# Where is this dangerous road located? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042 "2020-01-06T20:14:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TheSundial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@TheSundial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSundial)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/1 "2020-01-06T20:14:11Z")
This video still gives me chills at the end. The electronic music works well. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Mn-9w0Ax3S4/hqdefault.jpg "Mitsubishi Pajero - Clouds") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn-9w0Ax3S4) I was wondering where this dangerous road is at 2:35. Of course it seems to be The Alps, can someone narrow it down? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/2 "2020-01-06T20:35:37Z")
> [@TheSundial](#): > > This video still gives me chills at the end. The electronic music works well. > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn-9w0Ax3S4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn-9w0Ax3S4) > > I was wondering where this dangerous road is at 2:35. > > Of course it seems to be The Alps, can someone narrow it down? Why “of course”? Could be lots of places, and it doesn’t look quite right for the Alps to me. I would have guessed Alaska. But that’s apparently not right either: > [@](#): > > Clouds, features a jet flying over Central Otago, New Zealand, with a passenger fantasizing about driving his Pajero through the landscape below. The 3 minute 40 sec quicktime video is 32 MB. The ad was made for Asatsu DK Tokyo. Form [http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2005/mitsubishi-pajero-tv-ads/](http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2005/mitsubishi-pajero-tv-ads/) Of course, that doesn’t say definitively that they shot all the footage there. It could be a montage. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/3 "2020-01-06T20:36:46Z")
According to [this](http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2005/mitsubishi-pajero-tv-ads/), the ad was filmed in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. The road itself is apparently [Skipper’s Canyon Road.](https://www.dangerousroads.org/australia-and-oceania/new-zealand/55-skippers-canyon-road-new-zealand.html) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/4 "2020-01-06T20:44:13Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Why “of course”? Could be lots of places, and it doesn’t look quite right for the Alps to me. I would have guessed Alaska. But that’s apparently not right either: I would have guessed the Andes, since I’ve been on similar roads in Peru. (Once we came around a bend to find the road blocked by a dead cow. We thought we were going to have to pull it off the road but were able to pile up rocks so the bus could get around it.) However, as the first article notes, the Pajero is marketed as the Montero in Latin American and the US since “Pajero” is slang for “masturbator” in Spanish. I’ve been in the central Southern Alps in Otago and the rock formations in the video are typical. Similar rock formations can be seen in many scenes in the mountains in _The Lord of the Rings_ movies. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/5 "2020-01-06T20:45:50Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > According to [this](http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2005/mitsubishi-pajero-tv-ads/), the ad was filmed in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. The road itself is apparently [Skipper’s Canyon Road.](https://www.dangerousroads.org/australia-and-oceania/new-zealand/55-skippers-canyon-road-new-zealand.html) If he thought that was a good place for a road, it explains how no one got off that deserted island. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/6 "2020-01-06T20:46:26Z")
looks like the death/Yungas road in Bolivia except for the snow [Yungas Road - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yungas_Road) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/7 "2020-01-06T21:02:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > According to [this](http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2005/mitsubishi-pajero-tv-ads/), the ad was filmed in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. The road itself is apparently [Skipper’s Canyon Road.](https://www.dangerousroads.org/australia-and-oceania/new-zealand/55-skippers-canyon-road-new-zealand.html) I’ve been all around there, but not on that road itself. ---
**Author:** ![TheSundial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@TheSundial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSundial)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/8 "2020-01-06T21:25:44Z")
This matches to 2:35 in the video except not during a snowfall/winter. I still haven’t found this spot on Google Maps satellite of Skippers Canyon Road. > **[49 hosted at ImgBB](https://ibb.co/QKnYVtn)** > > Image 49 hosted in ImgBB ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/9 "2020-01-06T21:37:29Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I would have guessed the Andes, since I’ve been on similar roads in Peru. (Once we came around a bend to find the road blocked by a dead cow. We thought we were going to have to pull it off the road but were able to pile up rocks so the bus could get around it.) However, as the first article notes, the Pajero is marketed as the Montero in Latin American and the US since “Pajero” is slang for “masturbator” in Spanish. In one of the Top Gear field trip specials, I remember Jeremy, James and Richard driving on a similar cliff-side road in South America. I think it was in Bolivia but it might have been Chile. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/10 "2020-01-06T21:43:59Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > In one of the Top Gear field trip specials, I remember Jeremy, James and Richard driving on a similar cliff-side road in South America. I think it was in Bolivia but it might have been Chile. that was likely the cliffside road I mentioned in post #6 above. It is in Bolivia ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/11 "2020-01-06T22:27:30Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > In one of the Top Gear field trip specials, I remember Jeremy, James and Richard driving on a similar cliff-side road in South America. I think it was in Bolivia but it might have been Chile. > [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > that was likely the cliffside road I mentioned in post #6 above. It is in Bolivia Top Gear did do a special on the [Yungas “Death Road” in Bolivia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXLxszv9eCM). However, there is no shortage of such roads in the Andes, especially in Peru ([here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ7S7oACyio)and [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Mz9hmZBQ0) as well as in Chile and other countries. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/12 "2020-01-06T23:23:38Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > In one of the Top Gear field trip specials, I remember Jeremy, James and Richard driving on a similar cliff-side road in South America. I think it was in Bolivia but it might have been Chile. They also did one in Himachal Pradesh on the Chinese border, I believe. I was anxious for them. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/13 "2020-01-07T01:50:32Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I’ve been all around there, but not on that road itself. I’ve been all around NZ as well - however I haven’t been there either because the Hire Car regulations in New Zealand specifically exclude the Skipper’s Canyon Rd. I’m not sure why that should stop anyone - after all, if you have any sort of accident up there, you probably won’t be alive to have to worry about paying for it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/14 "2020-01-07T09:16:51Z")
Beautifully produced ad - starring a Pajero and also the latest Mitsubishi ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/15 "2020-01-07T11:12:59Z")
I went mountain-biking in Skippers Canyon nearly 20 years ago. They take you to the top with the bikes in the back of a pick-up, then you ride downhill and they helicopter you out from the bottom. I don’t remember the sheer drop in the photo **Colibri** posted, so either we avoided that bit or I had my eyes shut 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/16 "2020-01-07T11:26:27Z")
[Here’s a pic of a much younger me on a less scary section of that road](https://i.imgur.com/AduYBF1.jpg). It was 2003. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/17 "2020-01-07T11:58:10Z")
I’ve driven that road. It’s near Queenstown NZ. Quite amazing. It used to be open to anyone crazy enough to attempt it. I believe access is now controlled. ---
**Author:** ![TheSundial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@TheSundial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSundial)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/18 "2020-01-07T12:07:56Z")
@Xema, did it include the part of the road at 2:35 in the video? Or is that a different road that’s nearby Skippers Canyon Road? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/19 "2020-01-07T12:19:41Z")
That Skippers Canyon Road looks incredible. I’ve done several of the roads on [dangerousRoads.org](http://dangerousRoads.org), but never anything like that! With my petrifying fear of heights, even just watching the video from the safety of my home, it almost requires a change of underwear. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042/20 "2020-01-07T14:19:19Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Top Gear did do a special on the [Yungas “Death Road” in Bolivia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXLxszv9eCM). However, there is no shortage of such roads in the Andes, especially in Peru ([here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ7S7oACyio)and [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Mz9hmZBQ0) as well as in Chile and other countries. Ouch. I see roads like those in my nightmares. I had to close my eyes and not watch [what these horseriders endure just to please Susan Hayward.](https://youtu.be/U_n0eanOlMY?t=656) Near the end of the movie they come back the same way, chased by Apaches. (Spoiler: Gary Cooper gets the girl.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-dangerous-road-located/846042.md?page=2)