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This now makes 2 Minis I have driven above 14,000 feet 12 years apart. Neither of them ran very well the last 3,000 feet of so! The blue one has my new "Year of Manufacture plate" on it - taken earlier this month.

Not quite as high as you guys and I've not got a picture, but do have a tale to tell......

Took part in the 1995 Italian Job Charity Run. Going through Switzerland on the way to Italy we got caught in a snow storm. Ended up stopping the night in Klosters as the snow was too deep to continue. Got up the next morning, found the car, scrounged some hot water to unfreeze the rear drums as they had frozen solid and set off again. Heading towards the Davos pass which is around 2300m we stumbled across another crew and got into a 2 car convoy.

After a while the terrain got steeper and steeper and the road covered in more compacted snow as we drove towards the summit. Got to the point where traction was no longer possible. With a push we could cover maybe 100m before the front wheels would start to spin again. What to do? Turn around and go back....we were already well behind schedule, or continue?

Continue seemed like a good idea as we could see the summit. So with 3 people pushing we took turns to get one car as far as we could, then go back and do the same with the second car.

During this process along comes two Swiss cops in their 4WD with snow chains fitted. In broken English they enquired about our sanity and went on to explain that it was impossible to continue without snow chains and warned us to turn back. If we did not there would be a hefty fine should they return and find us in need of rescue. Naturally we gave the two options maximum consideration and continued towards the summit as soon as they had driven out of view.

Thankfully I'm pleased to say the mighty minis made it to the top, after a fashion. The decent was actually more of an issue as roads were very slippery, but careful use of the gearbox rather than brakes saw us cruising safely into the North of Italy later that day.

A fine tale!

Not particularly high altitude, but when I was a university student in the early 90's me and a girlfriend went on an impromptu camping trip in the Lake District. We didn't know the area too well, but we were near Eskdale and wanted to get across to Ambleside for the night.

The maps showed a direct route through the valley, which gradually got steeper and steeper... which we later discovered were Hardknott and Wrynose passes at 1-in-3 inclines. We were two-up in a Mk4 Mini with a Metro 998 HLE engine which to be honest was rather tired and lacking compression (typical student transport, patched together from random bits).

On the worst of the hairpin corners she got out and hiked, while I took several run-ups and slipping the clutch to get the car up and around the bends - much to amusement of a Land Rover driver coming down the opposite direction. Fortunately the car had 1275 GT discs on it, so brake fade at least wasn't a problem on the way down

Highest I ever went was 100 mph over the Auckland harbour bridge. (3 am)

mikal wrote:Highest I ever went was 100 mph over the Auckland harbour bridge. (3 am)

I think he's after highest altitude, not speed

Australia's highest point is 7300ft so nowhere near the USA!

Just proves that a Mini can go anywhere .. "if you try".. love your adventures.

Whee wrote:This now makes 2 Minis I have driven above 14,000 feet 12 years apart. Neither of them ran very well the last 3,000 feet of so! The blue one has my new "Year of Manufacture plate" on it - taken earlier this month.

Is the blue car an Aussie MK1 S? Indigo blue?

GTOGREEN1969 wrote:

Whee wrote:This now makes 2 Minis I have driven above 14,000 feet 12 years apart. Neither of them ran very well the last 3,000 feet of so! The blue one has my new "Year of Manufacture plate" on it - taken earlier this month.

Is the blue car an Aussie MK1 S? Indigo blue?

It's indeed an Aussie Mk1 S (number plate AU 689 =- Australian, built in 68, registered in 69). Originally Indigo Blue, but repainted a somewhat different shade.

Whee wrote:

GTOGREEN1969 wrote:

Whee wrote:This now makes 2 Minis I have driven above 14,000 feet 12 years apart. Neither of them ran very well the last 3,000 feet of so! The blue one has my new "Year of Manufacture plate" on it - taken earlier this month.

Is the blue car an Aussie MK1 S? Indigo blue?

It's indeed an Aussie Mk1 S (number plate AU 689 =- Australian, built in 68, registered in 69). Originally Indigo Blue, but repainted a somewhat different shade.

Looks great

We in the UK cannot compete with those levels of altitude but here's me at the highest café in England...



...and at the highest pub.

Similar elevation but a bit harder to get to - bottom of the ski tow at nearby Yad Moss

I think I prefer the 'how high can your mini go' interpretation, but unfortunately can't find my own pic to show our car leaving the ground, but this one looks good so I'll share this instead

surfblue63 wrote:We in the UK cannot compete with those levels of altitude but here's me at the highest café in England...



...and at the highest pub.

Hartside Cafe recently burned down and it’s future remains uncertain

Do want to do Minis On Top some day. Not as high as Pikes Peak but a bit more extreme, I think

https://www.minisontop.org/

Some great stories in this thread!

Sadly the highest I have ever been in a Mini was probably when I was in my early 20's, but the altitude was more or less sea level.

It was in november 2009. We had a classic rally at the Col de Turini by night and after it was finished we decided to take our time and we came accross the French Alps :



We climb at the Cold de l'Iseran, which is 2770 meters high (9000 feet) a week before the road was closed for the winter.

A wonderful memory, the roads were stunning at this moment of the year (not a single lycra pants insight !)

Seems really a bit unfair. The highest point in Denmark is the top of the Storbæltsbroen at 254m and is a full 83m above the highest land point at 171m.

mk1 wrote:Some great stories in this thread!

Sadly the highest I have ever been in a Mini was probably when I was in my early 20's, but the altitude was more or less sea level.

O those youthful days of innocent bliss and short hangovers

Somewhere in Norway north of Bergen 2007

Great trip and pics Gordon!