Stories
Moments, reflections and peaks from the Alps.
Sometimes reality goes beyond what you imagine and the time has come for me to see what I could not imagine.
I will turn the page, well aware that my heart won’t find peace until I am able to name each and every one of the peaks in the photos. It was a blast, Innsbruck. Now let’s get the best out of what’s left.
Alpinmesse 2025 was a great occasion to meet old and new friends, but also get emotional on a totally spontaneous conversation. I had a drink in my hand and many good points to talk about. Then I turned around and a man started to talk and immediately showed his helvetic open-mindedness.
It’s evening and like every year you need to scream in order to be understood with this loud music. Anyway, he’s a policeman in the Canton of the Grisons and comes always to this annual fair packed with news, clothing, skis, climbing shoes, talks and the usual bouldering competition.
He tells me about how we are “Bergmenschen”, mountain people and have a deeper understanding of each other because we share common values, simple and genuine. I tell him of that one snowfall in Ampezzo, where one good metre of snow let me realise that I would have nothing to do but wonder about how to move it and be stuck in awe. The Olympics are also around the corner and I let some of that magic there is at home shine through my eyes. We smile and say goodbye. To the next one!
“There is no lying in the kitchen. And no god there, either. He couldn't help you anyway. You either can-or can't-make an omelette. You either can—or can't-chop an onion, shake a pan, keep up with the other cooks, replicate again and again, perfectly, the dishes that need to be done. No credential, no amount of bullshit, no well-formed sentences or pleas for mercy will change the basic facts. The kitchen is the last meritocracy: a world of absolutes; one knows without any ambiguity at the end of each day how one did.”
— Anthony Bourdain
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