Well Italy is a beautiful place with very nice people. Livigno it self is quite a cool little town. There is definitely more ski resort than there is town but I suspect that a lot of people pass through here since it is the tax free portion of Italy.
We arrived in Milan on the 31st and rented a car. From there we drove to Livigno.
The drive was very cool and scenic with some beautiful mountain passes. In fact I think we took a few extra mountain passes because instead of 4 hours our drive was about 6! Along the way we learned a few things. We learned that the traffic signs don't always come before the exit. We learned that italians will go out of thier way to give directions, but it usually amounts to the equivilant of "it's over there" with a wave in the general direction. If pressed however they will draw maps, write names and get detailed for you. We also learned that the largest and smallest vehicles rule the road. We followed a semi to Livigno and it passed though these small one lane towns at 60-70 km/h! Cars would swerve off the road and let it pass. We just pretended we were the trailer and headed along. Just when we thought that guy was crazy, he was passed by a guy in a big box truck around a blind corner on a mountain pass. I guess that is how you do it in Italy. Motorcycles in Italy drive primarily on the white or yellow line. They are quick to pass no matter what on the narrow mountain passes. I now know why Valantino Rossi has such great skills in the Moto GP!
When we arrived we saw a emense valley that includes ski lifts and gondolas in all directions around the town. Huge bowls that would be awesome to ski are around as well.
The Mountain cross course was glowing under the lights and looked pretty big.
The next day we headed up to the mountain to shoot downhill. Immediately we discovered that this course is FAST...really fast! It is incredible actually, right out of the gate there is a nearly 45degree downhill that goes right into jumps. The course is also long. But because of the speed you can't tell from the riders times. I think it is at least an hour to hike down the course. The mountain cross course is big and steep. It was pretty steep too!
We dined the first night with Hans Rey at the top of a mountain. Actually it wasn't just us and Hans, but there were only 2 other people at the table so it was pretty cool to hear his stories.
Today I finally got to just walk around town. Up until now we have been on the mountain for about 8-12 hours a day. It is tough work running up and down the mountain all day! It was fun strolling around and playing tourist. Fraser and i walked around with big cameras with even bigger lenses and were the ULTIMATE tourists. Fraser even posed with the police!
This place is awesome and i will definitely be back. They are in the midst of building a bike park here too! When that is done i would say Livigno would be a great place to bring the bike and ride for a week.
That is all for now,
Josh
www.cameracourage.com
