San Martino di Castrozza – Sunday, Feb21 2016 – One Italian town, two days of shooting, eight professional and 40 hobby photographers and endless possibilities to shoot and play. This Sunday San Martino di Castrozza crowned the King of Dolomites in seven categories. Sverre Hjørnevik who came all the way from Norway won the Pro Action and Landscape category. Christoph Oberschneider took the best photo in the Pro Alpinism. The Wannabe winner Action and Landscape is Stephan Kothner, the best Wannabe Alpinism was shot by Andrea Costa. The crown for the overall category KOD 2016 Line in which amateurs and pros were competing together went to Klaus Polzer.

The fifth edition bolstered the Arc ́teryx King of Dolomites once again as one of the premier photography freeride events of the winter. 150 talented photographers and riders from ten countries travelled to San Martino di Castrozza to get the best shot during two days. As in previous years everyone was inspired by the diversity and beauty of the landscape around and the hospitality and charm of San Martino, making the little Italian town the perfect base for creativity. The result was an impressive number of stunning pictures.

This did not make for an easy job for the jury who sat together for six hours to pick the seven winners. The intensive discussion was shaped by the distinct backgrounds of the judges merging high level sports, photography, artistic and cinematographic expertise. Freerider Stian Hagen (NOR), mountain and outdoor photographer Piotr Drożdż (POL) and director of photography Maxime Alexandre (ITA) adjudicated the photos based on athletic performance, riders’ style, emotions, scenic beauty of the Dolomitic context, composition and lighting.