Alpine Pass is the documented Stage 02: a 1.6 km mountain route with 20 corners and 13 checkpoints in current records. It begins around a valley lake, moves through stacked gravel hairpins and a tunnel, then reaches a narrower mountain road with patchy snow. Brake before the hairpins and keep away from snow banks that can catch a wide car.
Select Alpine Pass and start
Open the Stages menu, choose Alpine Pass, and travel using the displayed action. Bring out an unlocked car and approach the start box under control. Stop fully with S, press Enter when START STAGE appears, and wait for green GO.
The start panel can show NO GHOST YET for a car with no recorded ghost. That does not prevent the stage from starting. It only describes the current ghost state. Use R for Back to the box if you miss the pre-start area; during the run, R becomes checkpoint recovery when labelled.
Prepare for the lake and gravel hairpins
The opening valley-lake road gives room to settle into the car, but the stacked gravel hairpins demand earlier preparation. Listen for the direction and severity, brake while the car is straight, turn toward the hairpin, and use a short handbrake input if rotation is insufficient.
Do not hold Space from entry to exit. A long handbrake slide can leave the car pointing across the road and sacrifice the climb out. Release as the nose aligns, then add throttle progressively. With a powerful or rear-wheel-drive car, wait a fraction longer before full acceleration.
Tunnel and mountain transition
The tunnel changes visual rhythm and reduces the room for a correction. Enter straight and avoid carrying a slide into a confined section. On exit, expect the route to narrow and prepare for the move toward snow rather than accelerating solely because the road briefly looks open.
Calls matter most when the next surface is not fully visible. A co-driver should name the immediate direction and severity first. The driver should leave enough margin to react without snapping the steering. If voice volume is low, fix it before another timed attempt.
Drive patchy snow and narrow road
Snow reduces the grip margin and makes a late correction more expensive. Brake earlier than on dry tarmac, use one steering action, and return to power gently. If the car begins to slide toward the bank, reduce the demand on the tyres rather than adding more steering and throttle at the same time.
Keep the car away from the outer snow bank even if the apparent line is slightly shorter. Contact can stop the vehicle or pull it off the intended route. A conservative entry followed by an early stable exit is usually better than a fast entry followed by reverse or checkpoint recovery.
Use checkpoints and sectors
Current records show 13 checkpoints, including a timed HUD example at CP 5/13. Use the counter to locate where a mistake occurs. If the same loss happens around the same checkpoint, isolate the approach and call sequence in the next run.
Results can be divided into sectors. Compare your weakest sector with your personal best. A route-wide setup change is unnecessary if one hairpin accounts for most of the difference. Practice the braking point and exit there while leaving the rest of the run stable.
Plan the gold attempt
An Alpine Pass start panel has displayed 1:23.5, equal to 83.5 seconds. A newer Stage Select record labels the same number as an Orso 4 gold value. Copy the target from your current selected car before calculating the gap, because car or update differences can matter.
Convert your result to seconds and subtract 83.5 only when 1:23.5 is actually the current target. A positive result is time to save. Separate penalty totals only when the copied result excludes them. Do not use an example finish or reward as a promised target for every configuration.
Read first-gold rewards carefully
One recorded first-gold settlement showed Gold Medal and First Gold as separate rows, plus Alpine Pass snowflake collectibles. That is evidence of one dated result, not a recurring fixed payout. On later runs, First Gold should not be assumed to repeat.
Read every row on your own Rewards screen and keep account XP, CR, contract progress, and car mastery separate. Use CR and XP Rewards before estimating how many repeated runs fund a garage goal.
A safe improvement routine
Finish once without a medal target. On the second run, concentrate on the stacked hairpins. On the third, keep the same car and settings while improving the snow section. Only then combine the cleaner sectors into a medal attempt. If the vehicle remains hard to control, compare Arcade and Sim deliberately through Driving Settings.