Eyelids heavy as lead, I'm sitting in the bathroom scrubbing my teeth. It's just after 12 and we've just come back from our night tour. I'm sitting there, enjoying the view over the illuminated San Martino di Castrozza and asking myself "were those our best shots yet - do we even stand a chance with this?" The boys are already relaxed in bed and listening to Jeremy Jones talking about the unique lines on Svalbard, raving about lots of snow and good conditions - hopefully we'll find them tomorrow too. The first day of the "King of Dolomites" photo contest, sponsored by Arcteryx, is drawing to a close. We have started to explore the ski area, but what we find is always the same. Although the snow cover is closed in some places, it is just enough to hide the stones. To be honest, we didn't actually have a single enjoyable turn during the first day. At the opening event, the organizers also warned of these conditions and asked all participants to behave defensively. In recent years, we have seen pictures of dreamlike snowy landscapes, snow-covered Dolomites and fantastic descents - this year it was a challenge for the photographers to show this beauty. The weather gave us everything we needed. Sun, storms, fog, snowfall and the famous sunsets above the imposing Dolomite massif. The temperatures on the contest days were ideal for skiing and the snow held up very well on the sun-protected slopes.
The sun rises over the Pale di San Martino on the morning of the second day, the sky is cloudless. An Italian breakfast - croissant, jam and some muesli to fortify us for the day ahead - we are once again the first on the lift and greet the cheerful lift attendant in his usual manner. We share the ascent with some food for the refuge on the Rosetta plateau. "Looks like a storm" - the first snow flags on the ridges already show what awaits us at the top. We head out of the mountain station through the stone minefields and find our way through the spindrift to our destination.
We don't know the name of our summit, but the snow looks good. Arriving at the summit, we see the whole plateau filled with small troops slowly moving in our direction. 40 wannabe teams and 8 pros are registered and roam the plateau. We are the first to reach the summit slope and are so happy with our first really good turns that we forget about our photo skills. We climb up to the summit again. By the time the competition arrives, we have already made several tracks on the summit slope. Satisfied with the pictures, we move to quieter areas and take the last photos. Towards the afternoon, clouds gather and it starts to get cloudy. We drive down into the valley and enjoy the Italian flair with an espresso for another hour or two. Back at the hotel, we sit in front of my huge iMac, which is sitting on a wobbly table - and once again I think you could do with a more mobile device - but that's another story. We took well over 1,000 photos over the two days. The photos for the Alpinism and Line sections are quickly selected. The Action section is quickly dealt with afterwards - but Landscape? A small defeat for me, as I have actually only photographed landscapes for years. I'm not satisfied, but I choose a solid picture. 2 hours later, the sketches are finished and we go out for pizza. Today for starters: Pizza for three and then another pizza per head. You need a balanced diet. The wind picks up overnight and we have spring weather. The temperatures are in double figures in the valley and we take advantage of the conditions for a first spring tour in the higher regions. Dolce Vita, espresso and paninis make up the afternoon - living like God in Italy, or was that France? It doesn't matter, we're having a great time. We sit in front of the hotel and empty the last bottles of beer, sit contentedly and wait for the award ceremony. The prizes are handed out. I'm impressed again at what you can do with conditions like these. The places have been awarded, a little disappointed that we didn't win a category, we want to head off in the direction of the car. "And last of all, we have our special mention category" - we still get our appearance on the podium - amazing how you can celebrate a second place. We head back home over the Passo Rollo, a last picture-book sunset shows us the way west. It's quiet in the car. We are tired. We have a long way to go. We are satisfied.
