Into The Route

Photographer: Dan Patitucci Location: Switzerland

Into The Route

Follow the Patitucci photo team on a journey of partnership, pain, and recovery as they pioneer multi-day trail runs through the Alps.

MONDAY, JULY 5, 2021

Black Diamond Presents: Into The Route

Sometime in the late 1990’s, Dan and Janine Patitucci’s VW van clattered to a halt at the Supercrack parking lot in Indian Creek. While the engine was shot, their home on wheels was well stocked with food and water that would support a lengthy stay before calling in for a tow. Finally, while waiting for a pickup, they went for a run in lightly falling snow, a camera tucked into the pack, as usual. A few months later, an image from that morning would land in Patagonia’s catalog, help pay for repairs, and inspire a career focused on trail running photography.

Twenty years later, they are based in Interlaken, Switzerland, living a life carefully crafted to not be too different from the old days in the van. They run trails in the Alps, Sierra, Himalaya, and everywhere in between. As athletes, Dan and Janine each have a thorough understanding, high level of technical skill, and passion for the subjects they photograph. The team’s commercial and editorial work has appeared around the world for countless ad campaigns, magazine stories, and communication for the outdoor industry’s leading brands. They also manage their own stock of mountain sport, adventure, and travel images from more than two decades of work.

In 2015, they created ALPSinsight, a website dedicated to communicating the Alp’s mountain-sport experiences through photography, stories, and tips. With ALPSinsight they could create an outlet to publish their own content while providing the online resource for climbing, hiking, ski touring, cycling, and of course trail running.