Lukmanier Pass: Beyond the barrier!

Mountain pass between Ticino and Grisons in Switzerland

How many of you have wondered why the Lukmanier Pass road is sometimes not passable for vehicles and pedestrians on a winter day when the sun is shining in the sky?
Going beyond the lowered "bar" means discovering the "behind the scenes" that ordinary people do not know, or can only imagine.
A great deal of responsible work is needed to highlight the safety of an Alpine pass.
An immense commitment that personally involves the drivers responsible for clearing the snow, but also other professional figures made up of technicians and experts, both in meteorology and in the mountains.
The harmony and slow flow of life in the place cannot wait for the first snowflakes. We need to plan and move before the bad season. Helicopters fly over the pass already in autumn, when the leaves still cling, albeit with difficulty, to the trees at lower altitudes. Nothing can be entrusted to chance and destiny. We need to move before the white blanket changes the landscape features of our mountains.
Binoculars and love for your land can save the lives of many people.
It is for this noble awareness that the "Angels" of our valley dedicate part of their lives to the asphalt snake that connects the canton of Ticino to the canton of Grisons.
On the freezing nights at the pass, the stars illuminate the evocative path that winds through uncontaminated nature. The avalanche men seem to rest wrapped in the blanket of a seemingly friendly sky. But the mountains, as we know, are unpredictable. Sometimes he suddenly calls celestial creatures.
It's another day up there, where the clouds can be touched with a finger. New noises and friendly voices are heard. The “white men” are on their way, once again.

The images created are part of a documentation project started in 2020, and developed over the years in the three winter seasons.