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Glas
1'843 m
Graubünden
The Glaspass, at 1,846 metres, is a remote crossing in central Graubünden, linking the Domleschg around Thusis with the hidden Safien valley, in the Beverin Nature Park beneath Piz Beverin.
1'843 m
Graubünden
The Glaspass, at 1,846 metres, is a remote crossing in central Graubünden, linking the Domleschg around Thusis with the hidden Safien valley, in the Beverin Nature Park beneath Piz Beverin.
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DESCRIPTION
The Glaspass, at 1,846 metres, is a remote crossing in central Graubünden, linking the Domleschg around Thusis with the hidden Safien valley, in the Beverin Nature Park beneath Piz Beverin. For many centuries it was the most important link to the remote Safiental, a valley otherwise sealed off, blocked to the north by the Versam gorge and ringed by peaks to the south. It was over this pass that Walser settlers migrated in the 14th century, crossing from Safien onto the Heinzenberg to found the high, scattered farms of Tschappina; for generations they drove their cattle over the Glas down to the market at Thusis – a hub on the old trade road through the Via Mala – and returned with goods from Italy. Its name comes not from glass but from the Romansh claus, an "enclosure".
Today the Glaspass is a quiet dead end: the paved road climbs from Thusis over the Heinzenberg but stops just beyond the summit, and only a footpath descends to Safien-Platz. The real spectacle is the ground itself – the flank of the Heinzenberg is a vast active landslide area, its crescent-shaped scars running right up to the ridge, and in 1910 the little Lake Lüscher was drained in an effort to tame it. From the inn at the pass the view sweeps across to Piz Beverin and the Safien valley. Once a vital lifeline, the Glas is now a serene, half-forgotten balcony.
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