometres (3,300 mi) long, which runs north–south along
297-541: Is that a pass can refer to a route, as well as the highest part thereof, while a hause is simply that highest part, often flattened somewhat into a high-level plateau. In Japan they are known as tōge , which means "pass" in Japanese. The word can also refer to narrow, winding roads that can be found in and around mountains and geographically similar areas, or specifically to a style of street racing which may take place on these roads. There are thousands of named passes around
330-460: Is the only major mountain pass within the area; other nearby alternatives are footpaths across higher mountains at an altitude of above 2,000 metres (6,600 feet). As a result, air and noise pollution have generated heavy debate in regional and European politics. As of 2004 , about 1.8 million trucks crossed the Europa Bridge per year. In order to ease the road traffic, there are plans to upgrade
363-513: The Andes mountains and includes 42 mountain passes. On a road over a pass, it is customary to have a small roadside sign giving the name of the pass and its elevation above mean sea level . Apart from offering relatively easy travel between valleys, passes also provide a route between two mountain tops with a minimum of descent. As a result, it is common for tracks to meet at a pass; this often makes them convenient routes even when travelling between
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#1733086004071396-565: The Austrian Empire and the Brenner Railway , which was completed in stages from 1853 to 1867. It became the first trans-Alpine railway without a major tunnel and at high altitude (crossing the Brenner Pass at 1,371 m). Completion of the railway enabled the Austrians to move their troops more efficiently; the Austrians had hoped to secure their territories of Venetia and Lombardy (south of
429-578: The Counts of Tyrol within the Holy Roman Empire . Emperor Frederick Barbarossa made frequent uses of the Brenner Pass to cross the Alps during his imperial expeditions into Italy . The 12th-century Brenner Pass accommodated mule trains and carts. Modernisation of the Brenner Pass started in 1777, when a carriage road was laid out at the behest of Empress Maria Theresa . Modernisation further took place under
462-613: The Puster Valley and descended into Veldidena (modern-day Wilten ), where it crossed the Inn and into Zirl and arrived at Augsburg via Füssen . The Alamanni (Germanic tribe) crossed the Brenner Pass southward into modern-day Italy in 268 AD, but they were stopped in November of that year at the Battle of Lake Benacus . The Romans kept control over the mountain pass until the end of their empire in
495-737: The Taglang La at 5,328 m (17,480 ft) on the Leh-Manali highway , and the Sia La at 5,589 m (18,337 ft) in the Eastern Karakoram range. Scotland has the Gaelic term bealach (anglicised "balloch"), while Wales has the similar bwlch (both being insular Celtic languages). In the Lake District of north-west England, the term hause is often used, although the term pass is also common—one distinction
528-745: The 5th century. During the High Middle Ages , Brenner Pass was a part of the important Via Imperii , an imperial road linking the Kingdom of Germany north of the Alps with the Italian March of Verona . In the Carolingian Divisio Regnorum of 806, the Brenner region was called per alpes Noricas , the transit through the Noric Alps . From the 12th century, the Brenner Pass was controlled by
561-692: The Allies , the Brenner Pass was annexed by Nazi Germany , shifting the border with the Italian Social Republic , the Nazi puppet state headed by Mussolini, much further south. In 1945, the area was occupied by the US Army and returned to Italy after the end of the war. The Brenner Pass was part of the ratlines that were used by senior Nazis fleeing the allies after the German surrender in 1945. Following World War II,
594-556: The Alps), but lost them to Italy following the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859 and Austro-Prussian War in 1866. At the end of World War I in 1918, the control of the Brenner Pass became shared between Italy and Austria under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919) . The Treaty of London (1915) secretly awarded Italy the territories south of the Brenner Pass for supporting
627-565: The Brenner Pass, Bozen/Bolzano , Verona and finishes outside Modena . It is one of the most important routes of north–south connections in Europe. After the signing of the Schengen Agreement in 1992 and Austria's subsequent entry into the European Union in 1995, customs and immigration posts at the Brenner Pass were removed in 1997. However, Austria reinstituted border checks in 2015 as
660-668: The China–India border respectively, appear to be world's two highest motorable passes. Khunjerab Pass between Pakistan and China at 4,693 metres (15,397 ft) is also a high-altitude motorable mountain pass. One of the famous but non-motorable mountain passes is Thorong La at 5,416 metres (17,769 ft) in Annapurna Conservation Area , Nepal. Brenner pass The Brenner Pass (German: Brennerpass [ˈbʁɛnɐpas] , shortly Brenner ; Italian : Passo del Brennero [ˈpasso del ˈbrɛnnero] )
693-727: The English-speaking world. In the United States, pass is very common in the West , the word gap is common in the southern Appalachians , notch in parts of New England , and saddle in northern Idaho . The term col , derived from Old French, is also used, particularly in Europe. In the highest mountain range in the world, the Himalayas, passes are denoted by the suffix "La" in Tibetan, Ladhakhi, and several other regional languages. Examples are
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#1733086004071726-571: The Entente Powers. Welschtirol/Trentino, along with the southern part of the County of Tyrol (now South Tyrol ), was transferred to Italy, and Italian troops occupied Tyrol and arrived at the Brenner Pass in 1919 to 20. During World War II , Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini met at the Brenner Pass to celebrate their Pact of Steel on 18 March 1940. Later, in 1943, following the Italian armistice with
759-536: The Lewis Pass area, including the St James Walkway . The short Alpine Nature Walk loop walk around an alpine wetland and tarn is accessed from a carpark near the saddle. Mountain pass Mountain passes make use of a gap , saddle , col or notch . A topographic saddle is analogous to the mathematical concept of a saddle surface , with a saddle point marking the minimum high point between two valleys and
792-557: The Roman province of Raetia . Via Augusta was completed in 46–47 AD; the route took its course along the Adige valley to the neighbouring Reschen Pass (west of the Brenner Pass), then descended into the Inn valley before rising to Fern Pass towards Augsburg. The Roman road that physically crossed over the Brenner Pass did not exist until the 2nd century AD. It took the "eastern" route through
825-761: The border barrier between Italy and Austria at Brenner was officially abolished, with a commemoration attended by Austrian Minister of the Interior Karl Schlögl, Italian Minister of the Interior Giorgio Napolitano , and the governors of Innsbruck and Bolzano . The motorway E45 (European designation; in Italy A22 , in Austria the A13 ), Brenner Autobahn/Autostrada del Brennero , begins in Innsbruck , runs through
858-443: The high pastures are at an altitude of over 1,500 metres (4,900 feet); a small number stand high in the mountains at around 2,000 metres (6,600 feet). The central section of the Brenner Pass covers a four-lane motorway and railway tracks connecting Bozen/Bolzano in the south and Innsbruck to the north. The village of Brenner consists of an outlet shopping centre (supermarkets and stores), fruit stores, restaurants, cafés, hotels and
891-469: The lowest point along a ridge. On a topographic map , passes can be identified by contour lines with an hourglass shape, which indicates a low spot between two higher points. In the high mountains, a difference of 2,000 meters (6,600 ft) between the summit and the mountain is defined as a mountain pass. Passes are often found just above the source of a river , constituting a drainage divide . A pass may be very short, consisting of steep slopes to
924-515: The mountain pass at Brenner, which had already been under frequent use during the prehistoric eras since the most recent Ice Age. The Brenner Pass, however, was not the first trans-Alpine Roman road to become regularised under the Roman Empire. The first Roman road to cross the Alpine range, Via Claudia Augusta , connected Verona in northern Italy with Augusta Vindelicorum (modern-day Augsburg ) in
957-402: The pass once again formed the border between Italy and the newly independent Republic of Austria, and maintained its importance as a key trade route. On January 1, 1995, the Schengen Agreement entered into force in Austria, a treaty Italy ratified on October 26. As a consequence, border checks were abolished in the Brenner Pass for goods and people between the two countries. On November 19, 1995,
990-488: The pass. The road officially opened on Saturday 30 October 1937. It had a regular bus route over it until Intercity's service was replaced by a seasonal shuttle. The highway passes through extensive unmodified native beech forest. The area around the pass is protected as a national reserve , the Lewis Pass National Scenic Reserve, which was gazetted in 1981. There are a number of tramping routes in
1023-513: The top of the pass, or a valley many kilometers long, whose highest point might only be identifiable by surveying . Roads and railways have long been built through passes. Some high and rugged passes may have tunnels bored underneath a nearby mountainside, as with the Eisenhower Tunnel bypassing Loveland Pass in the Rockies, to allow faster traffic flow throughout the year. The top of a pass
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1056-908: The world, some of which are well-known, such as the Khyber Pass close to the present-day Afghanistan-Pakistan border on the ancient Silk Road , the Great St. Bernard Pass at 2,473 metres (8,114 ft) in the Alps , the Chang La at 5,360 metres (17,590 ft), the Khardung La at 5,359 metres (17,582 ft) in Ladakh , India and the Palakkad Gap at 140 metres (460 ft) in Palakkad , Kerala , India . The roads at Mana Pass at 5,610 metres (18,410 ft) and Marsimik La at 5,582 metres (18,314 ft), on and near
1089-585: Was named after its former owner. The farm of a certain Prennerius is mentioned in documents in 1288, a certain Chunradus Prenner de Mittenwalde is mentioned in 1299. The German word Prenner probably refers to somebody who uses slash-and-burn techniques for land clearing. A name for the pass itself appears for the first time in 1328 as ob dem Prenner (German for above the Prenner ). The Romans regularised
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