I hope everyone had a good Oktoberfest weekend by enjoying some brew and perhaps a brat, like I did.  If not, hopefully you were out on the trail. 

This weekend I came across a review by Mark Feeney of the Boston Globe of the work of the great mountain photographer Vittorio Sella, who’s work is on display at the Panopticon Gallery in Boston.  Sella followed the Duke of Abruzzi, Luigi Amedeo, around for several expeditions.  These trips included the legendary journey by the Duke that named the most direct route up K2, the Abruzzi Ridge. 

Here is a sample of Sella’s work at this link.  The sample does not do him full justice.  Sella’s finished work in Europe brought the strange lands of the Himalayas and elsewhere to life the way National Geographic had in a time when the work beyond our borders was alien, not just exotic. 

Sella, as well as Amedeo, are responsible for advancing mountain exploration and inspiring climbers and mountain photographers like Bradford Washburn and their successors.  While some of us may wish the mountains were as mysterious today as they were then, it is thanks to their work that we can plunge into the great ranges with knowledge of the risks and dangers of the terrain and weather. 

So here is an Oktoberfest toast: To Vittorio — Proost! 

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