UKC

Hi there,

Does anybody know the latest conditions of the glacier for descent on the Marmolada in the Dolomites??

Also, more importantly, does anybody know how easy it is to get to the Via Ferrata on the west ridge from the top of Don Quixote?? Myself and partner have no glacier experience and would definitely prefer coming down the via ferrata. We'll be there this time next week.

I'd really appreciate any info anybody has.

Thanks,

Jimbo

In reply to youwillfindjimbo:

I heard say that from, that end, there is a path east from the cable car. So no glacier or via Ferrata required.

I would look in the guidebook for Marmolada south face.

In reply to youwillfindjimbo:

First question is when are you planning on doing this? If it is soon, i.e. before next July, then the cable car is currently shut for the end of the season. So in that case the only way to descend is over the glacier, or base jumping

Otherwise if you are there in cable car open season, yes the path goes along the crest to the station. If you are talking about descending to the eterna VF and down climbing that, it is a fair distance - the eterna finishes at Punta Serauta not Punta Roccia, i.e. there is a whole section of the cable car you'd need to descend before reaching the VF which is inevitably over the glacier.

In reply to Casa Alfredino:
Were going next week, so there will be no cable car.

What is the glacier like, would it be advisable to just forget the whole idea of climbing the marmolada due to our inexperience with glacier travel?? (and lack of axes and ice screws) or would we be ok with spikes over approach shoes whilst being roped up??

Thankyou for the reply by the way

In reply to youwillfindjimbo:
Rap the route Jim?, or is that stupid suggestion

In reply to John Kelly:

I'm not sure John, it seems like a possibility! a lot of raps, but that shoudn't matter as long as there is plenty of fixed gear.

In reply to youwillfindjimbo:

This sounds like an epic waiting to happen...I was looking at doing Don a couple of months back but the climb itself takes fast teams 10 - 12 hours + a descent if you don't have the cable car (even if it was open it closes at 4.30). We weren't confident that we would make the cable car on time and like you had no glacier experience so decided to leave it till next time. The days are much shorter now, rapping down isn't an option - there is minimal fixed gear from my research (please do correct me if i'm wrong).
Hope that helps...

In reply to youwillfindjimbo:

Fly off by paraglider! You can get one that weighs about 1.5kg, it's a perfect take off and a nice flight!

In reply to youwillfindjimbo:

I had got the impression that there had been a lot of snow recently down there. Plus short days, you will need to be quick.

In reply to youwillfindjimbo:

https://www.bergfex.com/marmolada-gletscher/webcams/

In reply to youwillfindjimbo:

No idea of current snow conditions as it's over 10yrs since I did it, but I do remember the simplest descent was to ab straight off the back and onto the glacier which we did in a couple of abs (2 or 3?) on fixed gear with 60m ropes.

We only carried trainers, which felt a bit naughty whilst abbing down something resembling a mixed winter route, but were fine for the glacier itself at that time.

It looked like scrambling along the top from where Don Quixote finishes would have been a bit of a faff. Not hard, but time consuming, though maybe someone else who's descended that way could say.

In reply to youwillfindjimbo:

So there hs been significant snow after what hasbeen a terrible year for snow - the glacier was bare and receeding by 5cm a day at the START of August this year which is just dismal - I fear it will be gone in 10 years. But in the mean time there have been 3 or 4 snowfalls. I am not sure of the state of the crevasses in that area but if you are not familiar with glacier travel, that combined with ice on the rock near the top, short days, you absolute maximal grade being E2 and the not easy nature of the retreat (come on guys - it's 800m to abseil! That's at the very least 16 belays to find!) I'd say you'd be better off looking elsewhere! Was there any particularl reason you had set your sights on that route? There's lots of other routes which are non glacial and have a relatively trivial retreats by comparison...

In reply to youwillfindjimbo:
I did the West ridge in ascent and Normal glacier route in descent 2.5 weeks ago. The West ridge was in mixed winter conditions, verglas rock and the via-ferrata cable buried in snow in several places and therefore not always usable. Crampons and axe required. The Normal route was well tracked out and crevasses obvious but if there has been recent snowfall then rope up as crevasses could be hidden. The rock-band is generally straightforward and equipped, however there is a tricky 5m downclimb before bergschrund where there is a fixed but old knotted rope. I didn't bother using the lifts as I wanted an early start. The entire route took me 5.5 hours from Lago di Fedaia car park and back but bear in mind I was soloing, and running some of it. Hope that helps. Tim

In reply to youwillfindjimbo:

Thankyou all for the advice, I think we'll give the Marmolada a miss this trip, too many unknowns. A shame but looking forward to all the great routes we will do!

Thanks again