Snowshoeing from a Different Perspective

Last weekend Kristen and I went back up to the Dolomites to do some more snowshoeing. This terrible weather that we've had in Italy all winter has dumped an enormous amount of snow up in the mountains! Conditions have been perfect for snow: not too cold and lots of moisture in the atmosphere. We've really been taking advantage of all the snow, and will probable keep heading north as long as the snow continues to pile up.

Since we've been blogging a lot about the Dolomites, I thought I'd do something a little different here. I'm posting a bunch of photos shot with my GoPro Hero...if you don't know these cameras check out this link for a glimpse into the cool images you can create with these tiny action cameras: http://gopro.com/

The GoPro gives you such a different perspective thanks to it's super wide angle lens. Also, there's no viewfinder or screen to see your shots...you just shoot away and hope for the best. I've been setting the camera up on a mount on my ski pole to get some interesting angles...ones that I'd never get with my DSLR. This first shot is a nice example of the unusual perspective...and a first glimpse into the amount of snow up in the Dolomites!

This second shot at left shows you the amount of snow even better. That's Kristen and her friend Sarah, another teacher at UWC, hiking into the wilderness in deep snow. Last weekend we stayed at Sarah's boyfriend's house and were able to do great hikes like this right from the house. Alessandro's family has a house up in the Dolomites in a small, quaint village tucked into a valley surrounded by these amazing peaks...that's it on the right.


Our hike took us into a shady, frozen river valley with snow 2-3 m deep at times. The valley was surrounded by giant Dolomite peaks glowing yellow and pink in the afternoon sun. I really like the super wide angle view of the mountains captured by the GoPro. Editing the photos is great because, like I said before, there's no viewfinder so you get what you get. The trick is holding the ski pole with the camera attached up over your head and adjusting the angle and pitch hoping to get a properly framed shot like this.


Here's another shot that shows how much snow there is this year! I love the way Kristen appears to be out on her own in the wilderness in this shot. See that peak glowing in the upper right hand corner of the photo? The next time we head back to this trail we're going to get much further into the mountains following this trail towards that peak.

This next one is fun...I'm holding the camera out on the ski pole while I cross one of many snowy bridges over the stream that flows through the valley from that mountain in the previous photo. A tough shot to get with an ordinary camera for sure. Easier with the GoPro, but tricky nonetheless because you have to watch your step without staring down at your feet.

Another shot of Kristen hiking into the wild. Here you can see that the trail heads straight towards that mountain that we hope to hike to another time. For this shot I had Kristen walk by the GoPro after I set my ski pole up in the snow next to the trail. I often make Kristen walk back and forth on trails while I shoot photos...just ask her about the Kalalau Trail in Kauai sometime.

Hope you enjoyed a few more pictures of us up in the Dolomites. More are sure to come as we continue to enjoy all this snow!