G&P Dolomites 2025 - Compiled (4K)

My wife Ping and I completed 40% of Alta Via 1 + day hikes in Dolomites, covering 63.38km, ascending 4,108m and descending 2,955m over 5 days of trekking. Ping’s physical and mental limits was pushed. There was uncertainty from the first day when she experienced treacherous knees pain from descending over 400m over 1.8km on a terrain of loose rocks. It turned out to be ITB and she managed it like a pro. With that overcame, each step grew confidence. She overcame and is a FINISHER! During the hike, Ping asked me, what is it about mountain trekking that I like so much. My intuitive response was: because we can. We are designed and constructed to be explorers, to ventures into new environments. Our legs are the ultimate machines that can bring us anywhere humanely possible (and sanely safe). We are given eyes and ears, to see, to hear and to learn, to survive and to seek out new frontiers. My face lit up when I am at the trailheads. Even when I feel and look totalled, there is no pessimism. There is only grit and determination. I have never entertained the thoughts of turning back. I built resiliency for every step I put in front of the other. Once I get into the mountains, my mind enters into a meditative trance. I am so small (literally) compared to the majestic mountains. I am a speck of carbon, in the background. Their silence is so deafening that I will not hear my own thoughts. I am a temporary resident in a big world, one that deserves the best from us. For years I maintain consistency and discipline in my exercises. I have acquired a heightened level of awareness of my body. I can differentiate what I need to do differently for pains in the heel versus ball of my feet. I have different SOPs for dull versus sharp pains, and whether it is at the front, the inner or the outer side of my knees. I am responsible for myself and I can take good care of myself and others out there. What the nature offers, is the greatest endowment that our future generation can ever inherit. Nature is omnipresent for us, democratised and accessible to all. The mountains await, and time waits for no one. Hope you will like this video.