Lights In The Fog | Roamers

4 August 2025 Redazione Experience, News

Words Alessandro Marrone / Photos Bruno Serra

Now the outlines of the front hood are completely lost in the thick veil of fog cut by the Alfa shield. The matte white all around seems to push its way past the windshield, preventing me from admiring the scenic landscape of the mountain pass — one of the main reasons I drove so many kilometers on a day perhaps too close to the end of the summer season.

The asphalt is soaked with microscopic droplets of water and as the wheels roll over more slowly than I had imagined, I continue climbing upward. One hairpin turn after another, almost hoping that at some point everything will vanish in favor of a clear sky, maybe hidden beyond the dense blanket of clouds. It’s just past 9 a.m. and I haven’t seen a single soul since passing the last village before nearing the threshold of the Italian-French border. I’m keeping the 510 horsepower of the Stelvio Quadrifoglio ready, my right foot lighter than it has ever been and in the total silence the only sound attempting to overpower the tires on the wet ground is the rubbing of my hands on the steering wheel’s rim.

Calm — too much calm — that kind that suggests something is bound to happen soon. Because the hope is exactly that the blinding white surrounding me doesn’t lead me into a labyrinth with undefined boundaries. As I gain altitude, I realize I’m gradually moving away from a fog bank whose direction I can’t quite grasp. I have no choice but to pick up the pace and finally give a bit of freedom to the Alfa’s twin-turbo V6. The body color shifts like a chameleon against the golden fields touched by the approaching autumn.

Now the silence is broken by the bursts of the Akrapovic exhaust. One blast after the other, because you don’t climb all the way up here just to take it easy.

It starts a game you can never really get used to, a satisfaction matched only by the number of RPMs the needle climbs past. It may be just a couple of gears, but the Quadrifoglio’s thrust is something powerful, unfazed by the majestic might of nature and the adverse weather conditions like today’s. The thick fog gives way to a thinner veil, revealing at least the road ahead and a few hundred meters in front of the Arese badge, exposed to every kind of atmospheric element. Now that I can see the outlines of the surrounding peaks, I realize how precarious the situation is. These almost imperceptible droplets could soon turn into snow and bury the Col Agnel for the next seven months.

Overcome by a sense of anxiety and urgency, I know that every second is crucial and that any opportunity left for a hypothetical next time may never come. It’s in that exact moment that all careful planning is overturned, letting the situation take over and guide me through an improvisation that elevates every single instant. My heart pounds — not because of the speed that the Stelvio, in its fullest expression, can achieve over short stretches regardless of terrain conditions. I’m feeling a new kind of love for a category of vehicle that, though as high-performing as more traditional supercars, doesn’t exactly follow the classic philosophy of driving pleasure as we enthusiasts mainly intend.

The nervousness of the Stelvio, the precision of the front end and that rear that kicks out much more than would reasonably seem possible — these are just some of the many shades of a waking dream lived firsthand on the slopes of a peak wilder than ever. And just when you least expect it, it begins to rain. At first, almost fooling you into thinking it might stop after a few minutes, but then more insistently — almost as if to punish you for challenging the mountain, making it clear that no gamble will be forgiven. The edge of the road is too close and the void beyond it sends chills down your spine even just writing about it. I ease off. I have to. The whoosh of the tires returns as the only soundtrack, alternating with the sound of my hands gripping the wheel. In the background, I hear intermittent thumps and I instantly know it’s my heart echoing the incredible emotions I lived just moments before.