Marmolada 2.0

It's been said that if Walt Disney designed mountains, he would have designed the Dolomites.  The are unlike any mountains I've seen around the world.  Perhaps why I come back. Canazei is a ski town in the heart of the Dolomites at the foot of the Sella Group, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We came for some climbing and more mt bike riding.  It has that special Tyrolian feel, smell and taste.

Bikes Dolomiti style.

Just about the back door.

Sunset. Peak we climb is high point left of center Punta Penia.

I climbed the classic Marmolada via ferrata in 2013 with some friends and persuaded Bill and Holly to give it a go.  Why do the Marmolada?  It's the oldest via ferrata in Italy dating back to 1908 when the Austrians (yes, this part of Italy was previous southern Austria, the Sud-Tyrol) were preparing for WWI.  Once again the efforts and extent people went to for war is amazing.  They made routes high up in the peaks to burrow in for cannon and sniper placements and burrowed under the glacier to build mini-cities.  Some interesting reading. Secondly, it's the only glacier in the Dolomiti.  Apparently soon to disappear in 50 years.  Secondly the summit, Punte Penia, is the highest point in the Dolomites. Not a challenging climb, but all those things noted above and amazing scenery make it worth a second go round.

The day started at the top of Feddaio Pass with an old chairlift ride to the toe of the glacier.

The route starts about an hour's walk from here.  Oddly, it was an extremely busy day on the mountain, one our local guide Tommaso had never seen before.  Luckily, it didn't hamper things.

Tommi, Bill and I enjoying the view en route to base of the climb.

A via ferrata is essentially a series of steel cables strung up along a route, sometimes with iron spikes, iron rungs or in some cases iron ladders placed in steep rock sections.  Sometimes the there is significant exposures, but almost always, there is stunning scenery.

Shots along the route.  It was a busy day and we made some brief friendships with climbers around us.  Ironically, we were the unusual visitors from America.

As clouds gathered, we worked our way to the top. Of course, there's a rufugio at the top and we stopped in for soup and tea before heading back down.  Could get used to this.

Clouds cleared for a bit for a nice summit shot prior to rambling down.

One mustn't relax on the route down for there are crevasses and steep ice to get down first. 

Final view up the route down the glacier and view to summit cross.

Was a very nice, casual tramp through the mountains.  Always good for the soul.  Ciao!