Dolomites - Marmolada Summit and Glacier Trek10 Days including High Level walks and Via Ferrata routes This trip offers a number of spectacular high level mountain walks and via ferrata routes culminating with a full day excursion to the magnificent Marmolada 'Queen of the Dolomites'. The Marmolada is the main objective and highlight of your trip and you will reach her summit Punta Penia; at 3343m, the highest in the Dolomites and experience a glacier trek on her North face which has the most extensive ice formation in the eastern Alps. From 1915 to 1917 the Marmolada was a key military position along the Italian-Austrian front and its huge glacier contains preserved remnants of the 'City of Ice' - once an 8 mile labyrinth of tunnels built under the ice by the Austrians. Most of the original structure remains intact and includes a network of communication tunnels, sleeping quarters for 300 troops, an officer's mess and a hospital. The Marmolada West Ridge and Glacier trek is a serious mountaineering excursion, with conditions subject to icing and quickly changing weather. You will trek across her glacier, traversing crevasses, touching snow and blue ice and see positions occupied by soldiers during the Great War. Starting out from Lake Fedaia we take the Marmolada Seggiovia lift, a somewhat aged system with small metal boxes to stand in, to Rifugio Plan del Fiaconni (2650m) from where we trek west across the glacier descending through slabs and glacial moraine before ascending to Forcella Marmolada. From the ridge at the western end of the huge south wall, (800m high by 3km wide) you will then follow one of the most famous via ferrata routes over a series of ladders and stemples as it works its way along the West Ridge. The wire protection ends around 3300m, and we then follow a zig-zag path up the final section of the ridge to the summit where a small rifugio provides a very welcome shelter with hot drinks and food. The summit views are simply breathtaking and you will be rewarded with an awe-inspiring environment looking out across a sea of great Dolomite peaks to lush valleys below. The route concludes with our descent eastwards across the glacier, working our way through a steep ice-fall with large crevasses, to the glaciers end at about 2700m, where a short walk leads us back to the lift at Rifugio Plan del Fiaconni for our descent back to Lake Fedaia. This is an unforgettable mountaineerring experience steeped in history and also provides an opportunity at the lift departure point to visit a small museum dedicated to the Great War and and the history of the Marmolada and its 'City of Ice.' What's included
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