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Straight from the field, check out the latest dispatch from our crew in Italy.
Sella Nevea, which means “Snow Saddle,” is living up to its name. Marco, our guide, described the storm as monolithic, and it just keeps on snowing.
The tiny Italian town has been battling to keep its buildings from collapsing in the midst of recent storms. Power and internet were down, roads were avalanched, and roofs were leaking. Needless to say the crew was happy to make it to Sella Nevea and see the hotel still standing. With a long history of consistently large snowfalls, the biggest storm in 100 years brought the upper mountain snow base to well over six meters. The tram that takes you to the top of the mountains is currently buried and will hopefully open within the week. Men with harnesses, ropes, and shovels are slowly making progress and today we saw that the terrain is definitely worth waiting for.
The Julian Alps, which border Slovenia and Austria, are unlike most places in the world. Thanks to their close proximity to the Adriatic Sea and the maritime climate, the rock formations are quite twisted. Sections of rock have eroded to create perfect spine walls. However, this climate also produces sink holes, vertical caves that dot the landscape. If you’re not careful these man-eaters can swallow you alive.
Although the landscape is twisted and intimidating at times, the people at Hotel Canin have been making our stay as comfortable as one can imagine. We have only been here a few days and have already made friends with most of the local business owners, the small police force that is ripping it up on the hill in uniform, and the few freeriders who live here. We are greeted with excited “Chios!” every time we walk into the café by morning and the bar by evening.
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We’re crossing our fingers that the snow stabilizes, the sun shines, and that the tram is running soon. In the meantime we will be skiing pow, looking up for roof-alanches and down for sink holes.
Here are a few shots from #tgritalia on Instagram. Follow 
