Climbing in the Alps

[Jim Dockery]

I lived in Europe for 8 years in the 80s teaching for DODDS. Spent most of those summers climbing in the Alps living in my VW van. Most shots taken with Olympus OM4-T, scanned with Nikon Coolscan 4000, converted to BW with Nik Silver FX.

Climber on north face of Cima Ovest, Italy

On the north face of the Cima Grande, Italy

Near the top of the Tour Ronde, France

Climbing the south face of The Marmalada, Italy​

 

[Ben Egbert]

Man, those are some spine tingling shots, is that you in a couple? The third is the artistic winner here and I like it very much.

 

[JimFox]

Hey Jim,

What a cool experience that must have been! My favorite is #4 followed by #2.

Jim

 

[Bob Denton]

Great photos, I pick the 3rd one as the most interesting.

 

[Linda Combs]

I like the 2nd one the most, but all are really great.

 

[Martín el Escocés]

Super series, Jim. I love the stark beauty of no 3. Super rising composition and great contrast.

 

[Jim Dockery]

Thanks for all the nice comments. A color version of #3 made it into a Sierra Club Calendar back in the day.

I'm not in any of the shots, but obviously was on the climbs. By that time I'd dialed back my climbing and was working more on the synthesis of climbing/photography. Succeeding on a hard climb was still the main goal, but not pushing my limits to the edge as I did in my early 20s, I had enough energy to carry and get the camera out to document the wild places I was experiencing. If I didn't get any good shots I didn't feel like I'd really succeeded.

A couple more from The Mont Blanc Massif near Chamonix France

North face of The Plan

On the North Face Les Courtes​

 

[Mike Mancil]

Wow, spectacular images and hair raising excitement. Well done in b/w and I'll pick #3 as well... Mike