Putting brakes on a slippery slope: in all the years I've known it, the stretch of road here in Canton Vaud between Aigle and Le Sepey has always been a switchback ride, full of peaks and dips. But with time you come to realise there's more to it than that. The road, for some few hundred metres, seems constantly in motion.

Summary

---

ENVIRONMENT

See the full content of this document

Extract

---

Putting brakes on a slippery slope: in all the years I've known it, the stretch of road here in Canton Vaud between Aigle and Le Sepey has always been a switchback ride, full of peaks and dips. But with time you come to realise there's more to it than that. The road, for some few hundred metres, seems constantly in motion.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The peaks rise and sharpen, the dips deepen, cracks appear regularly, and the tarmac appears to incline just a bit more each time towards the depths of the valley below. As a local resident said to me, "One day I expect to drive up and find it's just gone!"

I hadn't realised until recently just how real a danger that might be, nor how celebrated our little piece of Swiss pre-Alps is ...

See the full content of this document

---