In March, I was approached by the tourist office of Leukerbad, a spa resort (and much more) in the canton of Valais. They were developing a new “adventure trail” featuring various interactive stations, one of which required a labelled panorama (beschriftetes Panoramabild). While the design of the interactive elements was in place, they still needed the photo and labelling for the panorama.
In July, Lucia Toth from Leukerbad Tourism guided me from the top of the Leukerbad-Rinderhütte cable car to the exact location where the panorama would be displayed, and where I was to capture the photograph.
The view was stunning, though not particularly clear that day. From this vantage point, one can see the Matterhorn, the Grand Combin, and Mont Blanc, among other peaks stretching along the Rhône Valley. However, the hazy conditions limited my ability to capture a clear shot, and I could only take a few test photos while some curious locals looked on.
I also suffered what can only be described as a sheep attack, an experience I’m still mentally recovering from. Click on below link for a disturbing recording… not for the faint hearted.
About a week later, I returned to take the final panorama. When I arrived, construction was underway on the platform that would hold the panorama, with the table and other structures being flown in that day. With the project progressing rapidly, I felt the pressure to deliver the photo and the labelled panorama (beschriftetes Panoramabild) soon.
Capturing the image presented some technical challenges. Typically, my panoramas include some foreground elements, but given the specified format, I had to focus solely on the peaks—some of which were over 80 km away in the Mont Blanc Massif. I used a zoom lens and stitched together around 40 photos to create a long and narrow panorama.
Now that the adventure trail is complete, I had to visit and see the installed panorama for myself. Despite the cloudy weather on my visit, the trail was busy, and I was pleased to hear that many families with young children were enjoying it.
A big thank you to Leukerbad Tourism, and especially to Marco Walker and Lucia Toth, for collaborating with me on this project. Get in touch here if you are interested in a panorama for your resort.