We begin our journey in the picturesque village of Sesto in the Alto-Adige region of Italy. It is the perfect setting to acquaint travellers to the history and stories which helped forge the path ahead and is home to the Bellum Aquilarum WW1 museum.

Day two sees us pass the wartime Austrian troop shelters and buildings at Wurzbach before continuing our climb towards Passo Sentinella where Italian and Austro-Hungarian troops fought an intense battle. From below Passo Sentinella we begin one of the legendary Via Ferrata, named ‘Strada Degli Alpini’, following beneath the limestone walls of the main summits. Emerging into the head of the valley, a gentle descent brings us to Refuge Zigmondy for our overnight stay.

Picking up our route, we continue along the former front line towards the Tre Cime di Laveredo, iconic symbol of the Dolomites as a UNESCO world heritage site.  We head west along the Strada degli Alpini before descending into the valley  to the Rifugio Tre Cime Locatelli. Using a system of wartime tunnels and Via Ferrata we progress along the north ridge of the Paternkofel before descending to the panoramic road leading to the to the Refuge Auronzo.  Then we take short road trip into the Landro Valley and the beautiful Refuge Ospedale, renowned for it’s  delicious local cuisine.

Departing Rifugio Ospedale we ascend towards the formidable Dibona Ferrata which will take us to the high summits of the Cristallo massif. It is a fascinating and challenging route lined with Austro-Hungarian wartime emplacements.  Towards the end of the Via Ferrata we will cross an airy and exposed wire bridge, one of the film locations from the famous Sylvester Stallone movie “Cliffhanger”. We then make a long descent to the Tre Cime pass and short road journey to Rifugio Dibona 2037m.

We hike up beneath the impressive south face of the Tofana De Rozes, in a landscape where the three dimensional battleground created conflict from every possible position.  We follow the start of the Lipella Via Ferrata before reaching the Castelletto, a fortified Austro-Hungarian position that troops called the “Schreckenstein” (rock of horror) due to the proximity and intensity of fighting there.  We descend to the Col dei Bois before making a gradual ascent to the summit of the Lagazuoi itself. This mountain is riddled with wartime tunnels that still exist today, they were excavated by both sides in a subterranean battle of counter-mine against mine.  We descend this system of tunnels by head-torch, passing the famous “Martini ledge” where Italian troops gained a foothold in their struggle to take the mountain.  Finally we emerge from the bowels of the mountain just above the Falzarego Pass and return to Cortina for the night.

Transferring from Cortina, Porta Vescova is the starting point of the Via Ferrata ‘Delle Trincee’ (Trincee means ‘trench’), to begin our appropriately named trek. Beginning with a challenging vertical section which we ascend aided by steep metal rungs in the rock face, we gain the start of the ‘Padon crest’ where Austro-Hungarians faced Italian positions at close quarters. The day is set against a backdrop of the majestic glaciated slopes of the Marmolada, the highest peak in the Dolomites.  In good weather, we gain stunning views of our final day’s route towards the summit of the Marmolada.  We descend to the Fedaia pass before our final effort of the day, an ascent of about 2 hours to the rustic Rifugio Ghiacciaio at 2655m. 

We start early from our mountain hut for our 4 hour ascent to the summit of the highest peak of the Dolomites, Marmolada Punta Penia at 3343m.  Our route gives a truly memorable 8-9 hour day, and forms an epic conclusion to our journey though history. From the summit we descend across the glacier on it’s northern slopes, where during the war Austro-Hungarian soldiers dug an immense system of tunnels into the ice itself and created a hidden ‘city of ice’, complete with dressing stations, barracks, kitchens and store rooms.  In recent years the retreating glaciers has revealed some of its dark secrets.

Returning to the Fedaia pass at the end of our journey, we can choose to visit the museum dedicated to the Great War before returning to the Cortina and our final night together before departure.

After breakfast and farewells, we depart.