Snowboarding Amid COVID: A Photographer’s Journey on the Slopes of Switzerland and Italy

In March 2020, northern Italy became one of the very first epicenters of the 1st wave of the coronavirus pandemic, and its response foreshadowed the waves of lockdowns that would roil the globe for more than a year. In the Italian Alps, that has meant an close to snowboarding. But throughout the border in Switzerland, the lifts are open. Photographer Davide Bertuccio traveled to the Matterhorn, a mountain located concerning Breuil-Cervinia, Italy, and Zermatt, Switzerland, and in comparison how the two sides fared this winter season period.

“It was a surreal expertise to see the mountain so vacant in Italy. Unlimited expanses of white, where by each now and then you could spot a snowcat. Lifts that, in the midst of the fog and in total silence, looked like alien spaceships,” remembers Bertuccio. “The directives of the Italian federal government prohibit skiing, but allow for the opening of [hotels] and dining establishments to passersby. In Switzerland it is feasible to ski, but you can only consume takeaway.” The images showcase spectacular sights and empty slopes on the Italian facet, although Switzerland hums with skiers. You can practically hear the howling wind and lone appears of the ski lifts, waiting around for men and women to return.