Mountain of Hell
Mountain bike race “Mountain of Hell” in Les Deux Alpes. The race starts at an altitude of around 3,400 m on the Mont-de-Lans glacier on the Dôme de la Lauze and leads over a 25 km long, unmarked route down around 2,500 meters in altitude to the sub-village of Venosc. The 600 – 700 participants have to cycle over snow, rocks, individual paths, steps and steep descents.
Les Deux Alpes is a well-known winter sports resort around 40 km south of Grenoble on the Écrins massif in the Dauphiné Alps.
I took this photograph as part of a documentary about the Alps using an analog 4×5” Linhof Technika camera on negative film. The photograph was taken near the top station of the cable car, where the cyclists have to ride down the steep ski slope of the glacier. There is still some snow on the glacier and the scree begins below. You can see how difficult it must be for some cyclists to ride on the thawing snow. Many have to push their bikes, some have fallen off their bikes, and a film crew in a helicopter is covering the race. Events like the Mountain of Hell race are becoming increasingly important for many winter sports resorts in summer.
The photograph is very beautiful as a print behind acrylic glass, on aluminum dibond or in a white floater frame.










