It was time to have some fun with Kosmo Foto Mono while tour skiing in the Alps. This time around the Frauenalpe in Austria. The Frauenalpe used to be a ski resort but the they removed the equipment. Which makes it so much better to experience nature. Going ski touring or snowshoe walking is really breathtaking in terms of the incredible views. Of course you got to climb and hike with skis or snowshoes but its worth it.
Ski touring skis have bindings that are different to the normal alpine skis – that most folks know about. The bindings allow your boot to hinge up and down – i.e hike up a steep slope. In additional to this there also a felt which is attached to the underside of the ski for going up. This is pulled off when you reach the top. When you wish to go back down the ski bindings are made fixed similar to alpine skis. It’s a great way to discover a wintery wonderland you just need to consider avalanches and snow conditions. Local knowledge is always a requirement for such adventures.
For this adventure, I took along a wooden 6×12 pinhole camera to the top along with a tripod. Two rolls of Kosmo Foto Mono 120 medium format film was used up during the ski tour. Even though the wind was a bit wild and chilly the scene was set in white. Such perfect snow on a crispy day. We had a flask of warm tea to keep our spirits up too.
I had taken to the touring skis while Reiner rambled up with the snow shoes. We manage to reach the top and taken some necessary shelter from the northern wind by the sunlit wall of the mountain lodge.
The pinhole camera was setup with a gorilla pod for this shot, we ask a fellow ski tourer to open shutter for 5 seconds as we both seat still.
The Alternative Tripod
I had the gorilla pod wrapped around the top of my touring ski to provide some extra height to capture the snow of the ridge.
The ski was sent vertically into the deep snow. It seemed secure enough with the pinhole camera and gorilla pod to get a kind of steady image shown below. Not perfect by any means but considering the circumstances. (As there isn’t much to hold onto or stand on either for that matter. Especially when you’re on the side of a steep snowy mountain.)
In the pinhole image you should be able to see the wind blowing the snow up into the air off the edge of the ridge.
Later on the girls arrived after waiting for us as we had gone the scenic route!
I used two recipes to develop the Kosmo film. Recipe #2 is a general recipe I use when in doubt of developing B&W film. I actually preferred this recipe to the recipe #1.
Recipe #1
1:25 Rodinal
Duration: 4mins
First 30 mins, then every 10 seconds agitate.
Recipe #2
1:100 Rodinal
Duration: 11 mins
First 30 mins, then every 1 minute agitate.
Prints
Back at base I developed a 6×6 sized print from the 6×12 negative on some Ilford paper I had in the makeshift darkroom we have setup in the basement.
Finally
Overall I enjoyed using Kosmo Mono, the images are contrasty enough. For the two rolls I used with a pinhole camera I was happy with the results. Bearing in mind the environment where I used the film was very windy and cold. At one stage Reiner’s mobile battery froze up and the phone wouldn’t operate normally. The chill factor was quite something. I still have one roll of Kosmo left to use which I’d like to use with the Yashica MAT 124. But that will be another post for another time. I hope enjoyed the images and a little about ski mountaineering with skis.