The village of San Martino di Castrozza seen from Alpe Tognola with the gondola cabins in transit
The camera position is on Alpe Tognola, the slope closing the basin of San Martino di Castrozza to the west, several hundred metres above the valley floor. In the foreground the snow-covered slope is scored by ski tracks and broken by isolated larches stripped of their needles; on the right the cabins of the gondola lift climb the line suspended above the snow, with a support pylon entering the frame from the top. Below, in the background, the village occupies the valley floor, while the opposite slope shows the runs cut into the wood.\r\n\r\nThe photograph records the layout of a high-altitude resort observed from its own ski area. The village is recognisable by its concentrated building density and by the prevalence of large accommodation structures, which in an alpine fabric stand apart from village houses in volume and alignment. The lift connecting the valley floor to Alpe Tognola carries the eye along the same axis as the camera position: the cabins are named after peaks of the area, and the one in the foreground, marked with the number 9, bears the name of Cima d'Asta.\r\n\r\nLight arrives raking from the right and lights the foreground slope, where the compacted snow holds the long shadows of the trees; the valley floor, by contrast, is already covered by the shadow of the slope and turns towards cold tones. Snow cover is continuous at every altitude in the frame, the runs on the opposite slope are in operation and the larches are entirely bare: the season is winter.\r\n
