Walking holidays & more

Guided Walking & Climbing in the Dolomites

Guided Glacier Excursions

Marmolada 'Queen of the Dolomites' - 3,343m
Glacier Treks & West Ridge Via Ferrata

The highest peak in this range is the magnificent Marmolada, known locally as the 'Queen of the Dolomites'. Her summit at Punta Penìa (3343m) and her brilliant white glacier dominate many a beautiful panorama. Most will admire this awesome spectacle from a distance in the comparative comfort of a waymarked trail lower down in the valleys or you can go there yourself via the cable car, which rises dramatically in front of the vast eastern wall, against which the cable car itself looks like a 'matchbox' toy!

The north face of the Marmolada is covered by the most extensive ice formation in the Dolomites, indeed in the whole of the eastern Alps, making it hard to believe this was the scene of fierce military combat in WWI between the Austrians and Italians. This huge glacier preserves the remains of the 'City of Ice', an extraordinary labyrinth of up to five miles of tunnels built under the ice by the Austrians.

Working in conjunction with local mountain guides, Collett's offers 3 guided days out. All excursions should be booked and paid for before your holiday. We will send you a booking form and important information on how these days work. All necessary equipment is provided and a clothing kit list will be sent to you on confirming the booking. Prices do not include the lift or lunch but a small snack pack is provided. If bad weather causes cancellation, your money is refunded. Whilst equipment is provided you must come with your own warm clothes, waterproofs, stiff boots (that can take a crampon), hat and gloves.

• guided glacier trek

  £55 per person (Every Tuesday)
  Each Tuesday you can trek across the glacier, traversing crevasses and touching snow and blue ice. To start the trek we go to the snout of the glacier via the 'yoghurt pot' lifts. See positions taken up by soldiers in the Great War and make your way to the Marmolada's second summit, Punta Rocca. A sound level of fitness is required for this trek but alpine experience is not necessary.

• guided summit ascent - west ridge via ferrata

  £75 per person (Every Friday) - The summit ascent begins with a trek across the glacier to a ridge at the western end of the majestic and vast south wall, (800m high & 3km wide) before using the area's most famous and exposed Via Ferrata to reach the summit (Grade 4C). You return by descending a wall just below the summit and down the glacier. You will require some alpine experience, a head for heights and a good level of fitness.

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Notes on Glacier & Summit Treks

The Glacier and Summit Trek are provided by third parties and have nothing to do with Collett's Ltd, even if advertised by us. Your contract is with the supplier and not with us. We are not responsible for the provision of any third party excursion or for anything that happens during the course of its provision by the supplier.

These should be booked and paid for in advance of your holiday. Please contact us and we will send you a 'Guided Glacier Treks Booking Form', or see the information here, for the Guided Glacier Trek or here for the Marmolada Summit via the West Ridge Via Ferrata, which contains essential information about the day.

• An average level of fitness is required for the glacier trek, but alpine experience is not necessary. As for the West Ridge Via Ferrata to the summit, it is not technically difficult but its length, exposure and altitude (along with the descent of the summit wall and glacier) demand some alpine experience, a head for heights and a good level of fitness.
• Whilst we are happy to book you guides for excursions you might choose to do independently during your stay, these glacier treks should be booked and paid for in advance of your holiday.
• All the necessary technical equipment for these guided itineraries is provided by Francesco (i.e. crampons, rope, helmets, ice axes, harnesses and, in the case of the summit excursion, Via Ferrata equipment), but not clothing or boots.
• Prices don't include the lift pass.
• Our guide is also offering an opportunity for small parties of two (no more, no less) to join him on big mountain days scaling one of the great 3000m peaks. These are long days with very early starts.