ˈdɹɪftɪŋ

Drifting: Sliding sideways towards the big D

Most people know who Michael Schumacher is but how about Swampy?

Yet it was Swampy that influenced my driving career for the first decade. Given the comparison, you might wonder if Swampy drove F1 but no, he climbed trees and tried to save nature from being cut down and turned into British Motorways. So, at 16, I chose not to learn to drive since in my idealistic youth I wanted to help save the climate.

Now I am sitting underneath melting glaciers.

Out to my right I can see Mont Blanc and tumbling down beneath, the Bossons glacier. This glacier developed a hole about two months ago and it is now so large it seems it’s divided in two.

For those of you who like to spin, here’s some footage shot right above the hole from my friend’s paraglider on Saturday (28/6/25):

While we’re on the ecological tack, here are some photos shot from the Lötschental Valley before the Birch Glacier covered the valley in 10 million cubic meters of crushed ice, rock and mud in about 40 seconds. I love the rich carvings of the dark, Swiss folklore. This valley, sheltered from mass tourism unlike Chamonix, was an Alpine Eden.

Blatten

So is it completely idiosyncratic that I went ice driving for the first time this winter?

Having little knowledge of any driving modalities I did not know what to expect.

I wasn’t sure if I would find it boring.

Spolier: I didn’t.

Here’s 5 days in 14 seconds. Imagine the sound of ice shards hitting the carrosserie…

TBC