Splügen Pass [EXPLORED] - a photo on Flickriver

Splügen | Swiss Alps | Switzerland

[EXPLORED] 18th Jan 2016 I am really pleased to have this image included in EXPLORE (My 9th EXPLORE to-date). Thanks for all the faves and nice comments. I really appreciate the support and welcome any constructive critique, while I continue to grow and develop my skills as a landscape photographer.

I visited Switzerland with my family recently, staying in a small village on Lake Maggiore near Locarno. For my 40th birthday, we drove into the small village of Splügen, which lies at 1,457 meters above sea-level in the Rhine forest at Hinterrhein and at the junction of routes to the passports Splügenpass and San Bernardino.

Splügen: Background

The Splügen Pass is a high mountain pass which marks the boundary between the Lepontine and Rhaetian Alps, respectively part of the Western and Eastern Alps. The pass road connects the Swiss Hinterrhein valley and Splügen in the canton of Graubünden with the Valle Spluga and Chiavenna in the Italian province of Sondrio, the road continuing to Lake Como. The pass is the water divide between the drainage basins of the Rhine, which flows into the North Sea, and the Po, which flows into the Adriatic. The pass is overlooked by Pizzo Tambò, which towers over the valley with its summit at an elevation of 3,279 metres.

History/Popular Culture

In 1840, author Mary Shelley traveled through the pass on the way to Lake Como with her son. She describes the pass in her travel narrative, Rambles in Germany and Italy, published in 1844:

"A few years ago, there was no path except across this mountain, which being very exposed, and difficult even to danger, the Splugen was only traversed by shepherds and travellers of the country on mules or on foot. But now, a new and most marvellous road has been constructed - the mountain in question is, to the extent of several miles, cleft from the summit to the base, and a sheer precipice of 4000 feet rises on either side. The Rhine, swift and strong, but in width a span, flows in the narrow depth below. The road has been constructed on the face of the precipice, now cut into the side, now perforated through the living rock into galleries: it passes, at intervals, from one side of the ravine to the other, and bridges of a single arch span the chasm. The precipices, indeed approach so near, in parts, that a fallen tree could not reach the river below, but lay wedged in mid-way. It may be imagined how singular and sublime this pass is, in its naked simplicity. After proceeding about a mile, you look back and see the country you had left, through the narrow opening of the gigantic crags, set like a painting in this cloud-reaching frame. It is giddy work to look down over the parapet that protects the road, and mark the arrowy rushing of the imprisoned river. Mid-way in the pass, the precipices approach so near that you might fancy that a strong man could leap across”.

Taking The Shot
It was -7°C when I took this, and I was with my family (including my baby son) so I wasn't going to spend time setting up a tripod and filters. Consequently, this is a hand-held shot (resting my elbow on a ski pole for stability). Shot from immediately outside the family restaurant at the foot of the piste, I applied a graduated filter in Lightroom to correct some of the blown-out highlights in the sky.

Taken in: Schweiz / Kanton Graubünden / Splügen (show map)

Taken on: January 14, 2016

Tags:

Hinterrhein

Splügen

Switzerland

Swiss Alps

Alps

Alpine

Landscape

Landscape Photography

Mountainscape

Snow

Europe

Winter

Ski

Skiing

Sports

Downhill

Slalom

Valley

Schweiz

Switzerländ

Alpen

Berge

Mountains Wiesen

meadows

Felsen

rocks

Wolken

clouds

Himmel

Sky

Nikon D610

Rhine

Ski Resort « less

Sets appears in: • [EXPLORED] • Europe more » • Switzerland • 100+ Faves « less

Groups appears in: • Nikon Digital • Switzerland more » • Alps • Travel Photography • Landscape photography • Mountains Anywhere • Nikon Europe Group • Digital SLR Photography Magazine • TLP - Travel Light Photography • in explore • my explored « less

Camera: Nikon D610, f/11.0, 1/320 sec, 26mm, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D610
Lens:	24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	0.003 sec (1/320)
Focal Length:	26mm
ISO:	200
Exposure Bias:	-2/3 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Manual
Light Source:	Cloudy
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Macintosh)
Show full info

Stats: 34,437 views / 6 comments

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: