In the South of New Zealand there is a road that holds one of the most singular records: an artery of just 350 meters which entered the Guinness Book of Records for being officially the Steepest residential asphalt road on the planet. Any numbers? A slope equal to 34.8% (equal to an inclination angle of approximately 19.3°).
The steepest street in the world in New Zealand
The sensation of finding yourself in front of Baldwin Street is, according to those who have experienced it, truly impressive: you suddenly find yourself in front of an asphalt and concrete wall so inclined that it almost looks like a roller coaster ramp. TO Dunedina quiet university town on the South Island of New Zealand, precisely in the suburb of North East Valley is located Baldwin Streetan artery of just 350 meters that entered the Guinness Book of Records for being officially the steepest residential asphalt road on the planet. A place where taking a simple walk is equivalent to a high-intensity workout and where the houses seem to sink into the ground.
The beauty of this particular project is that it was not conceived and created with any real intent! Baldwin Street is in fact the result of what can be described as the greatest planning oversight of the British colonial era. In the mid-19th century, city planners in London decided to draw the map of the future city of Dunedin directly on their drawing tables, without doing what logic would suggest to anyone with common sense: going for an inspection. Either due to the enormous distance that separated London from New Zealand, or due to inexperience, the designers applied a rigid orthogonal grid (the typical British chessboard) without ever having set foot in New Zealand and without the slightest idea of the complex hilly topography of the area. Result? The straight lines drawn on the paper ended up climbing straight up the steepest hills.
To really understand what it means to travel along Baldwin Street, you have to look at the numbers: the first impressive figure is that relating to the official maximum gradient, which stands at 34.8% (equal to an inclination angle of approximately 19.3°). We then have another interesting fact, the climb ratio, which stands at 1 : 2.86. This means that for every 2.86 meters traveled horizontally, the road rises 1 meter vertically! There overall length is about 347 meterswith a height difference truly remarkable, which starts from an altitude of 30 meters above sea level at the base and reaches 77.2 meters at the top, with a net difference in altitude of 47.2 meters. The lower section has a normal inclination, but in the latter 161 meters the road rises dramatically, reaching its maximum peak about 70 meters from the top.
Baldwin Street Records: Guinness and rivalry with Ffordd Pen Llech in Wales
For decades Baldwin Street reigned supreme in the Guinness World Records. However, in July 2019, the Welsh town of Harlech managed to wrest the title from her by claiming that their way, Ffordd Pen Llechhad a slope of 37.45%. The residents of Dunedin did not give up and presented a formally detailed technical appeal: the Welsh surveyors had measured the slope on the inside edge of the sharpest curve (where the road surface bends dramatically). After careful review, Guinness has established the new official rule: the slope must be measured exclusively along the center line of the road. With the new criterion, Ffordd Pen Llech dropped to 28.6%, officially returning the scepter of the world’s steepest street to Baldwin Street (34.8%).
The name of Baldwin Street, then, is linked to a series of equally singular events and records. The first, and most famous is The foot race, which has been held since 1988. In fact, every year Baldwin Street Gutbuster is held, a race in which participants must run from the base to the top and then go back down (750 meters in total). The absolute record has stood since 1994, set by Thomas Hugenschmidt with the astonishing time of 1 minute and 56 seconds!
