But now, a new and most marvellous road has been constructed - the mountain in question is, to the extent of several miles, cleft from the summit to the base, and a sheer precipice of 4000 feet rises on either side.

After proceeding about a mile, you look back and see the country you had left, through the narrow opening of the gigantic crags, set like a painting in this cloud-reaching frame.

"[3] In 1843 the road was further expanded with a 312 m (1,024 ft) long avalanche gallery designed by the Swiss engineer Richard La Nicca which today is out of use but largely preserved.

The Pass is also mentioned in Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventure of the Illustrious Client, a Sherlock Holmes short story of 1924.

The Austrian Baron Adalbert Grüner, the villain of the story, murdered his wife by throwing her from the Pass, although Holmes cannot prove it.