We took the train to Bolzano and stayed in a very nice youth hostel close to the train station. The next morning we take the bus from Bolzano to Canazei. From there we walk up to the Contrin Hut.
We arrive at the Contrin Hut quite early. So we have a soup and decide to walk up to the Passo Ombretta. There we see a bivouac, we open the door and find someone sleeping :O
We enjoy the weather and walk back down to the hut where we have a huge dinner. The weather forecast was really good for the next day, so we decided to do the Marmolada summit the next morning. The Marmolada is with 3343m the highest mountain of the Dolomites. We get up at around 5:40 am the next morning and walk in the direction of Passo Ombretta. After around one hour we stop and have some breakfast. We walk up a way with many many pebbles. Then we arrive at the beginning of the via ferrata. The via ferrata is not so difficult, but you can feel that the air is a bit thinner. The view from above 3000m is fantastic! The weather is great and we can really enjoy the tour. We know that many people will take the railway from the other side and come up later. But we are the first today! We walk along the glacier and can see the hut at the Punta Penia! Great! We have some food and drink and talk to the owner of the hut and sit in the sunshine. And we use the toilet - very funny 😛
Because there might be a thunderstorm later in the afternoon we decide to go town soon. We take back the way via the via ferrata and meet many people - people who are very exhausted and without a via ferrata set.
After around 10 hours we are back at the Contrin Hut and enjoy another huge dinner!
The next morning we walk up to the Nicolo Hut and go to the beginning of the very difficult Kaiserjägersteig. At the beginning we meet a crazy man who has done around 50 via ferratas already. He starts in front of us, but is quite exhausted after a few minutes. So we go in front and reach the summit after around one hour. A great and difficult via ferrata with a great view down! At the summit we meet the man again - who starts to dance at the summit. He tells us that this is his via ferrata dance - he does it everytime after a finished one. On our way down we can hear thunder, so we hurry up. Just in time we reach the Contrin Hut, where we sit down, have something to drink and watch the weather.
The weather is changing now - clouds and rain. So we stay one more night at the hut and decide to go back to the valley the next morning.
